My trips around the world ...

Friday just before noon, I took a bus from Mokpo to Incheon. Got to Incheon around 5 pm and hopped into a cab to go to the ferry terminal. I bought a ticket and looked for an ATM machine to withdraw more money before leaving Korea only to find out that there is no ATM at the ferry terminal!!! and I had to go to an E-mart nearby. I was told that I should board in 10 minutes so I took a taxi and asked the driver to wait for me at e-mart to take me back to the ferry terminal. I withdrew 1,200,000 won from my account and tucked it into my purse. My Korean debit card is only domestic not international. It's not going to work anywhere outside Korea. And I had promised myself not to use my Canadian credit cards. I've just finished paying them off.

At 7 pm the ferry left Incheon for Tianjin. The ship was nice, with a decent coffee shop and restaurant -- although the food could be better -- sunny lounge, trilingual reception staff and large washrooms. The bunks were comfortable, although my neighbors were two little kids, a boy and a girl, with their mother, and like any typical brothers and sisters in the world, the boy abused and the girl screamed. At some point I had to throw a loud SSSHHH to the boy who was singing to himself early in the morning.

On the ferry I was told that the last bus from Tianjin to Beijing is at 8:00 pm. We were supposed to arrive around 8:30, pass through the customs, and probably be out of the ferry terminal around 9:30. So I thought I had to stay in Tianjin that night and take a bus or train to Beijing the next day. But luckily I meet Martin, a professional backpacker from Chile. He introduced me to two Chinese students who study in Korea and they told us there is a shuttle bus from Tianjin ferry terminal to Beijing waiting for us. Awesome! We took it and spent New Year's Eve on the bus, taking pictures and watching some fireworks from the bus window.

When we got to Beijing, the students helped Martin and me to grab a cab to Leo hostel. I gave the cab driver the phone number. He called and was told that the hostel is full. Martin pulled out his China Lonely Planet and gave him some other phone number to call -- Saga international Youth Hostel. The taxi driver called the hostel and got the address and we headed to the place. After few minutes we noticed that we are going in circles and the cab driver doesn't really know where he's going. He was looking at the street signs and murmuring in Chinese, even asking people for direction while the meter was running. I thought if he doesn't know where he's going, it's only common sense if he stops the meter until he is on his shortest way to the destination. But no, the meter was running and he was wandering all over the city.

after 10 minutes or so, Martin and I decided to get off and take another cab who knows the city better, but the taxi driver wanted us to pay the full charge on the meter which was 40 yuan (not much but still unfair). We refused to pay since we were not even close to our destination, and he refused to open the trunk for Martin to pick up his backpack. All through sign language he convinced us to get back in his cab. And we did. Martin really needed his backpack!

After another 10 minutes we were Finally at the hostel and although it was past midnight, we decided to celebrate the New Year with a Chinese beer at the under-construction lobby. After a long day, around 2 o'clock in the morning, I was finally in bed. It was my very first night in China. I was excited and looking forward to the rest of my 16-day stay.