Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So the morning of the first day of 2013 was bright and sunny and we were met with a buffet breakfast which mainly consisted of noodles and rice, very filling. At nine we boarded a local bus to take us to Zhouzhuang. The bus ride was let's just say, an experience, the driver had the constant urge to slam on the brakes which sent you into the forward seat. The driving around this area beggared belief and culminated in observing a poor young girl being knocked off her motorbike. Sarah was ready to assist but i advised her against it and too be honest she was sitting up but looked like she had maybe broken her arm... very lucky considering she wasn't wearing a helmet. We continued onwards with our journey and we arrived in one piece ...luckily! we then had a fresh 20 minute walk through what looked like a deserted town to get to the water town.
Zhouzhuang is an ancient water town which has a very Venice feel to it. The claustrophobic alleyways run parallel with the narrow water ways that are full of wooden gondolas led by singing ladies with large oars. The streets were packed with shops and restaurants all trying to get your trade which did get a little tiresome after while. Despite this you could not deny the beauty of the ancient town, the pavilions and pagodas combined with the water backdrops looked stunning and provided Sarah with numerous opportunities for reflective shots, she does love them. There were a few impressive Buddha temples with very ornate and some even gargantuan statues, it gave the whole area a very Indian aura we both felt. The museum we had to say was very disappointing with only a few relics of no real significance, and considering how long it took us to find the place we couldn't stop laughing... It was like they raided someone's pantry and grabbed their crockery and shoved it on display haha.
That underwhelming feeling led us to the decision that it was time to grab a beverage of some description, plus Glen wasn't a massive fan if the crowds and looked a bit stressed. We soon found a lovely looking hostel with a cafe and Sarah and myself tried the local beer which had very yeasty taste and could of done with a bit of lemon to take the edge off. After we had recharged the batteries we headed out to meet Tommy who guided us back to the bus which to our dread welcomed us with the same unorthodox driver.
Like clockwork, five minutes into the journey the emergency brakes were applied and poor Tommy got sent flying down the aisle (he was in the middle back seat). It was soooo funny we couldn't stop laughing! he was literally flung pretty much the length of the aisle. all you could see was his silver jacket and a brief flash of his bright blue cap!! hahaha He was not injured and was laughing hysterically like he always does.... He reminds us very much of the young Chinese boy in the goonies and Indiana Jones haha. We later found out a dog had run out in front of the bus so to be fair the driver has instinctively reacted so no real blame there.... However not sure what the reason was fir the other numerous emergency stops!!!
Arriving back into Suzhou we transferred onto a public bus to our hotel the would prove to be one of the most traumatising experiences of our trip. This particular bus route went through the bus shopping district in the end of a town with a population of 10 million, no subway system and the fist day of a Chinese national public holiday. If you add these elements up you am pretty much guess what is surmounted to, about 2 hours sitting in a traffic jam on a crowded bus with no leg room whatsoever, it was pretty much hell. Once we arrived at our destination we realised we could have walked it in half the time... by this time poor Sarah ...who was already feeling rough was tired and frustrated and she headed straight to the hotel room.
I of course was starving and decided to head to the local shopping mall for food. The mammoth 11 storey mall was rammed and the wait form some restaurants was 90 minutes. I found a Japanese style place for some fried rice which was filling and very tasty. I found it bizarre to have Japanese restaurant in china because of the lack of love loss between them. I was informed by Tommy it is a Chinese restaurant adopting Japanese ideas, figures I guess. I headed back to check on Sarah who was coming down with a cold and cough. She was tucked up in bed munching Oreos and watching the news and looked happy enough. We both decided a good night sleep was needed before the trip to Shanghai which we had been looking forward to for a long time.
- comments