Datong, China

Datong turned out to be a surprisingly great 27 hours. When we arrived at the station we exited (as you’re forced to) and then entered the ticketing room. We were overjoyed to find that one of the ticketing lines catered to “foreign visitors.”After spending at least five full minutes at the window with the kind, English-speaking woman, I came away with four tickets – two standing-only tickets from Datong to Jinnin Nan and two hard-sleepers from Jinnin Nan to Erlian, China’s border city into Mongolia. There is no direct train from Datong to Erlian; there is a direct bus, but we’re trying, as much as we can afford, to travel by rail. With that hurdle gone, we still had to search out an affordable place to stay.

After walking in circles trying to find a hostel recommended by the guidebook, we followed an older gentleman to a different hotel. We managed to get a double room for Y10 more than what we had paid for dorm beds in Beijing. Again, we were overjoyed. We had had three nights of communal living so we were due for some stretching out and privacy.

Train tickets done, shelter done. All that was left was to explore Datong with the little time we had.

The government is rebuilding a wall that once surrounded the city center - a huge, gigantic wall that requires the use of the most cranes we'd ever seen, cranes as far as the eye could see. This construction project diverts roads and causes an overall annoyance to the lives of those in Datong who walk this route.

The next day, Scott and I visited the Yungang Grottoes, a series of Buddist statues and art pieces which were built in the 400s. We were blown away.