I got up early. I had a hot coffee in bed and then decided to treat myself to the buffet breakfast in the hotel again. (68MRB) The train ride to Datong was six hours and I didn’t want to eat on the train or at the train station. I enjoyed the breakfast and again ate as much as I could. I then grabbed a shower and packed up the rest of my stuff.
Around 9:15AM, I made my way downstairs to check out. I asked them to call me a taxi to the train station. I got there with one hour to spare. As I was making my way to the entrance of the train station, two uniformed officers approached me and asked to see my ID. They were cute young boys and I wondered if they just wanted to practice their English. They asked me a few questions in English and were both very polite. They thanked me for cooperating with them.
I spotted a Starbucks in the station and decided to treat myself to a hot mocha. I also bought a blueberry muffin for the train ride over. It was roasting hot in the station and I instantly regretted the hot coffee. I should’ve gotten a cold one. I found my mom on FT and spoke with her until it was time to board the train.
While planning my trip, I had purchased a number of train tickets so I thought with this trip only being six hours, that I would purchase a hard seat. Bad idea. The hard seats are the least expensive and obviously the least comfortable. The seat was hard and small with very little legroom. Ugh. Only six hours to go!
The train was loud, people were standing, and others were trying to sell things. It was anything but a peaceful ride over. Surprisingly the trip went quick. I stared out the window for most of the journey. There was only one small table between four of us and the two ladies across from me had occupied all of it with food. I was planning on catching up on my journal or watching something on my computer but there was very little space.
The last hour was tough to get through. I ended up standing for part of it just to stretch out. Once I got off the train, I grabbed a taxi at the station. I told the driver where I wanted to go, he said OK, and then turned off the meter. I hate that. I asked him in Chinese why he wasn’t using the meter and he seemed surprised and told me it would be 20RMB. I made a loud and very noticeable ‘hmmmmm’ sound as I am sure it would’ve been cheaper had he used the meter. (Note: on the way back it was only 10RMB so he did cheat me) He then tried selling me a tour for the next day after asking me where I wanted to go and why I was there. I took his name card and said I’d let him know. In the end, I am glad I didn't use him as he was a cheat.
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| The Bell Tower near the Pipa Hotel |
Finding the hotel was a bit tricky as it’s in an area where cars can’t go. There was a sign in Chinese, which I noticed later, but nothing in English. I ended up having to ask at a restaurant where the place was. The hotel was awesome and probably has been my favorite so far on this trip. Well, except for the yurt. That one was pretty cool too!
The hotel was called the Pipa Hotel and they give you two key chains as gifts upon arrival. In the room, they give you two complimentary bananas, an apple, two pieces of delicious chocolate and two small packets of dried mango. They did this every day! Pretty cool! Breakfast was also included in the price of the room making it an excellent deal.
I asked at the hotel about arranging a driver for the next day and then went out to explore the immediate area. It was threatening rain so I didn’t wander too far. I found a place near the hotel to have a beer and a bowl of delicious noodles. After that, I went over to a tiny store I had found and bought another beer for my room and a bag of chips. I noticed that the bag of chips was puffed out which meant we were at some kind of elevation. I had a look online and it suggested we were just over 1,000 meters here in Datong.
I went back to my hotel and took a rest. The lady told me that a driver for the next day would be 400RMB. And while it was 50RMB more than the driver had quoted me that morning, the hotel knew the driver, which made me feel safer. Breakfast started at 7:30AM and the lady behind the counter suggested leaving at 8:00AM so I would have time to enjoy breakfast before going out for the day.
I stayed in for the night, watched some TV and went to bed early. The bed was comfortable and I slept very well.
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