Fellow Virtual Travelers and Historians,
Today is Monday, October 24th. Yesterday we traveled by train from
Huayin at the base of Hua mountain, to Ling Bao in the interior of
China. Train travel in China can be nerve-wracking as you only have two
minutes to get on or off the train with all of your luggage. We were on
our own with no guide. On the escalator ride up to the platform, an
older lady fell and the attendant had to stop the escalator, which meant
walking our heavy luggage back down and then up the steps to the
platform. With that lost time, we jumped on the first car we could,
planning to walk up the train to our assigned Car # 3. By the time we
got to our seats, we'd arrived at our destination! And no doubt
entertained everyone watching us pass through their cars!
After exiting our train, we were the only people on the train station
platform. All signs were in Chinese. We finally figured out where to go
to get a taxi (down a curving hill) and found one that actually had room
for all of us and our luggage. The 40 minute taxi ride into Ling Bao
took us through the most rural of China sights.
The closer we got to our destination, the more we resigned ourselves to
accommodations that would match our first trip to rural Wudangshan in
1996. We envisioned dirty water coming out of the bathroom pipes and
holes bashed in the side of the bathtub to allow water to run across the
bathroom floor to the drain on the other side of the room. And then
there were the rats climbing up the curtains in the dining room…. and
the very large bugs... One of our mottos: Prepare for the worst, hope
for the best.
As our car ride continued, the rural sights and sounds started to turn
into more modern buildings, paved streets without potholes, and
eventually skyscrapers. Still prepared for the worst, we exited the
taxi, paid our fee and were greeted with an English-speaking hotel
manager. In the middle of nowhere in China, we came across our first
English-speaking hotel staff!
Then it got even better. The hotel is magnificent, with jade carvings,
fine shops, room amenities of all kinds, air conditioning and heat!
Thank you, Sun Bing of CITS Sunshine Travel in New York!
Today it is still overcast and our mission was to travel by taxi to a
location called Hangu Pass. This trek is important to both our Wudang
and Hua Mountain Odyssey books.
Watch for our report of Hangu Pass - we're excited about the stories we
learned today!
Rural sights on the way to Ling Bao via high speed train.
Master Karl moving luggage through the train cars.
Grand piano in the Lingbao hotel lobby. Atop a Koi pond, nonetheless.
Jade boat for sale in the hotel lobby.
Blessings,
Dennis & Anita