My train ticket specified Nanjing West as my final stop but there was nothing stopping me from getting off the train in Nanjing City Center… except for the thought that I may as well start visiting the city in the West and travel from one end to the other. One factor against that idea was that we pulled into the city at nearly 4PM, close to dark. It was cold and I had no hotel reservations. I would have to go hunting, and quickly. And meet success quickly. All of these deliberations took me too long and I missed my chance to debark in the middle of the city. I left myself no choice, it seems.
Exiting the West End station was not encouraging. I am used to train stations being heavily populated: by travelers, by beggars and by guards and police. This station appeared to be nearly forgotten. It looked old and decrepit, no restaurants or food vendors, no information booths, no amenities… nothing! It was like I had arrived at The End Station rather than the west station of the former capital of China.
I attempted to buy a ticket to Wuhan from the lone ticketing agent. She informed me I would have to return tomorrow because tickets had not yet been released. REALLY didn’t want to return to this dismal place!
I walked outside to figure out what my next move should be. Obviously I had to find accommodations quickly. Night was falling and I didn’t want to be stranded outside. My plan was to jump on a bus that would take me to city center and find something, a hostel or a chain hotel. The first thing I saw when I walked out of the train station was not a proliferation of people and a hub of transportation like in all the other cities I have visited. What I saw was…
METRO! Imagine that! Here I am, in a city I’ve never been to before and I find the very store I needed! And why did I need Metro so badly? Because I was running out of bread. Not money, actual bread. I have been having problems with my stomach for over two years now and I’ve found a combination of lactobacillus drinks like Yakult, coupled with two slices of this type of linseed bread per day keeps my body functioning properly. Woe is me if I should default from this regimen! Metro, here I come.
I did not find the exact type of bread I usually buy but they did have whole grain pumpernickel that would do in a pinch. I bought two loaves (they are very small; only 10 slices per loaf). Unfortunately, after I paid for them I found one of the loaves was moldy and that is how I got not only a replacement loaf but an additional loaf for free!
Now that I have my stomach’s needs met I asked a woman at the bus stop which bus I should take to city center. She directed me to #16. I figured I would ride that bus until I saw tall buildings that would characterize the city’s commercial center. Surely there would be a hostel or hotel around there somewhere!
Nanjing is surprisingly level, as opposed to other cities whose centers are defined by high rises and sky scrapers. This city observes the more traditional neighborhood/village type of layout. Each ‘village’ or city district has its own schools, hospitals, government offices and ‘flavors’, for lack of a better word. And, the apartment buildings are, at most, 5 stories tall.
I didn’t realize I had come to expect every city in China to be vertically built up until I came to Nanjing. Clearly I wasn’t going to find City Center by identifying large commercial conglomerates like there are in Wuhan or Shenzhen.
Not being able to tell much from the scenes passing by or by the map of the bus route I decided to get off at some random stop and try my luck. Surely there would a hotel nearby, or someone to direct me to a hotel! As it turns out, my timely deboarding resulting in meeting Teresa, a young woman who I would swear is my vagabond twin.
She also stands 6’tall, has brown hair and green eyes, and wears glasses. She attracted my attention because she had a pack on her back; clearly she was a traveler and she was headed somewhere. In fact, she is a student at the world famous Nanjing University, and she was headed to Shenzhen. We giggled a bit when I told her I had just come from there. Discoveries and disclosures continued: She is actually German, born and raised in Berlin, Germany! How crazy is that? I was also raised – in part – in Berlin! She speaks French by virtue of having lived there for two years. Wild! I was born in France and speak the language fluently! And, of course I knew she spoke English because that is the language I addressed her in.
I always make it a point to ask any Caucasian I approach if they speak English. It would not be fair for me to presume that every Westerner I met automatically speaks English. I resent it when people assume that, just because I am a westerner, or ‘waiguoren’ that I can only be an English speaker. Fortunately for me, they all do. That is how I get away from people who want to practice their English by saying I speak only French, or only German. TeeHee!
Back to the story now.
When Theresa asked how I could just plunk myself into a city and not have an agenda I explained to her my normal routine. Pick a city and go there, trusting my luck to finding accommodations and friendly faces. She commented that I must be really brave to take a challenge like that. “There is a very fine line between bravery and stupidity, and sometimes I’m not sure what side of that line I’m on!” I replied. We had a nice chuckle from that but, a lot of times that is true, at least in my case.
She directed me to the closest hostel, on Shanghai Street before showing me how and where to board the subway. That is when we made all those disclosures and had a bit of nice conversation. I rode with her to the City Center train station, the one I thought about debarking at. And then I used the very same token to ride the subway back to where I originally started.
By this time, snoozing on the twenty five hour train or not, weariness started catching up to me. I trudged up and up the street and had yet to run across Shanghai Street. As soon as I saw another ‘foreigner’ face I asked if he spoke English and asked how far I would have to walk. He wasn’t sure but knew I should just keep walking up the road. Of course we introduced ourselves: Meet Emre! Nice to meet you Emre, I’m Kathy!
For safety reasons I never give my real name out when I travel. Kathy does come close though; it is my middle name.
I finally found a Motel 168. I had hoped for a hostel but, having read the reviews of Nanjing hostels online I knew they were not well reviewed by other travelers. The only advantage to staying in a hostel would be price and I was just as happy paying a little more for a comfortable room, as opposed to saving a few Fen to have a cold room and a shared shower.
That room was indeed well appointed and comfortable. I was ready to enjoy my stay here; all I needed was food: a nice hot meal would do. I had passed a KFC on the way up here. Familiarity and carbohydrates: the perfect 1-2 knockout for travel fatigue. Backtracking, I found a funky eatery that I hadn’t noticed before and vowed to try it on my next dining foray. KFC was but a few meters away so…
I stopped dead in my tracks, chastising myself for being utterly ridiculous. I’m here to experience new things and I am in search of food, so why not go to this local eatery that looks to be so cool? Emma’s it is then! I passed through the stone portals and climbed the wooden stairs. That is where I tasted the goodness of hot ginger coca cola.
And that is when I met Emre again.
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