Day 47 - Guilin Sunrise and Train Chaos

The day started of very nice and calm with an early start and walk around the lake near my hostel to take pictures of the sunrise.

Guilin is probably nicest early morning and in the evening when you can get some great photos. There are also less tourists and people around in the morning so it's nicer to walk around and take pictures of the locals doing their exercises.

Once I got to the train station however the calm changed and people were everywhere due to the holiday being over so everyone was heading home. This would not have been a big issue as I had my train ticket sorted already and was just waiting to board.

There is something about trains on Sundays in China as all trains to Nanning were delayed and with my 9:17 train, delayed to 11:25, it would mean missing the connecting train to Hanoi.
Heading to the ticket office, I tried to change my ticket for a fast train leaving slightly later at 10:30 but it turned out this was also delayed till 11:40 and I would again miss the train to Hanoi.
So instead they gave me a ticket for the 7:45 train to Nanning at 10:30 because this was also delayed till 11:05 but according to them it should get to Nanning between 16:00 and 17:00 leaving me with 1:20h to get my connecting train.

I know what you think, I should have just got back to my hotel and enjoy the day in Guilin and travel tomorrow but I am stubborn so I set out on the journey sitting in 3rd class on a seat near where my ticket allocated me, enjoying the company of my fellow Chinese travellers.

It was a fun journey but the train did not only not make up any time, it got even more delayed along the way so I got to Nanning at 17:55 and had to still buy my ticket for the train to Hanoi. You might rightly say I should have bought this in the morning already but I was suspicious if the train would make it in time.
The queues were very big in the ticket office and I would have never made it on time were it not for my knowledge of the Chinese queuing system. If you're in a rush, just jump the queue and go straight to the front. In the UK this would not go down well but here it seems common and I had the tourist bonus. ;)

Long story short, i got my train ticket and made it on time to get the train to Hanoi with plugs that did not work again. Since it would only be a few hours overnight, this did not bother me too much.

The border crossings were quite efficient although this time everyone had to get off the train with their luggage and have it scanned in the terminal building. Still, it was preferable to the crossing between Mongolia andChina where we got locked in the carriage without water, AC or toilet access for hours.

Day 46 - Guilin

The first task in Guilin after arriving early in the morning was to find a cafe with wifi so I can book myself a hotel and know where to go.
It's always nice to get to a place early as it leaves you enough time in the day even after you have to roam around looking for a place to stay. The only downside is that most places are not open yet so finding a cafe is not always easy.

At first look Guilin made a very good impression n reminded me a bit of Hangzhou with the lakes in the middle and old bridges crossing over the rivers.

After walking around and going to some of the main sights, I found that Guilin is very commercial. Nothing against commercial but here everything costs and nothing is cheap. Want to see the Elephant Trunk Hill, that will cost you more than the Forbidden City. You could also try to find a spot to see it fee or hire a boat for less and also see it free but the same applies to all the sights in Guilin.

If you want to go and see everything in Guilin, you could easily pay over 500 RMB just for the entrance to places. This kind of put me off the city, as nice as it is, it seems to be more about making money.

Since I did not feel like paying the high asking prices for entry to most sights, I was looking for something you can do that's free but provides the same kind of views and enjoyment as the pay for places.
In the end I did find something nice to do away from the main tourist area and free. If you head south from the main centre, you will find Pagoda Hill and Tunnel Hill. Both are free and especially Pagoda Hill provides some great views over the city and surrounding karst mountains. You just have to go up the slightly overgrown path but will be rewarded not just with the views but also with being almost all on your own (you can see the hill and the views from there in the 3 pictures above).

As soon as it gets dark, the lights around the lakes come on and transform the city into a very colourful place with people out and about as usual dancing and socialising together.

This is the best part and something you have to see while visiting, just make sure you get out before 23:00 as after that on the dot, all the lights go off and everyone is gone home.

Despite enjoying the evening in Guilin, I decided to stick with my changed plan and head to Vietnam earlier and spend more time there. Tomorrow morning, I will have my train to Nanning and change there for the daily train to Hanoi.

Day 45 - The Big Sleep

My efforts to locate a working plug or to convince the staff to fix the plugs were in vain so it meant I could not use my gadgets and even the cameras I needed to watch out and not go through all my spare batteries.

This meant that it was a long and boring day, I spent most of it sleeping and lying around. It was not bad as I needed a break but I would have rather have a break somewhere more comfortable and with some electricity.

The landscape was nice but most of the day I hardly paid attention and was just lying and listening to the train music program as this was the only entertainment to be had.
This and trying to communicate with the girl in my compartment, which did not really work out very well.

Getting to Nanning, I headed straight to the ticket office in the hope to catch the twice weekly train from Beijing to Hanoi but it was due in Nanning only tomorrow.
The original plan was to head to Guilin for a few days anyway before I decided to change it and spend more time in Vietnam. Since I had to spend the night either here on on a train, I decided to board the train to Guilin and head there anyway.

Lucky for me, getting soft sleeper tickets also allows the use of the soft seat waiting lounge so I found a plug there and could charge my gadgets.

Day 44 - Transfer in Xiamen

When I woke up in the morning and stepped out on deck, I could see China and all the big container ships departing or heading towards Xiamen port.

People were also out on deck enjoying the sunshine, dancing and chatting. Since there were a few tourist groups on board it was busier than on the way to Taiwan.

Using my knowledge of the Chinese queuing system, I manage to be one of the first off the boat and at the immigration desk. The immigration procedures were very fast and smooth and put the UK immigration to shame, where it always takes ages despite me having a EU passport.

The first task in Xiamen was to head to the train station and get my ticket for Nanning sorted or find a place to stay in case the train was full. I got my train ticket without problems for later in the afternoon and was set for a 28h journey to Nanning.

Since I had a few hours to spare, I headed to a nearby park and went for coffee after.

Once I boarded the train to Nanning, I had to find out that none of the plugs in the train worked so it meant 28h without power for my gadgets which were in need of a charge after being used during the day.
This put a damper on this journey as it meant not being able to do sort through my photos and try to make space on my drive. It also promised to be a very long and boring journey but I still had hope to find a working plug somewhere.

Day 37 - Nanputuo Temple and Ferry to Taiwan

After sorting out some laundry and my hotel in Taipei, I had enough time to spare before my ferry left so I decided to do a bit of sightseeing. Nanputuo Temple is recommended for a visit so this was the destination I was headed.

The first thing I realised more today than yesterday is that Xiamen feels quite different than the other cities in China I have visited. Somehow it feels a bit more like Hong Kong and it being a Special Economic Zone might play a part in it or maybe it's just because it's a different city and ever city has it's own character in a way.

Nanputo Temple is a very nice temple near the Xiamen University and one of the must see sights in Xiamen. It is also well worth seeing as the temple itself is nice but you can do a bit of hiking to explore some caves full of different deity statues and also get some great views over Xiamen.

It was quite a hot and stuffy day so it did not help that I had to rush going back down the mountain to make it back to the hotel and pick up my luggage before heading to the ferry port. The views and temple were worth it though so I was glad to have done it despite the bit of rush.

After getting to the port and checking in, I realised they did give me a 6 berth cabin all for myself as they have done to the other two westerners. Not sure if they do this to foreigners or just split the cabins based on the group you're travelling with but since I was happy to have my ticket and did not mind at all the extra space, I did not enquire their reasoning further.
There are also some deluxe cabins and some couple and lover's cabins but I think the standard ones do the job just fine. The ferry was not very full with only a few smaller tour groups so there should not be any problem to get a ticket and cabin for yourself if you're travelling alone.

After seeing a nice sunset from the boat, clouds gathered over Xiamen and a storm was brewing with lightning visible in the sky. I did set myself the challenge to try and capture the lightning and after a fee attempts I managed to get 5 pretty decent pictures.

Tomorrow morning, I will arrive in Keelung and will head straight for Taipei to meet a friend in the afternoon.
The weekend is still open so I will see what I feel like doing and where I will end up.