So finally in what feels like the blink of an eye we are back home in good ol Wuxi. It feels like a year has passed since we jumped on a sleeper train to Beijing, not just a measly four weeks. We saw a great deal of China but even still barely scratched the surface of what is truly a massive country.
Surprisingly, one of the things that came out of the trip for me was that when we compare it to everything else we've seen, Wuxi really isn't that bad. In fact, Wuxi is somewhat better than some of the other cities - who'd have thunk it.
The trip was highly enjoyable but like everything else in China had it's definite ups and downs. I am by no means a long-time traveller but I believe all lengthy trips can be as trying as they can be rewarding. Ours was no different.
We experienced all kinds of things from extreme tiredness from sleepless nights on ever bumping noisy sleeper trains to extreme heat and humidity. Courtney came down with a cold and I don't think I have ever seen anyone's nose run for as long! We're talking a nasal river here. We experienced the sometimes utterly frustrating nuisances of the Chinese people themselves, being confined in close quarters of busses and trains with them. We experienced the dizzying effects of altitude sickness that left us feeling light-headed and tired. On the last day, the altitude sickness dished me out another little gift and the toilet was my best friend for the entire day.
All in all it was a great experience. We saw so many different things. We met some of the different minority cultures of China and finally...finally escaped the smoggy cities and saw some very majestic mountainous countryside where the air was actually...amazingly, clear.
When we landed back in Wuxi it was 5pm in the afternoon and sunny. The sky was blue and slightly cloudy and the air quite possibly the clearest I have seen it to date. We could clearly see the buildings of the CBD and the mountain behind it from miles away. It really showed us that where we live is much closer to the city than we sometimes feel - think Hawthorn from Melbourne.
It's good to be back amongst our own things and to be able to just relax and do our own thing. Sure the next challenge is returning to teaching..erk! But we'll deal with that as it comes. For now I am done with travel - until the next adventure!
Nick will be coming over to visit in around a week and a half or so and it's going to be awesome showing him what we experience on a daily basis. We're both really looking forward to seeing him and showing him some of the cool stuff we've discovered along the way.
*edit - I have to say, one thing I had secretly hoped would be better when we returned was our shower - WRONG. It's as bad, if not worse than ever, waaaah :(
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