the difference between a hostel and a hotel is more than the S

We didn't do much exploring of the train - since the doors don't lock one of us had to stay with the bags and exploring alone wasn't what we had in mind our first night.

I did explore to the toilet and learn how much fun it is using a squatter when on a moving, shifting train.

Back in our room, we got ready for bed and lay down. i changed into my pajama bottoms and janne elected to sleep in her jeans. i had brought two books (i couldn't live with the fear that i might finish one and then be left with nothing to read!) and gave one to janne to read. so we read for awhile, and then when my wrists started weaving back and forth, i announced i was off to sleep.

and i fell asleep quite quickly.

i woke up a few times during the night.

the first time, someone walked into our room. i am hoping it was an official person, but hey, no harm done. they shone the torch in my eyes, (hard not to in a room that size) and i struggled upright. "eh?" then they apologised and left.

the other times were when the train took a big turn. or stop, or something. i would lurch awake, and then not want to fall back asleep just yet, because i wanted to savour this adventure.

we were awake before daybreak. most of the train emptied around then, and we were pretty much alone for the last 90 minutes of our journey. we decided that everyone left on the train was a good person, and we decided to head to the "restaurant". but first, we decided to eat our own breakfast.

janne had packed grilled vegetarian sandwiches on thick ciabatta bread. they were excellent. it normally takes me at least an hour to eat after waking up, but by 45 minutes, i was eating away.

i realised that my companion and i were quite compatible. it took each of us minutes to get ready, no need for makeup, hair dryers, curling irons, etc. toothbrush is the extent of our beauty routine.

the restaurant cart was empty of patrons, but full of smoking train employees, all who looked stumped when my blonde haired friend and i trotted into view. they looked at each other and finally, the oldest person in the room spoke.

"you like?"

janne said, "coffee?"

and i replied, "cha". oh man did i want tea!

cha is something they understand and we were waved to a table, and seconds after sitting down, some VERY DARK tea was placed infront of us in very flimsy disposable cups. it was hot, and not bad. but it was definitely pu er tea. which aids in digestion, shall we say.

it was hot though, and we each had two cups. happy to say this did not come back and haunt us later.

we stood up to pay and were told "no! no!"

well allright! this vacation was turning out to be cheaper than we expected. my dad was going to be thrilled.

by 10am, a little over 90 minutes late, we pulled into our destination. our train had stopped at destinations that didn't have English signs, and i was a bit worried that we might miss our stop. but as we pulled in, i saw it, and cheered YAH. we grabbed our bags, and we were off.

coming out of the train station we saw a lineup of taxis. we had the address of where we needed to go, and their phone number, and we knew we were okay. i also knew we were a fair distance away so it was going to be a relatively expensive ride.

from the minute we stepped out of the station there were people offering us taxi's, but we just walked to the queue. from there, we held out our piece of paper and about three drivers looked at it. one pulled out his phone, made a call, and said, "I take you".

"okay" we said.

"very expensive" he warned us

"use meter!" we suggested.

"okay" he said.

he was the third taxi in the queue and nothing was happening.

janne and i instructed our driver to not start the meter until we started driving.

"okay" he said and lit up a smoke.

we were so tired of cigarettes.

after three minutes, we still hadn't moved. we suggested to the driver we would find another taxi, one at the front of the queue. our driver pushed his head out the window, and screeched in a very loud voice for the others to move. and they did, we started driving and the meter went down.

we were driving along when the driver pulled over at a roadside stand. and screeched at the lady working there. janne and i were fascinated. was she a girlfriend? was he telling her he was taking a long route with some dumb tourists, and would be back wayyy after dinner?

apparently not. he drove a few more metres, and stopped at another shop and screamed again. i looked at janne and said, "i bet he is the youngest child, with a voice like that." she agreed.

the shopkeeper brought out a pack of smokes and, interestingly, two packs of bark chew. we inspected the package carefully and it appears to be like chewing tobacco except it is pieces of bark. driver was on his way again.

he offered us a smoke, and was sad when we declined. he turned on music and began to sing. he was quite obviously enjoying his drive in teh country.

we drove through a village where a wedding ceremony was going on.

and finally, we arrived at the mountain.

we said goodbye to our taxi driver and he assured us that there was a truck coming for us, "in 10 minutes" no more.

we paid out entrance fee, and we started walking into the park, which was stunningly beautiful. and then the van arrived and drove us to the hotel.

you understand this park was originally people's homes, but when the government took it over, they had to let people continue living there, and also provide the occasional hostel for tourists. most tourists stay outside the park, but janne and i wanted the real deal. so here we were, in the park, surrounded by 10 local homes, and at the hotel, which was really a hostel, SURPRISE! and had all the doors to the rooms open.

i thought that was a clever marketing trick to show people there were available rooms, since there was no electricity to have a nice flashing VACANCY sign. sadly not.

please know it was cold. even the sun was pale comfort.

we were given our room, by the lady who did not speak English but who was quite excited to show us there was a television. the room was impeccably clean, as was the toilet. interestingly, when you turned on the tap, the water went directly to the (squatter) toilet. not a bad idea actually.

um, the one thing about the pristine room was, that, well, IT WAS FREEZING.

when we booked the room they said the had an english speaking guide and the guide would be waiting for us.there was no guide!

this was a challenge.

janne took the bull by the horns, made a call, and arranged for an english speaking guide to be at our remote place by 4.30.

but it was just 1.30. were we just going to sit around for 3 hours?

no.

we locked up our room and headed back the way we came, looking for a little hike.

we were debating which way to go when we happened upon a lady who spoke a little english. she asked her guide what we should do. her guide suggested we flag down a bus and head to the top of a mountain. it was a clear day...take pictures.

it seemed like a good idea to us, but instead of WAITING for a bus, we decided to walk until a bus found us. 10 minutes later, a bus came chugging up a hill (our park entrance fee includes free bus passes) and we were happy campers.

the top of the mountain was glorious. let's all beg charles to post pictures. absolutely incredible. there werent' too many people, but many of them were quite willing to talk to us or about us. we were overwhelmed. we took pictures, and kept walking.

we were given wrong advice, to take the wrong bus once, but we made it back to our HOSTEL (man, the difference between one letter!) by 4.30 and there was our guide, Sherry.

in quick order, she worked out a few details for us, and planned our itinerary for us. by this time, now that we knew about the buses, we really didn't think we needed a guide, but that was okay. she would give us local information. we liked that. she would also give us directions to the bus station. we agreed on payment, and that was that.

it was now 5pm. darkness was descending. we knew we would have to be quick in finding dinner. we had actually decided what dinner was going to be - pot noodles and the bread we had bought in guangzhou. two pot noodles came to the princely sum of 8RMB.

we went back to our room. now what it was dark, it was freezing inside.

however, i had asked sherry to ask the receptionist what reasonable thing we could do about the cold. sherry had said for 15RMB we could rent electric blankets. DONE! i asked if we could rent four, and was told no.

we stripped the beds, put on the electric blanket, and turned it on. the lady told sherry to tell us that when we went to sleep we were to turn it off. YES OF COURSE we promised. meanwhile i am crossing everything, fingers, toes, and intestines, not because i want to lie, but also because i am so cold. thank goodness we had brought sleeping bags. janne and i considered sleeping in the same bed, but we reckoned we would be okay. we dressed in every single item of clothing we owned (excepting knickers and bras) and got under the covers.

our room had a kettle, so we made our pot noodles, sat down to our delicious meal, and afterwards we chatted. however, at around 7.30pm, something very odd happened...i started dozing off in the middle of our conversation.i was warming up nicely. inside was full of warm pot noodles and lovely bread, outside that electric blanket was doing it's work.

"i need to sleep" i informed janne, who was trying to plug in her phone so we would have an alarm in the morning. (we were meeting our guide at 6.30)

she turned around to talk to me about my phone charger, and i was asleep.

we both woke up around 2am, when a drug was ....giving birth or something ridiculously loud outside. it squealed and wrenched for about 10 minutes and then drove away. then i went back to sleep. at one point, i woke up and heard janne (good girl that she is) click off her electric blanket. she, the girl who smuggles fruit into china, was clicking off her blanket? seriously. me, i had no such qualms. the back of my neck was a bit sweaty, but i just took off my gloves and soon wasn't so warm. and we slept on.