Hi All,
We have arrived!
Got off the train and boldly headed in the wrong direction along the slippery platform before being sent back by an official. Even more slippery up on the street and chaos. We needed to find money and it wasn't clear where we could find an autoteller. The taxi drivers were hounding us and we had to cross the road to get away from them which was good as we found a bank. Then we couldn't find the bus stop and after many failed attempts at getting the address to taxi driver decided to walk. Luckily a dodgy looking minivan taxi driver finally understood the directions and gave us a price which no doubt was way too much (AUD8) for the trip but at that stage we didn't care. It was a slippery and white knuckle trip to the hostel and I was looking at the map to make sure we were going in the right direction but there was no problem until we arrived. The hostel was full and our booking had disappeared! Nooooooooo. It was going to be near on impossible to find another hostel bed but the reception said that there were dorm beds (male and female). I got angry and asked to see the manager and soon we magically had a room that was allocated to someone else but they had not arrived yet and had not paid . Hopefully it is ours for the next 4 nights! Finger crossed.
Next to book a train to beijing. Found on first attempt that the trains are booked on 10 and 11 Jan which is when we want to leave so will have to try again with more determination tomorrow.
we are being blessed with much milder less life threatening temperatures of -10 degrees in harbin with heavy snow so we are thankful
Bye,
David and Vanessa
