Dan's Adventure

Sleeper trains in India were an experience, but compared to sleeper buses in China they were a breeze. My first introduction to transport in China was a sleeper bus from Shenzhen at the border with Hong Kong to Yangshuo, a ten hour journey that would get me to my destination by 5 the following morning. This sleeper bus was different to any bus that I had taken before, this one had beds. All good in theory, but when you consider that the average height in China is considerably less than my height of 6 foot, I was in for a very cramped night in the bed made for an average sized traveller. Three rows of beds going from front to back filled the bus, each surrounded by a metal cage to separate the beds and prevent you from falling out. As I was rocked from side to side on every turn, jolted forward when the driver braked suddenly, I was very thankful for the seat belt that secured me to the bed. As if the movement wasn’t enough to keep me awake, every time I started drifting off I was awoken by the sound of the woman behind me spewing into a sick bag, even my ipod at full volume couldn’t block her out. To date this was most definitely my worst travelling experience.

Yangshuo is a big tourist trap, when night falls the main street turns into a bizarre mix of tourist tack shops, karaoke bars and noodle restaurants, all glowing with neon lights and pumping out awful music. Despite this, Yangshuo is fantastic. Surrounded by limestone rock formations, it takes just five minutes on a bike to escape the tourist zone and be in the middle of beautiful scenery which made the awful journey worth while. A couple of hours of sleep at the hostel and I was ready to explore. I cycled south out of the city passing caves and mountains along the way. I climbed up moon hill, a hill with a large semicircular hole near the top. I loved being out in the middle of nowhere after Hong Kong!