Saturday 2 June
Today we are
travelling from Beijing to Hangzhou, a distance of about 1,000 miles,
and it's only going to take 6½
hours. The reason for this relatively short travel time is
that Reg has decided that we can't come to China without going at
least once on the shiny-white CRH bullet train (the ultra-fast,
ultra-smooth, ultra-modern train that travels at 300 kilometres
(about 186 miles) per hour. We're travelling 1st class
on this occasion; I think the only difference between 1st
and 2nd class is that there are a lot less people in 1st
class, and there's more leg room. The carriage is just like the
inside of an aeroplane, complete with hostess, but the only free
drink is a tiny bottle of water. There's also super 1st
class, called business class, and Reg pops along to have a quick look
– they have fully reclining bed-type seats in there.
We leave Beijing
South train station soon after 11.00 am, and are due to arrive at
Hangzhou at about 5.30 pm. We're not sorry to leave the push and
shove of Beijing behind, although our trip to the outstanding
beyond-amazing Great Wall means we're left with an inspiring memory
of our time in Beijing.
The CRH train
whispers along – you can hardly feel or hear it moving. I'm at the
not-wanting-to-put-it-down stage of my latest kindle book, and also
have yesterday's blog to write, so the time passes really quickly for
me. Reg spends the time listening to music and dozing.
The only fact I've
gleaned from Reg about the Hangzhou Youth Hostel, where we are
staying for the next few days, is that it's near a lake, which is
heralded as a World Heritage site by UNESCO (yes, another one!) I
know Reg has researched really hard to find us somewhere appealing
to stay after the cancellation of the Tibet tour – if we'd gone to
Tibet, this next week and a half in mid-China wouldn't have happened.
What Reg and I
notice most on our taxi drive to the West Lake Youth Hostel is that
many of the roads are lined with trees, and there's greenery
everywhere, in complete contrast to concrete-filled Beijing. (Ok, so
Beijing does have some green bits, but they are few and far between).
The hostel is full
of character, in a peaceful setting with tables among trees in the
forecourt. Inside there's a reception area/bar, more tables and
chairs, some easy chairs and bookshelves, with books you can take if
you want, left by fellow travellers. It all looks very homely. We
are given a warm welcome and as there's food on offer and quite a
varied menu, both Chinese and English, we decide to eat-in tonight.
We always feel tired after a journey.
Our room is
pleasant and spacious with en-suite bathroom; and the icing on the
cake is the free wifi, although we can only get this in the inside
bar, or the hostel forecourt, not in our room.
After our meal I
post the blog, which I wrote on the train in Open Office, and we have
an early night.
No comments:
Post a Comment