Yangshuo to Nanning

After a last day in Yangshuo spent dodging the ever-increasing rain we were both ready for our next stop. After purchasing tickets the day before for a bus to Nanning (via translation help from our hostel), we bumped into our friend, Lukas, from the previous hostel in Guilin. Being Swiss he had a slightly odd demeanour but we spent a good three hours with him talking about our trips and lots and lots of football over coffee. He was here for a couple of months and then was off to Africa, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau no less. Finishing our coffee's we decided to take a walk to the local market, which was supposed to be quite a sight. Amongst the giant cucumbers and numerous butchered dog carcasses you really got the sense that even in the tourist bubble that is Yangshuo, you can be slapped right back to reality within a few hundred metres. After getting incredibly wet walking back up towards our hostel he decided that he was going for a swim in the river so we left him at that point, exchanged email addresses, said our farewells and promised that we would try and meet up if we were in Vietnam at the same time.

After another lazy evening watching films and eating beer duck, very tasty!, we packed our bags once again in preperation to move on after five days in Yangshuo. It would have been less, in fact we would have moved on a couple of days ago, but we found out that the hostel could organise Vietnamese Visa's but that it would take a few days to be delivered. It was either that or go directly to Nanning and wait three days there for the same service. We plumped for Yangshuo.

Waking the next morning we said our goodbyes, left them our blog address and took a taxi to the station. Once on the bus we panicked initially at the thought of an eight hour bus journey stuck in a space no bigger than an open lunchbox and badly dubbed Arnie movies on constant loop but we just got our heads down and got on with it and before you know it we were pulling into Nanning.

After being given directions from the hostel via email we made our way by bus down an etraordinarily straight road through a city of mega proportions. To all intents and purposes Nanning has about as much national gravitation as that of say, Leicester, but to step into it you could be in one of the worlds's biggest metropolis'. With a population of about 3.5 million it is definitely the biggest city in the region but as far as China as a country goes, you get the feeling that it is small-fry. Not that you sense that as you carried on for nineteen stops through almost constant sky-scrapers. As we said in earlier blogs, outside of maybe Shanghai and Beijing, other Chinese cities are virtually unheard of, but this city is massive.

After finding our way to the hostel with relative ease we headed straight back out again with a piece of paper written by the hostel lady to buy tickets to Hanoi at the train station. After arriving at the ticket desks we were confronted by constant hoards of Chinese all pushing, all trying to be the first one to buy tickets. We opted for the smallest queue, unfortunately the one that had the really dodgy blokes selling counterfeit tickets. It also, after waiting 20 mins for someone to appear, meant that we were in prime position to be stared at once again. Anyway, we got our tickets, in 'hard-sleeper' for the 11 hour train journey south to Hanoi. After arguing at the ticket booth amongst ourselves as to whether to get hard or soft sleeper I hope we come out unscathed tomorrow morning as we slip into the madness of Hanoi! From there we went in search of food as both our moods had now dissipated into evil. On the way we stumbled upon a park filled with people of all ages all taking part in what can only be described as line dancing, but without the achy-breaky Country and Western. Instead it was replaced with cheesy, high tempo dance music. Maybe you had to be there to really take it in, but it was one of the most surreal things we have witnessed yet.

Waking the next morning, after a night spent in our first dormitory (only one other person) we decided to head out and at least give Nanning a go before our sleeper train that evening. After only ten minutes we both felt drained. In a way Nanning is one of those cities that just feels suffocating. Whichever way you look, a million bodies seem to stand before you and the exits. On a hot day like today, patience seems to tumble away in a haze of xenophobia only to be seduced again at the sight of another awe-inspiring building. It's just, after two weeks of being stared at, it just feels a little unsettling. In a way, despite heading further south, the look of suspicion just gets worse. You'd have thought that the multitude of McDonald's and KFC's would have brought with it a new global outlook, recognising a world outside of China, not here. Here the looks are no longer that of wonder that we may have had in Guilin but one of deep mistrust, like you are about to steal their dog, which they were going to eat. In one supermarket, after heading in the wrong entrance and holding a half empty bottle of water (how dare we), we were told in no uncertain terms to report to the local police station and present our papers. Or at least that's how it felt. Being escorted out of their premises for entering the wrong way is something, I think, we will just have to live with. It's strange, it's like behind every stare is a disbelief that you, the foreigner, have set foot in their city. What inexplicabe reason could there be for you to be here, with your stupid headband and swollen rucksacks, here in our Leicester...

We haven mixed feelings as we prepare to leave China. On one hand we are pleased to be leaving a land with soooo much happening. Entire cities being built, construction work everywhere and people so unbelievably dominated by money that feelings and common sense seem to be left completely behind. On the other, we have got used to this absolutely huge and diverse country and their constant energy. I guess things won't drastically change as we move to 'Nam but we are definitely excited about our next chapter. Let's see if 'Hard sleeper' is what it says it is...........

Tommo xxxxxx