flurry of activity

my goodness, K has been busy with all his blogging, so i thought I'd get a quick word in edgeways...

We had some really lovely final departing memories of china:

1. Caught a bus to Nanning from Yanshuo without difficulty (and the toilets were pretty good at the stop, with Great Wall of china tiles and incense and running water!!)

2. Got a lady taxi driver to Nanning train station from the bus station and she was an ace sensible safety first driver and never used her car horn once!! (unheard of in china)

3. managed to find the correct ticket booth for international departures (thank you 3 years of Japanese tuition) FIRST time round

4. The ticket seller was REALLY friendly and helpful and sold us lovely soft sleeper tickets for a very good price. (Best price for you!) Transactions were conducted in fluent Chinglesh

5. Put our luggae in left luggage at train station and had a great laugh with the 2 little old ladies there who marvelled at Kieran's display of strength and power and my obvious 'fluency' with the Chinese language. (Mingtian...piao...3 ge..etc)

6. Had a luxurious train berth TO OURSELVES...well the train was pretty much empty.

7. Most of the train staff spoke to us (nicely) in English!

8. Had no trouble exiting the China or entering Vietnam at the border (albeit in the middle of the night.) One of the customs police actually had a bit of a laugh with a couple of Chinese tourists helping them to pronounce all important Vietnamese words like 'thank you'. Which also gave us a laugh and created a nice relaxing atmosphere while waiting for our passports- not all that common an experience at passport control in the middle of the night.

It was all so easy and fun and everyone was so friendly and helpful it made us sad to leave China... But we are ready to walk the streets of Hanoi now...