Suzhou2 Aug 2008
|
|
Well, our second train ride didn't go quite as smoothly as the first. Mum and I managed to sleep through the night mostly, but when we woke the stops really began. I think we may have stopped at a few places for quite a while during the night, but at least i didn't notice it then! There had been heavy raining through areas that we were training through, and i believe this is what caused the delays, most likely to other trains coming back towards Xi'an I guess, and that is how i expect it affected us. So, instead of arriving at 10:44am, we arrived around 14:00pm!
We drove directly to the hotel (crazy Chinese drivers here too) and quickly showered and changed to manage to meet at 15:00 and begin the days activities. First on the agenda was a ride through the canals on a gondola (RMB80). Very nice and relaxing :-). Then it was on to the Silk Factory No. 2. The taxi dropped us off and Evelyn spotted a newspaper/magazine stall. We swarmed the place looking for a newspaper showing the eclipse in better pictures than we were able to see using our cameras. With newspapers for the English & Italian couples sorted, Jack promised Mum and I a copy of the newspaper at some stage and we set forth to the Silk Factory. We arrived at 17:00, just as the place was closing. However, at the prospect of sales they stayed open. The silk weavers had mostly gone, so that part of the tour was very quick and we mostly spent our time in the shop. Mum and I both bought silk duvet inners (RMB 550 for a King 1750g, not really sure why i bought it...) and the Italian couple bought a couple of Burberry type cashmere scarves. Also, another group arrived while we were in the shop, which made me feel a bit better.
Leaving the shop we waited some time for a taxi, but all passing were full, so we had our first public bus experience. i think we were lucky, it was hardly full and as a bonus it was air conditioned! We did have a long (20-30min) walk back to the hotel though, I don't think Jack really realised how far we were dropped off from the hotel...
Not long after we arrived back it was time to meet again to visit the Garden of the Master of the Nets for the nightly performance. As well as the lovely villa and surrounding gardens, we got to enjoy some folk theatre, musicians, a fan dance and some Chinese opera. It was a little commercial, but still a good experience.
On the way back from the Garden, Mum and I stopped for dinner at a Cantonese restaurant while the others decided to try out the Italian place just down the road from the Hotel. I wasn't feeling the best at this stage, so didn't end up eating much of my dinner, and was ready to hit the sack as soon as we arrive back at our room!
