The journey ended quickly, pulling into Dahayon stn at about 12. As well as we 2 + Jude, there was another English couple, alarmingly young, a couple of aloof girls, + a guy I later discovered to be from Singapore (fat + cocky) + 1 from Japan, as well as half a dozen Hong Kong Chinese, all of us looking to get to Turfan, about 30 miles away. We discovered there was a bus at about 5 – the Hong Kongers, as is their wont, electing to sit + wait, but all the rest of us deciding at least to try to hitch. I think the 2 girls + the Singapore guy were a bit naughty. They could all speak Chinese, so were able to ask the best place to hitch from, information which they kept from the rest of us. So we all wasted time standing at the wrong place, + by the time we discovered our error + found the correct spot, a junction 20 mins walk out of town, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, desert all round, the 2 girls had already got a ride out, + the Singaporean + his Nippon friend were ahead of us. Not long after they got a ride – there were to be no more, barely any traffic – just one truck, I think. We lasted out as best we could for a couple of hours, me chucking rocks to pass the time, before finally giving in + trudging back to town. The English couple, Dan + Lisa, had done the same about an hour before. We were still in time to buy numbered tickets when they went on sale. This was just as well, for when the time came to get on the bus, there were far more people than seats. With admirable firmness (they could do with 20 of his kind at each railway stn) the driver allowed people to come on one by one according to their number. We 5 English all got a seat, but then the driver rather spoiled the result of his earlier strict organisation by allowing everyone else on – I have never been on such a crowded bus – luckily it was but an hour’s ride.
Dan passed over a Bob Marley tape to be played over the bus’s sound system, + I amused several of the passengers by shrugging my shoulders – they were all I could move – in time. The people aboard were noticeably different, not recognisable as Chinese at all, but Middle Eastern, even biblical. The women all wear bright coloured dresses, made of nylon, cut fairly short, + with stockings. I was amused to see, when one woman sat down on the bus step, that she had tucked her money into the top of her stocking.
At Turfan, it was but a short walk to the hotel – fortunately we had good directions. Not everyone’s luck held further tho’ – Jude, Val + I got the last dorm beds, so Dan + Lisa had to pay Y30 for a double room. It was bad luck, + to make things worse has come on top of more than their share of the same. They are both 19, + having their first taste of travelling. They don’t have student cards tho’, so have paid way over the odds for their travel. Interestingly, their experience at Xian was almost exactly identical to ours, getting kicked out of the Liberation Hotel towards midnight. So this was another blow beneath the belt.
We saw some welcome old faces at the hotel – Dave + Laraine, from Dali. Just like before, they’ve been settled for about a week. Our mode of operation is to keep moving, skipping from place to place every couple of days, while theirs is to stay at fewer places, but for a longer period. More relaxing, I’m sure, but it’s not for us. However, they did enthuse about Turfan – the hotel at least is very nice, set around a courtyard with vine-roofed walkways. There needs to be as much shade as possible, for the sun is ferocious. They told us about a good local restaurant, so we went there for a meal with Jude. Very nice, very cheap. And even tho’ by now it was pretty late, there was still plenty of life. That’s the advantage of a late sunset – it wasn’t dark till gone 10.
In the evening, the hotel put on a display of folk dance + music. It’s mainly for the benefit of the tour groups who occupy a different section of the hotel, but we get the benefit too. It was of a high standard too, both the dance + accompanying music. And, of course, not in the tiniest bit Chinese. Afterwards we sat up for ages chatting with D + L + a couple of other guys, a German called Johan, + an American of Armenian descent (and doesn’t he let everyone know it!) These last 2 had got themselves in to a scrape. Last night, at about 3, they had thrown fire-crackers around the tourist part of the hotel, + had stirred up a whole hornet’s nest of trouble, including a lengthy + thorough investigation by the Public Security – that’s Chinese for police. In the circumstances, they could feel reasonably fortunate to be let off with a Y20 fine, + (honest) a letter of self-criticism.
Encounters with various people – Dave and Laraine again, Jude, the young English couple… But despite having to compete with other ttravellers, we made it to Turfan comfortably enough, and settled in well. Probably just as well that we avoided the high jinks of the night before; if I’d had a beer or three, I might have joined in.
