Wangkou, the first of many quiet villages in Wuyuan
21.10.2017 - 22.10.2017
View
Nanchang 2017-2018
on baixing's travel map.
The teachers' shuttle bus got me to Qingshan bus station after work. I was pretty sure there wouldn't be a bus leaving until tomorrow, but I tried anyway. A retired international business professor sat down beside me and she spoke quite fluent English. It was surprising, I can't say I've met any older women speaking any English ever, in three years in China. My enthusiasm for meeting her was extinguished however, when she said that having twin boys is preferable to girls. (We were taking about another foreign teacher who had brought his twin baby boys to China).
Like I suspected, there were no buses leaving for Wuyuan until Saturday morning at 9, so I bought a ticket and went home.
The next day, I finally got to Wuyuan by lunchtime, and I went straight to Wangkou, hoping I could find the hostel I saw on Ctrip. I won't be using Booking.com ever again, and you'll see why in subsequent blog posts from Shanghai. The way they dealt with a violent situation, was less than satisfying.
I didn't book the hostel because I try not to use my credit card when I can pay in the local currency. Unfortunately Ctrip doesn't operate the same way as Booking.com, so I will be taking my chances again, just showing up and paying in cash. Of course, the hostel was full, so I lumbered back down to the road to find another one. They made me lunch of bamboo and weird leafy things. They laughed when I ordered two beers, and then brought me to a super cute room on the river. We ran there, and I was confused until I realized we were hiding from the guards that charge 60 yuan to get into the village. I went to bed early, enjoying the warm sunset from my twee window.
I woke up super early, took a shower, and strolled around with a warm tea, as the village was waking up. I lost all my photos because either my camera or my SD card is broken. I got a new one, as you shall see in the future.
Across the bridge, through the mist, there was a riverside hike that ended abruptly under a collapsed tree. That was also really peaceful.
I watched a couple of women do laundry in the freezing river, and then went home. It turns out the Lonely Planet was wrong again. I even had the 2017 version this time. I got back to Wuyuan in time for the so-called 10 a.m. bus to Nanchang, but found out it didn't leave until 2 p.m. I made the best of it and took a nap in the park by the river. Also enjoyable, although not ideal.
