Wuxi-Shanghai Bus Ride

One of the fun things I love about my job is that I often get to travel to places a bit "out of the way" and off the beaten tourist path, and sometimes via unconventional means.

As much as I was DYING for western food the other day, upon reflection it was fun to be in Wuxi - so different from the usual tourist spots like Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo or (...insert big foreign city name here).

And it was capped off by my departure from Wuxi. This week is the "National Holiday" in China, and the whole country pretty much takes the entire week off, travels to visit family, and so on. As such, my travel agent absolutely could not get me a seat on a plane flying out of Wuxi on Sunday. Therefore, I took a bus from Wuxi to Shanghai, and flew to Tokyo from there.

Like they say, it's not always the destination, but often the path taken that makes things the most interesting. On that three hour bus ride, I was the only foreignor on the bus, and even before that, I was the only white guy in the bus station (see picture), that I saw at least. And after nearly getting on the wrong bus, I finally did make it to the right one, and the bus ride was fine. Being on streets in China, where traffic signals are merely suggestions and the lines on the road serve merely as decorations, is always fun! :-)