I woke up today from a decent night’s sleep! I was very happy and surprised with how well I slept! Apparently Sam's wallet had even fallen out of his pocket onto the floor in the middle of the night and it was still there when we started waking up! We all got up and got ready to get off our train. I got us and sat with Dan Dan for a little while when mark told me that we didn't have the name of the hotel because we only had it in an email... well it’s a good thing I downloaded it off my phone before we came! So I pulled up to show mark and asked Dan Dan if she could write it out in Chinese characters for me. She was more than happy to and we kept on talking. We thought it was time to hop off the train when I asked Dan Dan just real quick “is this Louyang? “ and sure enough we would have gotten off a stop early if it weren't for that girl! So we all sat back down and waited about another hour and then I got a smile and thumbs up from Dan Dan that this was indeed our stop. We took pictures together and hugged goodbye at 10:00 am as us 11 Americans stepped into the unknown territory of the Henan providence One step out of the train station and we already knew that this was not our small city in Weihai.
It was crazy. People were everywhere! We walked across the street to try to get away from the crowd knowing that we needed a taxi to take us to the hotel. We have the name of the Hotel written in Chinese from Dan Dan so we are all set... or so we think... we get mobbed be taxi drivers trying to take us somewhere and we eventually get to a mutual understanding that no one knows where the Hotel is because it’s so far away... yeah we were planning about an hour drive but we had no idea that it was going to be such a mess! They all kept asking if we had the phone number so we found an internet cafe and tried one more time to look up the Hotel phone number... nothing. Ah lovely! So we took a picture of the map quest area around the hotel with my phone and Mark and I try this whole mess one more time. We Approach the taxi drivers and they take my phone and start passing it around looking at the picture of the map and calling more people over and then some lady was asking me something and putting a business card in my face and I was just so overwhelmed I just wanted to scream! IPhones here are so expensive and especially the IPhone 5. so I was very paranoid about my phone and watching people along with cringing as I saw it being passed from hand to hand to hand... ew.
Finally, I see a girl with a pineapple on a stick (they are so delicious) come up to me and ask “may I help you?” oh my gosh! Could you ever!!! so I told her we just want to go to the hotel. So we decided, it was about an hour away so the taxi drivers would get 100 Y (equivalent to about $17.00) and they will drive us there and then ask the local people for the direct location of the hotel. So we all piled into the 3 taxis and we were on our way! It was so beautiful! We had issues finding rooms in hostels and hotels because it’s the flower festival this weekend so many Chinese people are in town visiting to see the festival and I can tell why! It was a very beautiful drive! We drove for about an hour and stopped about 3 times each time the drivers would get out and take my phone and Look with the name of the hotel and then ask the people on the street where this hotel is. After the second time stopping we could tell this is way harder than it should be. Me, being the Dellany that I am was thinking nothing of it. Mark and I were in the back of the Taxi joking about the stories or headlines from ILP as 11 teachers went missing searching for their beloved hotel... its china, and if there is one thing that I have learned from being here... its never expect things to go as planned... ever. After the 3rd stop the taxi driver decides to pull a map out of his glove box... what a man... and then takes it over to the people the other two drivers were talking to and then they came back and told us the word for SO FAR in Chinese. When the mid 40s taxi driver enthusiastically threw his arms open with wide eyes, we knew he wasn't looking for a hug, he was desperate for us to understand.. we aren't getting to our hotel. On our way to try and find the hotel we noticed that we had passed the Longmen Grottoes. The Grottoes were one of the “must see” on our list of things to do on this trip. I had taken a picture of the Chinese symbol for the grottoes so when we realized that the white flag had been raised by our poor taxi drivers, we pulled up the picture and the drivers took us to the Grottoes, got their 100Y and parted ways.
I was so stoked that we were at the Grottoes and that the weather was so nice, I must have forgotten that we now had no clue where to stay for the night because our hotel seemed to be a figment of our imagination! I was ready to rumble. Pull out my camera and get on our way! That however was not the case for some members of the group. Because the initial plan was a hotel, some packed in a way that was less than convenient to carry it all around. That could have been another reason for my carelessness about our current situation. I had the next 5 days in my back pack. The decision had been made to call the branch president because some people remembered seeing that one of the members was from luoyang and they thought that they would help. I am a very “do it yourself” kind of a person. If I hadn't remembered ILP specifically saying don't bother church members or the embassy, ILP can help you if you need it, I still would have been embarrassed when I found out that the group had called to ask for help when I felt like we hadn't done much to help ourselves in the first place. But thats just me. I know I am weird with things but I had just spent over 10 hours on a train, slept on a train, have been going going going for the last 48hours and I was this close from being able to go see the Grottoes I----I I didn't get why people were so worried. I remember my dad telling me when I was younger that I was a high maintenance child and here I was standing there with literally everything I brought on my back, (half of the space was used up by my most wonderful and loved camera) no place to stay for the night and all I wanted to do was go see the Grottoes... Dad, China has changed me. Well, I was getting antsy as we were standing there along the market street just before the Ticket building for the Grottoes and so was Sam (boy) so as he started wandering from place to place along the street I followed and we browsed. Kristen and Sarah found us as we were walking past a restaurant and we realized we were hungry. Now when I say restaurant, I mean food is made there. Its tables outside and around the building and a little room where health code standards are next to nothing but like I said China has changed me and I was all in for eating there Sam, Kristen and I went to eat , I really was hungry. The group has called and the branch president got ahold of the member and they were going to call back and get names of hostels or hotels for us to stay in.. great. That was adventure... not. We were told we would get called back by the member so we started to head to the Ticket building when this cute little girl comes up and says welcome to Luoyang, tells us her name and which school she is from and asks us to write down our names and to take a picture with her. There is no doubt that it was a school assignment and we were more than happy to help her out! She was so cute and loved when she told me “today is a great day for you to come here and visit” we made it to the Ticket building and saw the crammed building... backpacks in front! This is gonna get crazy!
While in line almost ready to pay, Amanda came up and said they called back and we got the list of Hotels and Hostels. Oh okay that’s cool whatever. But then she said now they wasn’t to leave and find a hotel or hostel and then come back.. woah rewind, I’m not paying a taxi to drive us around to then just come back here... I finally voice my opinion and Sam mark and Andrea feel the same way so we just decide we are buying the tickets and we will have enough time to search for hotels after we are done. We finally get out from buying tickets and it is so warm! I love it! I still had my sweats on from the train ride (the ones I slept in ) and it was getting hot so because I always have my Nike compact shorts on I opened my back pack, pulled out my capris and changed my pants. Yeah the Chinese creepers were taking pictures but there wasn’t a show I had shorts on! But I started a trend as Crista and Melanie went over by a tree and the girls held up the blanket so they could change their shirts and pants.. well. The Chinese who saw us get to go home with a good story now don't they? ;) we finally all go in and I have my camera out and ready.
Crista and I are the same, we want pictures and we will take the time to get good ones, the other part of the group wanted to move so we decided we would meet at the exit at 3:30 and split off. Crista and I walked up and down stairs, pushed passed Asians and watched each others backpacks as we were taking pictures. People aren't kidding when they say you need to be pushy in Asia or you won't get anywhere.
Well Crista and I were enjoying the sight and taking in all the carvings but thought of the many times we take picture after picture then when you go home they all look the same so we will chill with the pictures and just enjoy seeing things. We walked by some stairs and we were debating on if we should take the effort to
go up them.. I decided why not and if its the same as all the rest we can just turn right around and walk down... we headed up and holy crap we would have been so mad if we missed that! It was the main part of the Grottoes. I mean I have heard yeah its a bunch of Buddha’s carved out of rocks etc. but this one is huge and it is breath taking!
China is so intricate. Everything is done with such great detail. These carvings are so small but each so carefully carved. I’m pretty sure I am not making this up, but the reason why most of the small Buddha carvings are all missing their faces is because the Muslim group came in and chipped them all off. Obviously they can’t stealth mode the huge Buddha’s head but the smaller ones are missing a chunk where the faces would be. It was an amazing sight and I am so glad that I was able to see that. My biggest fear in China is that I am going to miss something that I could have done or should have done. I feel like china is soaked with culture and traditions and I want to be the sponge to clean it all up soaking up every last bit that I can! I didn't even know about the grottoes but man am I so happy that I was able to see them!
We all met up at the Exit and headed off to find the first hostel on the list. We got into the taxi and headed on our way. About 20 min later we got off and headed into this chill hostel with American music and pictures on the walls. Boxes full of stuff you “trade one for one” and just like everything else, it looked like it came right out of a movie. Turns out that they have 1 bed in a 6 bed room and then 1 room with a 2 person “bed” well that’s 3 people right? Don't worry; they also have 3 two man tents they could put up on the roof for $9 a night! Let’s face it, we don't need to compare the beds, they are all the same! Mckelle and Melanie called the 2 person room like I called shotgun back at home. I was going to try to sleep on the floor in their room till I thought “when am I ever going to be able to do this again??” I’m totally on the roof!
When we got there I realized that we had Wifi even in our tent on the roof! So I was able to message my mom and Morgan to tell them about my grand adventure in a tent, on a roof!!! it really doesn't get better than this... or does it? You bet it does! Its china!!! I headed up stairs after brushing my teeth with my backpack on my back ready to face my destiny AKA tent. When I met Crista outside grinning ear to ear. We are about to sleep in a tent on a roof. This is legit! We started organizing our sleeping space, blanket on bottom share the 1 pillow we got and one folded sheet for each back we also put a sheet over us to just block out any chill because it wasn't that cold... before I got in the tent I remember my dad teaching me, it doesn't matter what the forecast is, if you have a rain cover, use it, I convinced Crista, my Germaphobe tentmate that we can put our shoes on the inside of the tent by the zipper just in case. We were sitting in the tent when what’s that noise?? You better believe it, it just started to rain!
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