Day 88 - Last day of freedom

In preparation for going to Jinan tonight, we spent the morning undertaking the normally despised task of packing, planning and preparing ourselves for our next destination. However, this packing mission was attacked with enthusiasm as it will be the last time, for a long time, that we have to go through these motions. Even better we know that once we arrive in Jinan someone will be at the train station to pick us up, meaning that we won't have to lose ourselves in the masses and figure out how to get to somewhere with a bed.

After the packing we headed out for one last adlibing adventure, which led us to the Suzhou Silk Museum. Our Lonely Planet had told us this was a must-see, and since Suzhou has a 4,000 year history of silk production, we thought we'd better stop by. However the museum consisted of mainly replicas of ancient silk, and apart from getting to watch silk worms eating mulberry leaves, we left disappointed.
So in search of something exciting to do on our last day we headed out into the rain - our destination being a pedestrian shopping street that houses a Taoist Temple - The Temple of Mystery. The bazaar area surrounding the temple was once home to travelling showmen and acrobats, but all we found was the normal hawkers selling knock-off handbags, sunglasses and belts. Nonetheless the markets were located in a beautiful setting with the temple smack-bang in the middle, and we enjoyed our hour and a half wander through them. As the rain intensified we hopped on a bus to take us back to the hostel. However, after spending half an hour barely moving, we opted to sacrifice our 2 yuan ticket and walk back - we ended up beating the bus and were relieved to escape the sardine tin bus, and the smell that comes with wet people in the summer.

With a few hours to spare we decided to break away from the adlibing budget and spend up large, before we start earning in Chinese yuan - so we treated ourselves to a delicious Italian meal for dinner and spent some time reflecting on our wonderful three months on the road through China. This dining experience was the first time we have dined in a restaurant where the patrons were 100% foreigners! Although the meal was a fantastic change, it cost us 10 times more than our usual meals, and left us just as satisfied.

Mounting our packs we boarded the ever familiar public bus for our journey to the train station, where we settled into our ever familiar role as the station-spectacle and after waving to or 'fans' we sat down and read our way through the hour until the train arrived.

As it was already almost 10pm when the train arrived, we off-loaded our weighty friends and set about reading ourselves to sleep in our luxurious soft-sleeper cabin for our last night of freedom. Our cabin even had a door to keep out the noise and the smell of urine drifting from the toilets, AND we could sit up in our beds as there were only 4 bunks in the room instead of 6!!
Adlibing our way to a new home.