The Worst Hostel in China- Day 5

 When I first wrote about tonight I wrote “We are in a dump’. But I couldn’t leave that as the first sentence you read because there are two sides to every coin. There are good things and bad things about this hostel. Allow me to illustrate my point.

GOOD-The water kettle heats water.

BAD- The water kettle is covered in a layer of old grease.

GOOD-They’ve put up posters to make the rooms nice.

BAD- Ann has large-breasted women on the posters on her wall, and I have baby penises on mine.

That’s not a sentence I thought I would ever write. They’re colorful posters with lots of bubbles, stars, teddy bears, angels, and a cute baby wearing nothing but a kerchief. There are no windows in my room, but there are holes at the top of the concrete walls. They open to the hallway, and the hallway is open to the street. There are two temperatures for the shower- freezing and scalding. There is approximately a 3.76 second window when the temperature is perfect. This happens when the pilot light on the water heater has just turned on or just turned off, which it does randomly about every 20 seconds. When the water is scalding, it is possible to use it only if you move the showerhead around quickly so that no portion of skin is subjected to the blistering heat for more than .287 seconds. This means you must take a shower like a medicine man doing a spirit dance at a Pow-Wow. The first hotel we stopped at was 138 RMB (23 USD) a night, but they wouldn’t accept us because I don’t have my passport (it’s in Zhongshan at the visa office until next week). So we’re condemned to the dumps that accept illegals like me. As Ann haggled over the price of the room with the Laoban (boss), I glanced to my left to see a large rat run across the courtyard and squeeze into the next yard. I didn’t say anything because I figured that was one less rat here and one more rat in another place we could be if we left…..I think I’ve been in China too long. The Laoban must have seen the rat too, because he accepted 80 RMB  (13 USD) for two rooms for the night.

We walked just over 18 kilometers today, putting us just outside of the massive city of Guangzhou tonight. It was a good but cold day on the road. This morning Brian and I taught Ann how to walk. As I mentioned yesterday, Ann currently has a very unbalanced walk. Through the process of elimination, we’ve attributed her blisters to this fact- she’s putting uneven pressure on certain parts of her feet every time she steps. I was reminded of daily life as a tennis pro as I coached her through the logistics of having a relaxed, even walking style (“breathe in for three steps and out for three”, “keep your core strong and your head up”, “Think about your energy going forward instead of up and down”). It seems a little bit silly to say we’re teaching a 40 year old woman how to walk, but Ann has never learned the art of walking or hiking because she’s never had to. Sports such as hiking, biking, and running are becoming popular in China now, but for a long time it was not part of the culture because the gear was

an expensive luxury that wasn’t readily available. I love that Ann is learning this skill because it reminds me to walk upright, evenly, and to breathe deeply as I walk. We’ll be professionals when we’re finished. We also made a morning stop in a temple. We walked though huge wooden doors with golden knobs on them, into a courtyard that had massive incense coils hanging from the ceiling. We walked further to an altar where old women were offering their prayers and oranges to a shrine. We paid our respects to the Queen of the temple, kneeling awkwardly with our backpacks on. My prayer went something like this, ‘Hey, um, I’ve never heard of you before, but these women seem to have some faith. I don’t really believe in you, but in case you have some pull, we could really use some safety in our travels. Again, I know you’re not real. But just in case you are, please keep us safe. Thanks.’

 Just before lunch it started raining. Ann, Brian, Qing and I stopped to put on our backpack covers and ponchos. I couldn’t stop laughing at Ann because with her backpack behind, her purse in front, and the rain poncho covering all, she looked like a pregnant hunchback! I know I looked ridiculous too, but I could see Ann. Right after it started raining we came to a large bridge over a river. We had a conference at the base of the bridge and decided to get a bus over it. With only a small gap between the road and the concrete

wall, it was too narrow to cross safely on foot. On the other side of the bridge we walked a little ways to find a hot pot restaurant. We ordered a half melon full of boiling broth, three plates of raw meat (yuck!) and a plate of fried rice for me. I was excited that the bathrooms had toilet paper and soap. After lunch we said goodbye to Brian and Qing. They are leaving us to visit friends and family in Shanghai, then they are moving west. It was nice to have their company. Brian helped us prepare for this walk in so many ways. Not only did he give us a TON of gear that we needed but he also helped us get comfortable with camping and walking long distances.

Ann and I are currently enjoying internet at the classiest Chinese restaurant I’ve ever been to. They have pictures in frames on the walls, Christmas lights hung for ambiance, and beautiful decorations for the Chinese New Year. The family of a long-jump champion owns it. The framed pictures are of him and his family all over China. And in the middle there is a framed picture of Wentworth Miller. I don’t know why. We had a HUGE pot of clams, American Budweiser beers (brewed here in Foshan) and sweet potatoes (they don’t actually sell sweet potatoes but the old woman who cooks is so kind that she ran to the market to buy some, then cooked them for us!). We are recapping the day, making plans, and celebrating our first happy day of the trip!

KM count to date- 53.1