Our last destination on our super amazing ten-day trip was the lake-side city of
Arriving in
Because we came in to
After lunch I re-checked my directions, and realized that while the bus number we were looking for apparently didn’t stop there, a bus they had listed on another set of directions (they have different direction depending on where you’re coming into town from) did stop there. So when the next one stopped I hopped on and asked the driver if it was the right bus and he confirmed my suspicions so we all joyously hopped on! Once on the bus, it took about 25 more minutes to get to our stop. The first thing we saw was the beautiful
We showed the address to a couple workers on the road who pointed us in the right direction and we began our trek to find our hostel. It was further down the road from the bus stop then we’d been expecting and we began to wonder if we had passed it when we spotted a different group of our teachers through a bakery window. It was the group Kareena had been travelling with and we were very excited to run into each other. They told us that our hostel was just a little further down the road and came along with us as we checked in and got our room. The hostel was so opposite from the one we’d been at in
There was a common room where they provided free drinking water and with doors you could open to the air. 
There was even a wrought-iron spiral staircase leading up to a roof-top garden with a pretty view.
There are a lot of options when it comes to eating in
We got to the restaurant right at their peak hours so we’re obliged to wait in a line to print out a number and then wait for our number to be called. We had a couple hours to burn until our table was ready so we decided to explore the city for a while. We headed down a random street lined with various kinds of shops. It was fascinating to see how many couples were out and about on the streets. The other group sure wasn’t lying when they told us that
We also crossed more street performers playing their guitars and singing. As we rounded the block we came across a fun little discovery, a 10 yuan shop. This was the first time (but definitely not the last) that we discovered one of these gems. Think of it as a Chinese style dollar store. They had everything from knick-knacks to headbands and jewelry to cheap watches and books. I ended up getting some sunglasses and a new journal. Next door some of the girls got drawn into a scarf shop and inevitably the insatiable pull caught me as well. I ended up getting a couple new scarves and we all skipped happily along as we headed back to Grandma’s.
We arrived just as our number was called and were given our table number and directed to an elevator. As we stepped out into the restaurant we were led to our table and given a book full of pictures, a paper with the lists of items and their prices, and a pencil. Basically it works like this: you look through the book and pick out what dishes you want and then mark them off on the paper, a waiter comes by and picks up your list and orders your food. You eat family style by serving yourself from the dishes as they are placed in the middle of the table. It was some of the best food I’ve eaten here. We got potatoes, broccoli, noodles, sweet pork, green beans, and basically everything yummy and delicious. I think in all we ordered maybe 9 dishes of food. It definitely lived up to all the hype. The best part? It only cost us about 25 yuan each.
After dinner we decided to head back to the hostel, since we were all exhausted and a couple people were getting sick. I sat outside in the courtyard for a little while writing and enjoying watching the various people about their business. A little later I grabbed a couple of the others and we went up one of the spiral staircases to the roof-top garden. As we sat enjoying the view and chatting we noticed to guys talking inside on of the common rooms off of the garden. The reason it caught our attention was that they were speaking French and Ashley and Rachelle are both studying it. It wasn’t hard to tell that the two in the room were native speakers which both fascinated and intimidated the two of them. I tried talking them into going in and introducing themselves, but they were too nervous so I eventually stood up walked in and did it for them. Luckily they spoke good English as well. After I introduced myself the others scurried in after me, and I told them that Ashley and Rachelle knew some French. Intrigued the two men (who introduced themselves as Alex and Bruno) tried to talk to them. Ashley stepped up and did her best and Alex and Bruno cheered on her efforts. Rachelle (who actually knows a lot more French) was too nervous however, and wouldn’t speak any. As we chatted with them we found out that Alex and Bruno were actually film-makers who were out making a documentary on
Our first mistake the next day was in not planning on when to leave to go out and see things. I figured we would keep to about the same schedule so I got up early and started getting ready. Alex and Bruno, who apparently had not slept yet, were in the common room chilling and I sat with Rachelle and talked with them for a bit as other people in our group woke up one by one. Rachelle and I left them to finish getting ready and went into the little co-ed shower area to use the mirrors. Hilariously drunk the two of them popped their heads in and noticed us straightening our hair. I’m not quite sure how it happened but somehow we ended up partially straightening Alex’s hair and scrunching up Bruno’s a bit before they stumbled out to actually go to bed. We got a kick out of it for sure. I was ready fairly quickly and then waited as the others dawdled around. We didn’t end up leaving until almost 10 and we hadn’t really planned our day very well. Now I’m decently easy-going and I don’t mind not having things perfectly planned out but I’ve discovered that when travelling with this specific six people we need to have our stuff planned out to the T or nothing gets done. We knew we wanted to go see some Buddha stone carvings so we hopped on a bus to take us there which lasted about 45 minutes. We arrived at a large beautiful green park near the Lingyin temple. Following some signs we found the area with the carvings and had to pay a small fee to get in.
The first thing you see is a large rocky hill before you. As you get closer you can see, carved into the side of the mountain, large scenes of different Buddha’s. 
It was so impressive to see the detail and care put into those carvings. And there were so many of them! You could follow paths into caves where even more carvings were, and up around large piles of rocks and over streams as you admire the beautiful work. 
There are hundreds of stone carvings throughout the park and I loved seeing them. I had a marvelous time and I was once again amazed at what I was able to see that had came forth from such a marvelous old and rich culture.
(This is the bus we caught from the park, pretty sweet huh? Even better, it was all wooden park benches on the inside. Definitely coolest bus we've found here.)
As we left the park we caught the same bus past the train station to pick up our tickets for the way home. Buying train tickets is always an adventure, and this trip wasn’t any different. It was a joyful hour of waiting in line and then trying to communicate with a very unhelpful and annoyed worker who seemed bent on making us pay for the most expensive ticket they could. Luckily by this point I was fairly used to the system and managed to somehow get us tickets home without having to sacrifice bodily parts or my first-born child.
By the time we got back to the lake-side everyone was super hungry and we were in search of a meal. This is where we made our second mistake. For some reason it seemed that everyone was under the impression that we all needed to eat at the same place, which didn’t make sense to me since some of us will eat anything and other’s are a little more choosy about their food. This led to some unnecessary arguing as people got onto little tiffs about what they wanted to eat. Needless to say way too much time was wasted wandering around being angry and when we finally stopped to eat there were at least a couple people highly dissatisfied. Being one of those people who will eat just about anything, I wish we had just said “hey everyone go get some grub and we’ll meet up at this place at this time”. I recommend that way of doing things to anyone travelling with a slightly bigger group of people.
After lunch a couple people wanted to find some salon place they’d been told about but didn’t want the rest of us to leave them in case they couldn’t find it so we ended up wandering around with them as they attempted to follow very bad directions to a place that seemed to be a myth. It was somewhat entertaining, but maybe not exactly what I would have chosen to do. Although, on the bright side, as we explored the city we came across a supermarket with quite the amazing imported food isle. There was hot chocolate, spaghetti, pudding, regular popcorn, and a bunch of different cereals. It was a blessed moment. Seeing that isle we all had an epiphany. There was a kitchen we were able to use in our hostel, and here was normal food waiting to be cooked, and out group was full of avid cooks who missed it very much….. it may have been one of the happiest moments of my trip :D We all went in on it together and bought noodles and spaghetti sauce and jam and eggs and bread and some fruit. Then we skipped merrily home and got ready for bed. Before we headed to sleep we all sat down and had a little chat about what had happened earlier that day. We were all feeling a little flustered so we made a plan together so we could make sure and get all the stuff done that we wanted to that next day.
Complete with butter, jam, and fruit, and some scrambled eggs on the side it was so delicious! Especially considering how often none of us eat breakfast at all. We all took turns cooking our own food and then we sat down together and thoroughly enjoyed munching our delectable meal. 
We made a quick dash for the door when we were done and began our hilarious last full day in that beautiful city. Our first order of business was to check out the local silk market. When we arrived we found a bustling street of white closely packed buildings bulging with both fine and cheap silk items. There was everything from shirts to scarves to ties to dresses. We were all interested in getting different things so we split up and planned to meet back later. I walked the whole length of the street before doubling back to check out a couple shops that had looked promising. I was looking for one of the traditional Chinese style dresses and a silk scarf. I looked at a few shops but the first ones didn’t have anything I liked. However, walking down a little side section of the street I found a small shop with a couple dresses hanging up that were exactly what I was looking for. Walking in I was immediately spotted by the shopkeeper who rushed to my “aide”, asking in broken English if she could help me with anything. I immediately spotted the dress I wanted and asked her if I could see it. She rustled through a stack of plastic wrapped dresses until she found the one I had requested and then began looking me up and down before pulling out one that proved to be just my size. It’s black brocade silk with red flowers embroidered on it. Super beautiful! It didn’t take me long to haggle her down to a reasonable price and then walk out triumphantly, dress in hand. With a big smile on my face I met up with the others and we went to get on our bus back to the lake.
As we were waiting for our bus to get there however, Katie happened to look across the street and then suddenly yell out, “Go Max!!” It only took a moment for each of us to jump to our feet in excitement. We would have crossed the street right there but the road was blocked off. So we ran down to the intersection, across it, and then back down to the Go Max, where we startled a couple of unsuspecting workers with our cheers of joy. Soon enough we were skipping back to our bus stop, smiles on our faces and cups of pure frozen happiness in our hands. It certainly made the long ride back much more enjoyable, plus we now knew that it was possible to find more of these in other cities, and we had written down the email address so we could hunt them down in all the cities we visited.
As we arrived back in town we stopped by the hostel for some lunch. We made spaghetti, and enjoyed it along with some French bread we had come across. You find noodles a lot here in
Afterwards we went walking along the shore and happened upon one of the many bike rental areas littering the sidewalks. There amongst all the ordinary bikes was a magnificent sight…… a three…. person… bike. Oh it happened all right. We rented a couple of them and quickly walked them across the street into the more “pedestrian friendly” area. We looked at them quizzically for a moment, unsure of what exactly to do. This was going to be a first for all of us haha. We split up and hopped on to the bikes, me deciding to brave the front seat.
We even got our pictures taken multiple times as we stumbled about. I think there were quite a few people getting a kick out of our hysterical laughter. At one point we went inward to town a few blocks before promptly turning back after nearly getting squished. I’ll tell you, after rolling the streets of
There are a few islands dotting the waters of
At the center are numerous pagodas, buildings, and sculptures. Beautiful weeping willows rise out of the sea of green and cascade down to shield the old dwellings, and vibrant flowers. I could have spent an entire day just drinking in the atmosphere that permeated that beautiful place. 
It was a short ride back to the mainland where we bustled our way over to The Grandma’s for one last hurrah before heading home the next day. It was a much shorter wait, and before long we were seated at our table ruffling through the pages of mouth-watering dishes. We picked a few of the same ones from our previous visit, and ordered a few new ones. The service was prompt and our food was oh so delicious. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the pleasure of going to that restaurant again but it will forever be my favorite one in all of
We stopped by the supermarket to buy more yummies to cook for our last breakfast of our vacation. Then we swing by the hostel to drop them off and scurried down to an old night market we’d heard about. It was a street lined with shops and shops of different wares, very similar to most night markets we’d found in other city’s. Essentially most of the markets will sell the same items no matter where you are, but you can always find a certain influence in some of the offerings that you don’t find other places. In
It was a busy and exhausting day, and it didn’t take us long to crash that night. An early morning sunrise woke us for a good home-cooked meal. I opted out of scrambled eggs that morning and in addition to my French toast cooked up a buck-eye for myself. It was a well-needed taste of home. We caught a taxi back to the train station and before long we were on our way back home.
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