Late get up
Despite sleeping in such a filthy environment, we managed to lie in pretty late. The sleeps were good here, I’ll give it that. We had a flight to Guilin today, so we were just taking it easy. Both of us wrote on our postcards and when we went out to the market, we posted them. I can only hope they get home, but I wasn’t holding my breath too much. We had breakfast in the market in the form of steamed goods/pastries. Similar to what we usually have, but they were slightly different. Nice though.
Our flight to Guilin was at 7pm, so we had plenty of time to kill in Shanghai. We strolled down to the river front and just sat at the Bund for quite a while. Next to us, a few teenagers sat down and were talking amongst themselves. Slowly over time, more and more teenagers accumulated until there was a huge group of them. Eventually we began conversing, and it turns out they were all from Tibet. So we had a bit of a conversation about what it was like there, and how it was for us here in China. It was pretty decent. In the end, we took photos with every girl (and the odd guy) there, as well as having some group photos which were awesome.
Getting searched
As time wore on, we had to leave and catch the metro. We said our farewells to our Tibetan teenagers and were on our merry way. Now like a fish in water, we took the metro with ease. It was about an hour or so to the airport, so we had plenty of time to chill again. Due to the flight to Guilin being domestic, we were able to use a computer to check in. It couldn’t have been easier or quicker!
However, when we gave our bags in, I was required to have a bag search. I swear it’s always me having my bag searched. Mat and I have pretty much identical gear, so I don’t get what the problem is with me. I went to the bag search room and opened up. She searched through my backpack until she got to my survival kit. Don’t ask, I thought I’d be sleeping in jungles and doing hard core survival skills. She checked it out and let me go on my way without taking anything out.
To check out my previous bag search, click here!
Arriving in Guilin
After the bag check, everything else went smooth as can be. There was a short wait we had before we boarded for our flight to Guilin. We landed a couple of hours after we took off. Once we landed, we took a bus into the city. Everyone else was getting taxis, and we were being smug because we were getting a cheap bus. So we set off to find the bus just down the road, trying to avoid the night traffic as we had to cross over. When we got to the bus shelter, I noticed that the last bus was 6pm. I suppose that’s karma for you!
We had to wave down a taxi, about half an hour after our previous opportunity. I’d do anything to save a bit of cash, even if it ends up biting me in the bum later. The taxi dropped us off outside our hostel. I didn’t get the best impression when the hostel reception on the street and open to the elements. The guy took us down a side street, which felt dodgy, and then to an elevator door on the street. It seemed like the most random place to find an elevator door.
When we got to our room, I was astonished. I was expecting some run down flea pit. Perhaps it was because of the dump we’d just come from, but this was like staying at the Hilton. Neither of us could believe how lush it was. I’m sure to get a good night’s sleep tonight! Our hostel was called the Guilin Innsight No.10 Hostel, check it out here. It was dead nice.
