Yichang Day 33 21/10/2014

We left early to get the 8.35am train to Yichang, the start point for our trip on the Yangzi river.  The station was very busy even at this time in the morning and we were treated to numerous renditions of Auld Lang Syne over the tannoy.  We didn't see any other westerners at the station but were joined by two in our compartment.  Mum from Manhattan on a two week vacation visiting son who is living in China for a year studying Tai Chi.  Mum was a little in shock having never seen a squat toilet before.  I guess they don't have many in Manhattan.  It was good to have their company until they departed at Wudang Shan, home of Tai Chi.  Unlike the Trans Mongolian train the lower seats were fixed and we couldn't fit our bags underneath.  Luckily we were able to put them on the top bunk but did wondered how we were going to manage on the overnight train to Hong Kong that we are planning to take.  Our train was K class which stands for kuaisu in pinyin and means fast.  It was anything but and infact there are five classes of trains that are faster!  The total journey took over 13 hours.  The scenery was green and mountainous although as a result we spent a large part of the journey in tunnels!  Despite travelling through more rural areas there was still a huge amount of construction going on which we could only assume was replacement accommodation for more traditional housing which we sure some evidence of.  We arrived in Yichang just after 9.30pm and planned to catch the local bus  - which came through the bus station but didn't pick anybody up! Instead we jumped in a taxi and arrived at our hotel.  The road outside was being dug up and work was still ongoing even this late time of night.  The hotel was OK (especially given it was only £15 per night) although the seedy call girl cards pushed under the bedroom door was a bit off putting!