Ladies' & Gents'
Why and where the missing link.?.?.? Well it all started when we arrived in China Yesterday. Indeed left Kobe (in Japan where there is a Place Montmartre!) on 18 of april on a freight boat with a passenger section. So it ended up being smaller then we imagined ( on the contrary we underestimated the crowd and chaos of a train station ). We were 60 passengers max ; Karaoke bar the only evening entertainement - by the third hour onboard felt like a school camp. We were in cabin/dorms japanese style where up to 21 people can fit...luckily we were only six in ours. SHO (moustache guy on pict. a kind of Wong Kar Wai character) was the "passenger manager". Nice guy, he put us (as the 6 foreigners) up with a japanese group on cultural mission... Homoshiroi aka interesting: a lot of mime language, a lot of hey Jude (some classic die hard), a gyosa cooking lesson and a origami present for our birthday! So for SHO, spread the word. If you have little money and heaps of time go for the "China Express Line" experience.
So Back to Missing Link...Tianjin was rainy when we arrived. Past the official and hopped in a cab with a couple from boat to town. It became a mission to find hotel. The whole neighbourhood has been torn down except for hotel. To get to it was near impossible by car (we came to think that it disappeared with the rest). The city was a sea of mud (no mudwave so far). Driving rules? There' aren't any.
Well the Missing Link was in that 2 hour drive ... Randomly, section of - footpath, roads and buildings - are missing. It does get quite impressive when water fills the holes. Hazard,Hazard: The actual towns' first impression is like a war torn one, illuminated by blossoming trees.
So now we got over the title... well maybe not. Another missing brain link was catching the train. Our idea of a romantic (the artistic period not st Valentine) journey of getting lost and findind ourselvein the heart of the country came crumbling down on first day. All we found was "2 Beijing please - She She". The plan was to get to Tianjin train station (so far ok) then head to JiXian to hike around a less visited route of wall. 4 hours, 2 Queues later We were getting nowhere.Only stares and intrigued laugh from the locals or not who knows. Kind of a strange feeling to be stared at like a monkey in a tea room. A minimum of English or a lot of time is needed to travel out of the usual way.
But now we're in this cosy and small hotel sipping warm beer (Fridge is used as a storing facility not a a cooling one) after a wander in the hutong. Emilie Bargained the price as you should.
Well that's it folk. Happy B'Day Marty. Glad you two made it safe and on time back to Oz land. Once again Domo arigato gosaimasu.
