I rarely like to travel in a group. Largely because I think it's a hassle to move from place to place in a foreign land and also a major pain to get a consensus on where to go, how to go, etc.
A group of people we hang out with in Shanghai suggested a day trip to Nanjing. Ordinarily, I would have refused. But because we made a conscious effort to explore more of China now that our first full year is behind us, and also since I bought a new camera, we decided to go along.
Because of my motion sickness and probably being too used to having my travel expenses paid by the company, I typically would choose the more comfortable option to travel. Nanjing is a 75-minute train ride away and I usually take first class seats but since everyone wanted second class seats and even though we didnt have to sit in the same class, I decided to go along with second class so that I dont appear like a prima donna. The difference between first and second class is S$18 per way per person.
I usually like a planned itinerary wherever I go so I did some research on the distances of the two attractions we wanted to go so that we can travel more efficiently. I guess because it's a holiday, everyone is a little more chill so my itinerary wasnt used. Instead, the first thing most of them wanted when we emerged from the train station was to look for Starbucks. There wasnt a mall beside the station so as we wandered along the streets, I thought we would take a taxi to one of the attractions. But nooooo, for some reason, they wanted to take the MRT. It was 3RMB per person for MRT and 25RMB for four people in a taxi. Double the cost but just a S$2.40 difference.
It was at this point when I realised that this was a roughing out trip.
We alighted at the station for the Sun Yet Sen Mausoleum. Go check out the number of steps to the top. I did. So when I saw touts wanting to drive us up at RMB10 per car for four pax, I thought it was a steal! But they were afraid the touts will kidnap us to sell us away. Valid point.
Then one of our merry troop wanted to walk up! I was aghast!
Thankfully, it started to drizzle so we quickly made a decision to take a buggy up, rather than walk up. Cost of buggy: RMB10 per person.
But a troop member noted how far the buggy took us, she said it was the best RMB10 she spent. I could only smile.
The rest of the journey wasnt as rough because everyone was sapped after the mausoleum that we took a taxi back to the train station. Second class seats back to Shanghai.
Of course, the silly thing at the end of the day was the Nanjing on that day, topped the most polluted cities in China.
A group of people we hang out with in Shanghai suggested a day trip to Nanjing. Ordinarily, I would have refused. But because we made a conscious effort to explore more of China now that our first full year is behind us, and also since I bought a new camera, we decided to go along.
Because of my motion sickness and probably being too used to having my travel expenses paid by the company, I typically would choose the more comfortable option to travel. Nanjing is a 75-minute train ride away and I usually take first class seats but since everyone wanted second class seats and even though we didnt have to sit in the same class, I decided to go along with second class so that I dont appear like a prima donna. The difference between first and second class is S$18 per way per person.
I usually like a planned itinerary wherever I go so I did some research on the distances of the two attractions we wanted to go so that we can travel more efficiently. I guess because it's a holiday, everyone is a little more chill so my itinerary wasnt used. Instead, the first thing most of them wanted when we emerged from the train station was to look for Starbucks. There wasnt a mall beside the station so as we wandered along the streets, I thought we would take a taxi to one of the attractions. But nooooo, for some reason, they wanted to take the MRT. It was 3RMB per person for MRT and 25RMB for four people in a taxi. Double the cost but just a S$2.40 difference.
It was at this point when I realised that this was a roughing out trip.
We alighted at the station for the Sun Yet Sen Mausoleum. Go check out the number of steps to the top. I did. So when I saw touts wanting to drive us up at RMB10 per car for four pax, I thought it was a steal! But they were afraid the touts will kidnap us to sell us away. Valid point.
Then one of our merry troop wanted to walk up! I was aghast!
Thankfully, it started to drizzle so we quickly made a decision to take a buggy up, rather than walk up. Cost of buggy: RMB10 per person.
But a troop member noted how far the buggy took us, she said it was the best RMB10 she spent. I could only smile.
The rest of the journey wasnt as rough because everyone was sapped after the mausoleum that we took a taxi back to the train station. Second class seats back to Shanghai.
Of course, the silly thing at the end of the day was the Nanjing on that day, topped the most polluted cities in China.
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