Since 11:13pm last night, I was on a sleeper train to Zhangjiajie. In fact, it was two sleeper trains. Huangshan to Zhuzhou and Zhuzhou to Zhangjiajie. For both, I booked a hard sleeper for myself, which was a bed on a 6-bunk cabin. No doors, no curtains, no privacy. It was exactly the same as how I had taken a sleeper train many years back when I was Secondary 3 in China on an Overseas Community Involvement Programme.
Being in an open cabin has its perks too. You could easily look into other cabins and see what others are doing. It's easier to share space as those on the lowest bunks allowed others to sit on their bed. I was given the highest bunk, which was not meant to sit in as it was quite short in vertical space. Each bed was given a pillow and a blanket, both rather clean and comfortable. Soon, I was sound asleep, like everyone else on board.
Having brought snacks along, my meals were easily settled on the train. Time was easily passed reading e-books, looking at the scenery outside or chatting with the folks in the cabin. My cabin had a few friendly locals who were interested in how Singapore is like. Even though at times we could not understand each other due to their strong localized slang, conversations were pretty easy as long as they kept to the standard Chinese 普通话.
As we neared Zhangjiajie, one of the friendly locals gave me advice on how to reach Wulingyuan, where my hostel is. It is about an hour away and he adviced me to take a public bus instead of the taxi since the time taken is about the same but the taxi costing almost 7 times more. He even walked me to the bus station and gave me his number so that I could contact him if I needed help. Turns out he's an officer with the police force 公安 for the past 30 years!
The bus that led to Wulingyuan was a small and nondescript minibus. It took almost an hour, with the fare being only 14yuan. Upon alighting at the town center, there was a motorcycle driver looking for business. He offered to drive me to my hostel and off we went! It was a cold ride as the temperature in the town was about 12degC and it was already sundown and there was a slight drizzle. I was only in my drifit t-shirt and hiking pants, with the wind blowing right at me while I was riding pillion and wearing my huge backpack and holding my camera. What an experience! Dangerous but an eye opening experience nonetheless. He charged me only 1rmb for the ride but I decided to give him 10rmb instead as a tip for him.
Registering myself at the hostel took a while as the hostel owner was not familiar with English and typing my name into the system, a procedure for all tourists, took almost 20 minutes as he tried to press the correct keys on the keyboard. Eventually, I got my room key and paid for my room.
After putting my backpack beside my bed, it was time to explore the nearby street that was still bustling with life. There was a slight drizzle but I have become used to it already. Dinner was settled at a nearby restaurant and it turned out to be pretty good, though at a slightly pricier rate. Perhaps it's expensive as the portions were all not meant for one person but perhaps two to three to share. A simple order of a plate of Braised pork belly and a plate of stir fried shredded potatoes, together with rice, costed 85rmb (s$18).
Back at the hostel room, with a map of the scenic area spread out, my roommate explained to me how best to visit the place. He even helped me call my hostel in the scenic area to find out the directions to it! God has really been sending angels along my way to guide me and help me!
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