 |
| With our Guangzhou guide Helen as we prepare to depart for Hong Kong on the train |
I had quite the adventure trying to pack our belongings for our trip. We had expanded a lot since entering Guangzhou, especially after our big shopping day yesterday. The problem was that with train travel we had to carry all of our belongings with us on the train. There were no weight limits, which was a blessing, but there were only so many bags that we could carry with us, especially since Minsy couldn't carry a bag, and someone would need to be pushing Minsy in the stroller. So I had to figure out some sort of system to make it work for our trip today. After this we will be traveling on the plane home, and we'll be able to check luggage, so that will be easier.
I laid out all of our belongings in piles around my room so that I could see what I was working with. Then I tried to pack them into our bags so that they were not too heavy or too bulky. I had five hours until we needed to check out of the hotel. I assumed that would be plenty of time. But with fifteen minutes to go a hotel bellboy came to our room to see if he could help wheel our luggage down, and I was still trying to make things work. Herman went out with Laney so that she could use some of her own money to buy more pearls at the pearl market, and while they were out they picked up a collapsible bag that I could use. That was good. We ended up needed all of it. When all was said and done, we had twenty-one pieces of luggage, including suitcases, backpacks, and one group of boxes which contained the swords that the boys bought yesterday. Holy Cow! How were we going to get this to the train? I remember that when I was packing I read something that someone had written about packing to go to China. They said that you should do your packing, look at it, and then remove half of what you packed, because you would be unhappy that you brought it. That was really what I felt like at that moment. Herman wanted to just leave most of our clothing and personal products behind and just take the items we had purchased, but I couldn't do that because I didn't want to feel like I was going to have to go out and shop for a bunch of brand new things when I arrived back in the states.
The sweet bellboy helped us get everything down to the lobby, and his eyes only bulged a little bit when he saw all the luggage. After checking out we still had an hour to wait for our driver, so we set out for one last time to have lunch in China. I really wanted to eat at one of the more authentic little restaurants nearby, but we really didn't have the amount of time required for that, so we ended up back at the shrine to Bruce Lee where we had eaten earlier in the week. It hadn't been one of my best meals in China, but it was fast, and for today, that was the most important thing. The food ended up being pretty good, but it still had that mass produced kind of flavor, bland with nothing really special about it.
Once we finished eating we met our driver on the street. For some reason he brought a little bit smaller van to drive us this time. That was a bit of a problem since we had all of our luggage with us, but we managed to squeeze in just fine. Then we had to battle Guangzhou traffic. I had thought all week that the traffic in Guangzhou wasn't half as bad as the traffic in Beijing or Wuhan, but today was the first day where it was just dead slow because of so many people driving. We crawled along at a snail's pace. We thought that we were going to have to go to the American consulate to pick up Minsy's visa, so we began to fret that we weren't going to be able to get to our 4:56 train on time. Our driver didn't speak any English, so he couldn't really say much to us, but Herman asked him somehow if we would be able to get our train on time, and he replied that he wasn't sure. Oh no! It would work out, but I didn't relish the thought of having to stick around in the station for another train to pass by. One interesting thing we saw as we left our hotel was the edge of the animal market that I had read about in travel brochures. This market was supposedly not for the faint of heart because of the inhumane treatment of the animals that were being sold to be eaten, including several types of animals that we don't normally eat. I thought the pet market outside our hotel was what they were talking about, and I didn't think it was that bad, but it turns out that it was just a few blocks over. We drove by a man selling chickens crammed into cages. The most cringe-worthy item we saw him selling was snakes. There must have been about a hundred slithering snakes crammed into an aquarium tank. Ewwww! I think I'm glad we never really found this place. I don't think my stomach could have handled it.
Luckily we ended up driving right to the station and meeting Helen there. I had forgotten, but I had given her authorization so that she could go to the consulate and pick up Minsy's visa, so we just needed to drive to the train station. Helen took us right where we needed to be in the station and gave us all of the immigration stuff that we would need for Minsy when we arrived in the US. She sat and talked with us until our gate opened, and we got a nice picture with her. She was really a great guide for us while we have been in Guangzhou. She had a lot of people to work with, but she managed to get the job done for all of us.
 |
| Finding our way through the train station with our loads of luggage |
I have to say that the security system at the train station didn't inspire total confidence in our safety. We were able to walk right on the train with three swords, and no one questioned us at all. Sure, they are dull copies of working swords, but it would be possible to hurt someone if we were so inclined. But the nice thing was that we were able to get our load of baggage quickly through the system without holding the whole group up. The rail station was a pretty nice one. It has the feel of an airport, but without all of the hustle and bustle. There is a calmer, more relaxed feel to these train stations, and I like that.
When we loaded up into our train car we found that we were together with three other families from the US who had adopted from China. Another agency had their families take the train into Hong Kong. They would be flying back to the US tomorrow. I think they got better prices that way. So, anyway, there were lots of other families like us on the train, so we didn't feel so isolated as the only big family with loud children around. The nice thing was that they also had lots of luggage, so I didn't feel like I was the only person who overpacked for our trip to China.
Our train was a pretty fast train, but it wasn't the sleek, newer bullet trains that we had ridden from Beijing and Wuhan. It was an older train that looked a lot like the Amtrak trains you see in the US. It was obvious that China doesn't give as much attention to these types of trains as they do to their bullet trains. The workers weren't dressed quite as snazzily, and the service on the train was not quite as personable as it was on the bullet train. But it was only a two hour trip, so we didn't really need all that much. This train ride was backwards. We faced backwards, and when the people from Hong Kong traveled back to Guangzhou they would be facing forwards. I've never ridden like that before. It was a bit hard to get used to, and I never did get used to seeing the scenery outside while looking the other way, but I survived.
 |
| Relaxing on the train |
The horrible thing about the train was something I learned about the train to Hong Kong the day before from the family who traveled to our consulate appointment with us. I didn't know this, but whenever someone uses the bathroom on the train in China it just flushes out onto the tracks, but in Hong Kong that isn't allowed. Instead of trying to change the trains, the Chinese train system solves the problem by just locking the bathrooms before we enter Hong Kong train jurisdiction. No one on the train ever said anything about this at all. I forgot to remind all the kids to head to the bathroom before the train got to Hong Kong, and the trip through Hong Kong before we got to their station was at least another 30 - 45 minutes long. JoJo started to complain that he needed to go to the bathroom. We tried to tell him to hold it if he could, but he said that there was no way that he could do it. He was getting desperate, and there was really only one solution that wouldn't involve him peeing his pants on the train. He went to sit with Herman, and Herman pulled out a recently emptied water bottle. It turns out that JoJo really did have to go because he filled that bottle back up to capacity. Herman was laughing so hard, but trying to not make any noise, so he ended up just sitting in his seat crying silent tears. But at least we averted any big crisis.
I was a bit sad when we arrived to find that the train station's bathrooms still contained squatty potties. Although I have been proud of myself for conquering the scary little potties while I have been in China, but I think I was ready to be done trying to maneuver around while using them. It was my first reminder that Hong Kong really is a blending of east and west.
We had not really made any plans for what to do when we arrived at the train station in Hong Kong. We didn't know anything about the public transportation, whether our hotel offered free shuttles, or anything. As we came down the ramp a cab driver came up to us and offered for he and his friend to drive all of us in his two taxis. We had been told to be wary of cab drivers offering rides in Beijing who were not in the assigned taxi spots because those drivers were likely going to cheat us. We weren't sure if the same was true in Hong Kong or not. Herman asked if it was a metered cab, and the man said it was. That made us feel better. Then he negotiated a price so that we could all go for 200 Hong Kong dollars. That was pretty much the same as we had been told to expect by some people on our train, so we took the deal.
It took a bit of time to get ourselves loaded up, but once we did we were able to finally get on our way. The first thing that happened that I wasn't expecting occured when I jumped into the passenger side of the cab, only to find a steering wheel in my face. Since Hong Kong has so much British influence, the cars drive on the opposite side of the road. That was very hard to get used to. I would see people turning in directions I wasn't expecting, and I kept thinking we were headed for wrecks. I think it would take me awhile to ever get used to driving in a system like this.
Our hotel was not far from the train station. It is an older hotel that is not right in the middle of the downtown area. We had a horrible time finding a hotel room for us. There were very few available rooms anywhere, and there didn't seem to be any discount rooms at all in the area. Herman looked and looked and looked. There weren't even available spots at places like youth hostels. We were going to have to spend more than we normally do in order to have a place to stay. To do this we decided that we would just plan on reserving a family room at our hotel and only having one room instead of two. We were going to be crowded, but it would only be for a few days. We could handle it, and it was better than spending a small fortune for our lodging this week. When we arrived we found that the "family suite" really only was for a family of three. The room really was small. We'll be packed in here, but it'll be fine. The hardest part of sharing a room is trying to find a system for using our luggage where we won't trash the room every time we need to change clothes. I don't think it is possible. I'll just have to spend more time organizing each day.
After getting ourselves settled we decided to walk around the neighborhood to see if we could find a nice place to eat dinner. This is a nice little neighborhood. There don't seem to be as many people walking around as I saw in the cities we visited in China, but it was still pretty busy outside. Our neighborhood contains several pet stores selling dogs and cats. So cute! The places we have visited in China and here seem to sell a lot of purebred lap dogs, usually also very fuzzy dogs. I think it has been interesting to see how neighborhood shops seem to specialize in one area rather than having a variety of shops on a block. It seems to be the same in Hong Kong. Our hotel seems to be on a street that specializes in pet stores and veterinary offices.
We found a group of restaurants nearby, and chose one of them to enter. We had come to Hong Kong expecting that we would find more people who spoke English, making things a bit easier. I'm sure that is true, but in this neighborhood it seems as if that is not really the case. One of the workers in the restaurant spoke a very little bit of English, but it was another case of ordering items we were not sure about until they arrived on our table. We found that this time the food ended up being wonderful. It was a lot like all of the meals that we have eaten during our time in China, but it had a bit of a softer, more western taste like we are used to tasting in the US. Hard to describe. I think it is just one of those things that you have to experience.
The funny thing that happened during the meal was that they brought out cups of tea to our table as they are often wont to do in Chinese restaurants. In China (and in Hong Kong as well, it seems) water costs money but tea is complimentary with every meal. We are not tea drinkers, so we have not been having tea with our meals. Since we have gotten Minsy we haven't had any tea on our table at restaurants because we let them know ahead of time not to give us any. At this restaurant they never asked. They just brought it out. When they brought the cup of tea to our table Minsy got REALLY excited. She clapped her hands and started blowing out of her mouth like she needed to cool the tea down. Obviously she has a pretty extensive history of drinking tea with her meals. We'll have to get a good supply of herbal tea for her to drink in the future, I think.
I can tell that Minsy is already starting to understand some basic things we are saying, especially our names. I have now graduated back to being "Mama" again. Hurray! The neat thing that Minsy did today with names was that when Minsy came up to give me something that belonged to JoJo I told her to take it to JoJo. I didn't gesture or look at JoJo at all, but Minsy immediately took the item right to him. She knew what needed to be done, and she did it. She also called JoJo by name. She calls him BoBo, but we sometimes do that too, so we all knew who she was talking about. It is fun to see her grasping the language so quickly. It is good that she has the opportunity to do this at such a young age. I think that if she was much older it would be a great deal harder for her to learn our language.
So now we are snuggled together any which way we can in this tiny hotel room for a very warm Hong Kong night. Tomorrow we do some exploring and sightseeing in Hong Kong to see exactly what is out there. I'm a little excited, but I think that truly I'm just ready to be home now. It's time.
No comments:
Post a Comment