More Single-Serving Friends!

You guys, the train ride turned out to be an absolute blast. Never a dull moment... What they called a "hard seat" isn't bad actually. It gets uncomfortable after 6 hours of sitting straight but it's actually kinda soft. Of course, someone was sitting in my seat when I got there. The thing is, if there's no seat available anymore, you can get a cheap ticket and stand... So there were people standing all over the place dodging food and drink trays, bracelets vendors, map/newspaper vendors, socks and crappy toy vendors, cops, you name it. Then, you watch people eat whatever and everything else goes down to the floor: sunflower seed shells, apple core, bottles, paper, wrappers... Then of course, they spit on the floor too (they have the decency to wipe it off with their shoe though...) What a trip. And then out of the blue, one young student came up to me and chatted, then another guy, then everybody else around was looking at me like I was the new attraction (what's whitey doing on a hard seat train?!) Another nice guy who spoke good English said he would tell me when we had to get off (he was going to Guilin too). Yes, because it is not easy to know where you are: the train stops in the middle of nowhere, the light goes off for 5 seconds, it stops for about 15 minutes in each station and you can't see any sign ou there (nor could you read it anyway) and it's not like they're gonna announce it... Anyhoo, that dude took care of me, not only to get off but he and his girlfriend walked me all the way to the YHA... Nice! Once in Guilin, I hung out with other backpackers and we went on a sight-seeing mission. Lots of parks, lakes, peaks, huge pagodas and temples within walking distance. The weather's not too good but it's allright. And last night, as I was aimlesslly walkind down some street, I got accosted by a young fellow. No, he's not a cop. He's a primary school teacher! He decided he was gonna be my guide-on-the-spot and he told me everything that I should see in Guilin, starting with a traditional Chinese show called "the Dragon's Nationality" in which Chinese minorities were represented through songs, dances, acrobatics and so on. He got me a ticket and said he would meeet me at the end of the show (he had seen it the night before). It was a mind-blowing experience. My jaw is still on the floor... absolutely spectacular. I can't describe it (and I didn't take pix 'cuz it's forbidden:( ) After the show, we went to a traditional restaurant in a very typical street; then, we went to a Tea House where I got to try 3 different teas: some herbal tea, dragon tea, and pu'er tea (which is stored for years - the more you leave it to age the better. It's like wine and cheddar). Awesome. Then, guess what: Guilin is the Chinese capital of foot massage (or so Andy said...) So we went for a foot massage; it lasts over an hour. Same for a whole massage that Andy talked me into... We left the place at 1:00am and Andy gave me a little tour of Guilin by night on his scooter before dropping me off at the YHA... I slept like a baby that night. I am Jack's Total Bliss.