39 in the rain by the mighty Yangtze - 39 v dežju ob mogočni Yangtze

Chongqing, 21. May 2012

So much is happening and I hardly find internet! Or time:-)

After leaving Yangshuo I visited the famous Dragon Backbone rice terasses north of Guilin and was not impressed:-) Some sights are simply overrated or I should come in different time of year. On the bus I met two girls, Laetitia from France and Mihal from Israel. It s strange, so far I have seen only women traveling alone:-)
As next day was my birthday, I decided that I will not spend 20 hours of that day on the train from Guilin to Chongqing and have treated myself with the plane ticket :) It turned out that also Mihal had to catch the plane from Guilin and we decided to share a room which meant much nicer hotel and lower cost.
Guilin turned out to be very very nice place with Moon (silver lights) and Sun (yellow lights) pagoda, great pedestrian area and a bar (well several of them, obviously:-) with live music. The singer had a fantastic voice and she agreed to sing a song just for me. For my birthday. It was very lovely evening and thank you, Mihal (did I mention that's a woman's name?) for spending it with me.

Next morning the flight to Chongqing was depressing as it rained all the way and after we landed and when I arrived to the city. Finding my way was difficult and I started to wonder why I have ever come to this town. I couldn't remember, I think it was the Yangze river. I didn't have intention to take the cruise but the city seemed like a good idea. But after being left in the pouring rain, not so much any more! The bus driver just showed me off the bus. I had no idea where I was and then this magic of traveling operates: I learned that the nicest people are young woman, so I just asked the first one I saw. In the shoe shop next to the bus stop. She couldn't speak English but immediately she referred me to somebody next door. It was a travel agency with English speaking girl who tells me everything: which bus to take, where to buy train ticket and where to change money. I walked, still in the rain, about 500 meters to the bank. By then I was quite wet and the bus station looked quite far. I stood under some roof picking up courage to continue and then, this nice lady from the shop behind my back, just comes to me and gives me: an umbrella. I was so grateful I could hug her!
I admit, it was easier with umbrella. I managed to find a hostel where they even gave me a double room for a price of single (for my birthday :-) The rest of the day turned out great. I didn't know much about this place but it turned out to be a modern city with some hidden treasures of ancient times, like the Arhat Temple and restored guild house. There are sky scrappers everywhere and next to them those old little streets where one has a feeling that everything is falling apart. I took a cable car on the other side of the mighty Yangze and back and then just relaxed with a beer and a book in a riverside cafe. 

Yangtze river

Reka Yangtze

Chongqing, 21. maj

Toliko se dogaja, jaz pa komaj najdem internet. Ali čas...

Zadnji izlet, za katerega sem se domenila v Yangshuoju, je bil obisk znamenitih riževih teras, narejenih v hrib, ki jih posrečeno imenujejo zmajev skelet. No, mene niso ravno navdušile. Morda je napačen letni čas ali pa je bilo enostavno preveč ljudi. Sprehod gre tudi čez vas, kjer imajo vse ženske dolge lase!

Na avtobusu sem spoznala Laetizio iz Francije in Mihal iz Izraela. Če razmislim, sem do sedaj med ljudmi, ki potujejo sami, srečala ali opazila samo ženske. Hm, le kaj to pomeni?

Ker je bil naslednji dan moj rojstni dan in moj naslednji cilj oddaljen 20 ur vožnje z vlakom, sem si podarila letalsko vozovnico iz Guilina v Chongqing. Izkazalo se je, da ima tudi Mihal (sem omenila, da je Mihal zenska?) letalo isti dan, zato sva se odločili, da si deliva sobo, kar je pomenilo veliko prijetnejši hotel in nižjo ceno.

Obema je bil Guilin všeč.  Čudovito osvetljeni Lunina (s srebrno svetlobo) in Sončeva (z zlato) pagoda, urejena in zanimiva peš cona v središču mesta, kjer sva našli teraso z živo glasbo. Pevka je imela čudovit glas in je eno pesem odpela zame, za moj rojstni dan. Bil je krasen večer in hvala ti Mihal, da si ga preživela z mano.

Polet naslednji dan v Chongqing je bil depresiven, saj je deževalo ves čas,

Chongqing

tudi po pristanku in se potem, ko sem se prebila v mesto. Tokrat sem imela več  težav, kako se znajti, in začela sem se spraševati, kaj me je sploh pritegnilo v to mesto. Menda reka Yangze, ampak v tistem trenutku bi šla kar kam drugam. Voznik avtobusa me je poslal z avtobusa na kar eni postaji in pojma nisem imela, kje sem. In v takem trenutku se zgodi potovalna čarovnija. Ker vse kar rabiš, je čisto blizu. Namreč, do sedaj mi je postalo jasno, da so najbolj prijazni ljudje mlade ženske. Zato sem se obrnila na prvo, ki sem jo zagledala. V trgovini s čevlji zraven postajališča. Seveda ni znala angleško, ampak me je takoj peljala v lokal zraven njenega, kjer je bila, neverjetno - potovalna agencija z angleško govorečo gospodično. Ta je vse vedela: na kateri avtobus moram, kje kupim vozovnico za vlak, kje zamenjam denar. 500 metrov do banke v dežju me je premočilo in ko sem stala pod naslednjo streho in zbirala pogum, da odkorakam dalje, se mi je izza hrbta približala starejša  gospa in mi podarila: dežnik! Neverjetno, kar objela bi jo!

Priznam, z dežnikom je bilo lažje. Našla sem hostel, kjer so mi celo dali dvoposteljno sobo za ceno enoposteljne. Kot darilo. Preostanek dneva je bil prav krasen, kljub dežju. Bila sem v mestu z neverjetnim kontrastom med starim in novim. V nebo segajoče stolpnice poleg razpadajočih hišic iz nekega drugega časa. Z gondolo sem se popeljala preko mogočne Yangze in nazaj, nato pa sem si ob reki privoščila pivo in sprostitev.