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Guangzhou Bound
Monday, July 25, 2005-9:36 PM
After spending much more money than I originally intended to in Inner Mongolia, I decided to speed up the trip back to Guangzhou. Not only will I be able to save money by hanging out in Guangzhou a few extra days or weeks, I'll also have more time to spend with Natasha and her parents.
I asked the tour group to take me straight back to the train station in Hohhot after we returned from the grasslands. I went straight in and bought a ticket to Tianjin. A few hours later, I was on the train.
Once again I was stuck on an overnight train with no seat. This time there weren't any beds available.
The train was full of Inner Mongolia residents on their way to do some sightseeing in Beijing. A lot of them aren't used to seeing foreigners.
Most of their questions, comments, and stares didn't bother me at all. But there were a few passengers that annoyed or scared me.
Among those were a group of teenagers who, after they found out I was American, found every sentence they could think of relating to Osama Bin Laden absolutely hilarious.
I slept on a seat with a nearly vertical seatback. I didn't even have a table to rest my head on, and there usually was no leg room to stretch out my legs.
It was rainy when I finally made it to Tianjin. I booked my afternoon ticket to Suzhou right away. I didn't plan to stay long in Tianjin.
In fact, I only stayed long enough to make it too the "Grand Mosque", take a quick walk down the Ancient Cultural Street, and try some "Goubuli" steamed buns. I didn't find anything special about the "Goubuli" buns.
I was lucky enough to have a bed on the train to Suzhou. When I arrived, the weather was hot and sunny. In the afternoon, I took a stroll around "The Humble Administrator's Garden" and purchased my ticket to Hangzhou.
Before then, I will enjoy one comfortable night in a decent hotel in Suzhou.
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