5 Datong-an unexpected delight

We arrived, after an uneventful train trip, in Datong, at 10:11pm. It had been nice to be able to sit and relax, and we both had napped during the 6.5 hour journey. In our cabin was a Chinese family with a little girl. They didn't speak English so at times we awkwardly sat across from each other. The train also reeked of freshly smoked cigarettes. It hadn't started off like that, but slowly as the journey moved along, the train got smokier and smokier. It was nice to arrive and smell fresh, Chinese air (ha). Exiting the station, we were met by a throng of people who were awaiting their loved ones. We pushed through and found a crowd of taxi drivers. Sarah negotiated a price and we followed him to his car. Once inside, we realized that he couldn't get out of the station as the taxis were parked in every spare spot of space. He asked a few to move and then got back in the car, where another passenger joined. In India, there had been several scams where other passengers got in and then there were 2 men in the car. It didn't feel right so I told the driver "no". The passenger turned and yelled at me in Chinese. Obviously, I had no idea what he was saying. I got out of the car and was mobbed by other taxi drivers offering to take me to the hotel. Finally, the other passenger was taken by a different driver and we got back in our cab. As we drove along, he used his phone to translate questions, "Are you tourists?", "Do you need a taxi tomorrow?", "Are you doing any tours?". At one point another cab asked him to pull over and said he had a foreigner as well, did we want to book a car for tomorrow. At this point, we both just wanted to get to our hotel so said no thank you. The driver had been nice so I asked for his card when we arrived. He had quoted us 300 Yeun to visit 2 places. Once we checked in, I asked about tours at the front desk and she gave a price sheet which said 320yeun for 2 places, so the prices weren't that different. They told us that we just had to ask at the business centre in the morning and car would be ready within an hour. We did some research and decided on 3 places we wanted to see, the grottos, the hanging monestary, and a wooden pagoda. This cost 420 yeun, which is about $85.

In the morning, we went down early for breakfast and stopped to book a driver for the day. When we got to the restaurant, the buffet was incredible! They had Asian food, cooked veggies, fruit in syrup, fresh fruits, deli meats, breads, cheeses, an egg centre, boiled eggs, 6 juices, coffees made fresh, tea and so much more. I filled up on a big lunch before we went to meet our driver. 

He was very friendly, but spoke no English so it was difficult to talk with him (actually we didn't really, though he was very nice). We just enjoyed the scenery as we drove along. We actually had no idea where we were going first. When we arrived, he pointed us to the front gate and we walked along until we saw the hanging monastery. It was breathtaking. It was a large 3-4 section building, literally built onto the side of a cliff. We were even able to go inside and look around. Each section was attached and had 3 floors. It's amazing what they were able to do in the past, how they were able to build things the way they did.

After exploring and taking many pictures, we were back in the car. We drove for an hour or so and then came to a cute little village looking area of old buildings. There was a huge wooden pagoda set back from the rest of the buildings. It was stunning. We had read somewhere that it was the tallest wooden structure in China.

Did you know that China uses squatter toilets? They do, and I don't know why but they are always so gross. We visited the toilet before getting in the car for another 2 hours. Yuk.
We drove and drove, it seemed like we were going in circles. Around the city, through the city. Finally, we arrived at huge, neat looking gate. Our driver walked us through the gate and pointed up, where we should go. We went and bought tickets. As I was trying to take a picture, I realized that my pictures were blurry and wouldn't focus. I played with the settings, with the lens, switched lenses, nothing worked. I was panicking. Finally, I figured out that my eye piece needed to be focused. I did that and it was all good. Except now I wanted my wide angle lens on again. I switched them, and again, my pictures wouldn't focus. I went through my settings, and it said auto-focus but I could see on the screen it was manual focus. I finally figured that I had accidentally turned the lens onto manual focus. It was all good now. Phew!
We walked through a really neat area of buildings.

After walking through 3 or 4 squares with Buddhas in the back of each of the last buildings, we came to a bridge. We followed the path up towards a rock wall/cliff. Inside the wall were caves, in the caves were carved Buddhas. Breath taking. Some of the statues were 17 feet tall!

We walked along, seeing each of the Buddhas before heading back to the car. Our driver took us to the train station where we picked up all of the train tickets we had bought for our journey. He led us right to the ticket gate. We then headed back to the hotel. Our hotel is within some old city walls. Through the middle of the "old town" is a road with 3 traffic circles along it. Each traffic circle has a large building, a temple, a pagoda, or a statue, in the middle.

Around each of the circles are old buildings. On the wall itself are small temples. At night, everything is lit up. We wandered around and took some pictures before stopping at a noodle place for some noodles. Apparently these noodles are a tradition over 800 years old. They were delicious! I had the braised beef noodles and the beef elated in my mouth.

Afterwards, we started toward the wall but Sarah wanted to go back to the room so I continued alone. I got some great shots, and then headed back to the hotel to ask about climbing the wall. They gave me some directions and I sat with Sarah while she drank a beer. She chose to go up to the room and I headed back out to explore. The wall is so beautiful at night. I walked around taking some pictures.

We have an early train in the morning, so it was an early bedtime again. Tomorrow is a travel day, we will be taking the train back to Beijing and then on to Luoyang.