The concierge at the Prince had checked the China Railways website and told us that there were no places on the train to Guilin for two days. We got a taxi to West Kowloon mainline station in the hope that there had been cancellations, but a very efficient lady at the ticket office advised us to get a train to Guangzhou (formerly Canton) and then a train to Guilin. I reckon we got the last tickets on both trains. We paid a lot of money for a “Business Class” ticket to Guangzhou, which meant sitting in huge seats with adjustable foot-rests and a lot of leg room, and a higher grade packet of dried meat, nuts and biscuits than the standard fare for people in non-Business Class seats. And the little room had its own personal stewardess. Most of the route from Kowloon to Guangzhou consists of a series of long tunnels. On reaching Guangzhou, we had 40 minutes to get to the platform serving the train to Guilin. After struggling through the huge crowds and queueing at several barriers for passport control and customs we got to the arrivals floor and had to climb three storeys to the departures floor and then walk the length of the station to Gate 27. We eventually found the train, walked almost its entire length and dived through the door of our carriage just as the doors were closing. A minute later and we would have missed the train and would have had to buy more tickets for £140. A stark illustration of the potential dangers of our way of travel. The scenery out of Guangzhou was a dreary vista of factories and high-rise blocks and I fell asleep until Jennifer woke me to look at the scenery, which was idyllic. Little villages of three-storey white houses with purple roofs surrounded by tiny fields of rice and vegetables and fish farms. I suspect that most houses are three storey because many Chinese families have three (or even 4) generations living in the same home. Closer to Guilin, the conical mountains for which it is famous began to appear, and eventually we stopped at Guilin West station which the internet (bollox alert) tells me is the main station for Guilin. I had picked out the Lijiang Grand Waterfall Hotel in the city centre as a good place to stay, but was shocked to hear from the taxi driver that it was 30 kms away and would cost £30. However there were no hotels at Guilin West so we gritted our teeth and paid up. And we don’t regret it; the hotel is magnificent and less than half the price of the Prince. So we had a nice (albeit expensive) evening meal and went to bed.
Kowloon West railway station
A Business Class seat!
Guangzhou suburb, palm trees starting to appear
Every square inch cultivated
Fish farms
Conical Guilin hills
Paddy fields
