5 Star Wharton International Hotel Nanning

... so we decided to check out of our hotel room the morning before, spend the day in the capitol, then head to the airport late, sleep on the benches inside for a few hours then catch our flights... however once we got to the airport miles out of town, we found out it was closed until 4am, and the security guard escorted us off the property, haha! After attempting and failing to sleep outside and looking around for somewhere suitable to wait out till 4, we came across ...

4th Oct.<br><br>The one were crossing into China is like riding into Disneyworld.....!!<br><br>Yep....anothe r early bus....but this time we leave Vietnam and a bit sad. Probably one of our favorite countries. The nicest people, friendly and really good food. And the country, despite the "Hullicane" very beautiful. The greenest grass, hilly and beachy, and yet also modern and lively. No certainly a place to visit once again. But as said..the early bus to Dong Dang, the border ...

This is my very first trip abroad with my best-friends, and i couldn't be more happier than spending 3-4 days with Irma &amp; Lisa...<br>It's the perfect getaway for our independence day weekend..<br><br>Booked ourselves travel package which include everything at reasonable price (i haven't been on "group tour" for such a long time, lately ...

... betrothal gifts to the bride's home. The young men carried a lot of pigs, wine,sour meats,daily necessities and household appliances. All the young girls wore tradtional clothing, some took flowers and some had their hands free.The children followed the party and squibbed the firecrackers every now and then. I followed the party, but I did not find the party had a band just like some wedding ceremonies that I had attended in ...

... westerners' during our stay in Nanning.  One neat thing is that they gave us the outfit Neela was wearing when she was found.  We also got the newspaper article they published in the paper to see if her real parents would claim her.  After we returned to the hotel with Neela, Luke and I took a cab to Wal-Mart to buy diapers, formula, snacks, etc., it was about a 10 minute ride and the cab fare was only $1.50 and the driver wouldn't take a tip.  Later we went out to ...

Before I forget, I keep meaning to say all the vehicles we have been in are all standard transmission. We think that gives them the edge to wiggle in an out of traffic. Laundry, there was a laundry room with a washer and dryer and soap at the Holiday Inn Expres and we got everything done before we left Beijing. We are off on our next big train ride of 40 hours. The train station is packing with people going here and there. We go directly to information and are told to go ...

... but we got what we came for. After that, it was time for a cheap bowl of noodle soup and a couple of beers (the bill came to 80p for two of us) in a local stall. Despite being the provincial capital, we got the distinct impression that not many Waigouren (foreigners) made it to Nanning as the whole time we were eating people kept staring at us and I caught one girl desperately gesturing to her boyfriend to look at the foreigners' big noses. Is this what celebrity feels like?

... guy opposite tried to have a conversation with me but other than asking where I was from he was stumped. They were fascinated by my sudoku puzzles but didn't try to have ago. I'm now onto my book of Killer Sudoku's. There were many stops along the way. Some were mentioned in my book. I double-checked in case there was anywhere I really should have visited but I had already gone through the book and was happy to not see any more. There is so much I've not done but also so ...

... and if anything went wrong after crossing the border I'd probably be toast, but I bit the bullet and got on the 5.40am train from Hanoi to Dang Dong (on the border) with my fingers crossed for a smooth passage. The train was a rattler and excruciatingly slow, but after meeting the locals for five hours we hit the massive (and growing) border complex around noon. The Vietnamese border control was ...