Day 65 - One bus, two bus, three bus more?

Today we woke up at 8.11am, a wave of panic hitting us as we had no chance of packing up and running to the bus station to catch an 8.30 bus....then Liv clicked that she was looking at the date on the watch and our morning chilled dramatically. On our way to the bus station Liv grabbed us some delicious-looking stuffed breads but later on as we sat down to enjoy the feast we relised they were filled with a mix of vegies we were expecting and chicken that Liv definitely didn't want.

We set about buying some bananas to top up our on the run breakfast and as the smiley lady rattled off in her 'She' Chinise tounge the cost Liv gasped at what she thought was a 6 kwai cost while Adam just paid the 1.80 kwai then basked in his glory as the banana lady smiled at him and exclaimned "ting de dong" (you understand)! Very ironic since Adam is more used to staring blanky at every chinise person who undertakes conversation with the non-Chinese speaking 'Laowai'.

Once again waiting in a bus station - maybe our blog should be titled "Adlibing buses in Asia" - we prepared to board bus number one - a short three and a half hour journey back past the winding rivers and over the gorgeous gorge we had followed the day before. Diverging off familiar roads we followed the Ou River with dams backing it up and giving it the apperance of a long lake, the river was full of fish farm nets and small boats tending them.

We continued the journey passing the beautiful green mountains and valleys that always give us something to gaze at as our butts slowly give way to numbness. Arriving in Wenzhou we jumped on a half hour bus across town to the next bus station - but after getting of the bus a stop early we had the driver calling us back on as the other passengers stared and laughed at the silly tourists.

Bus number two, to Fuzhou, was a slightly longer (still short by China standards) five and a half hours, but China never runs out of scenery to amaze those willing to traipse across its mass. We enjoyed travelling on a freeway between cliffs and sprawling rivers before finally arriving in Fuzhou, which was meant to be our sleeping destination for the night.

But wait there's more... as we checked on bus times to Ximen it turned out one was leaving in 5 minutes, so without much thought we jumped on. Once aboard bus number three we realised why the tickets had cost about 40 yuan more than expected - The adlibers were travelling the next three and a half hours in style as we had inadvertedly brought tickets on a luxury bus - the first time we have come across such a thing!! Despite the luxury we still arrived in Ximen in a tired, hungry, and stinky state and set out to find a place to rest our weary heads. After waking up at 6.30 am it was now after 11pm and we were walking along the back alleys of down town with plenty of mice and rats scurrying across our paths. Eventualy we were lead into some cheap rooms, but made a hasty exit once we realised the main door is bolted shut at night, meaning we were literally locked in - we decided to spend extra money in exchange for our safety.

Finding a hotel with a (open) front door Adam bargained and bargained the cost down to a point we could just afford and before long we were dinng on instant noddles in our room and collasping into bed. Despite sitting on our behinds all day were exhausted having travelled the entire distance of a Chinese province!

Adlibing the distance (with a little luxury) by bus.