I decided that we needed to get Blake some items from the local department store, Injoy Mall, Mother Care which is a company from the UK specializing in childrens clothing, strollers, toys, bottles, nursing attire, etc. If I wanted to walk, in this HEAT, I am sure it would have taken me close to 40 minutes? but I didn't want to do that at 2pm in the afternoon! Brian and Blake stayed home and I confidently told Brian I would ride the BUS to get to the mall, no taxi for me today! Bus price = $0.20 each way, Taxi= $1.50 each way both inexpensive options mind you. So i walked down our street and waited for the light to change signaling i could walk to the middle median where the BRT (I don't know what this stands for) bus system runs through most of the city. Thanks to a friend who took me on the bus recently I knew which number I needed, I put in my One Yuan coin and went through the turn style, I patiently waited while others around me stared a bit (a white pregnant lady doesn't look like she belongs). Once my #12 bus pulled up I joined the rush to get on the bus, you have what seems like 2 minutes to either get on or off at each stop, similar to the train where there is 5 minutes to do so. I made it on, wahoo! OK now it's time for me to figure out which stop will be the best to get off at....(there are no maps in English to assist me with this). As we start to get to the intersection where the mall is on the corner I wonder if i should get off here or try to remember if there was one more stop near the mall, I decide to take my chances and STAY on the bus! Ah, did i make the right choice, if not how far will i have to backtrack in this heat to find the mall??? As the bus turns the corner I see the mall and luckily another BRT sign and blue station, alright I got this! So as I make my way to the door so I can rush off with the crowd in seconds I find myself on a median that offers only one way out, an underground stairway. I walked down the stairway and to my enjoyment there was an entrance to the mall, mind you there were also 3 other stairways leading down from the street level. So I proceeded to go into the mall and luckily was right near the store I had gone for. I completed my shopping and then my journey began....
I was set to take the bus home with my One Yuan coin in my pocket I would just backtrack to where I came in and easily find bus #12 and head back home! Not so fast....I back track through the mall to the underground stairway and go up what was #2 to get back to where I came from, when i get up there I find the sign showing different bus numbers pointing in the direction I wanted to go...so I went back down the stairs to the underground and went up #3 to see what I could find. When I reached the top of the stairway I saw a sign with different bus numbers and an arrow going the opposite direction...not a good sign....I typed in my phone to ask the lady behind the ticket window where bus 12 was....and she pretty much pointed to the general intersection. So off I went back down the stairs, sweating by now and drinking my water bottle I was so happy I grabbed on my way out the door. When I go to the bottom of the stairway I had two more options, #1 or #4 so I went with #4 can't be any worse that #2 or #3 I told myself. When i reached the top one more time I realized I was on the street level on the other side of the road from the mall. At this point I figured worst case I hail a taxi and pay the $1.50 to go home, or I can walk over to the intersection and see if there was another bus stop she was directing me to. I walked up to the intersection and around the corner where in the middle of the road was another BRT sign! Yay, I think I figured this out, I walked over hoping the sign would say bus #12 and would be going in the direction of my home...and I was in luck! Within 10 minutes a #12 bus pulled up and I rushed to get on! This time the bus was packed, full of men, women and children....and no a/c! Apparently the busses have a/c according to my driver, however this one only had windows! The children were mostly sitting by the windows and a gentleman noticed i was pregnant and moved motioning me to take his spot close to the window. The breeze helped cool me down but I couldn't wait for this bus ride to end so I could get home to the a/c!!! It was pretty quiet on the bus, in the heat of the afternoon I think most were feeling like I was and wanted to rest and drink some water. Of course in China they don't like cold water so it would have been warm water for them and I am not sure how refreshing that would be, but my water was still cold. Once we reached the stop I knew I needed to get off on I felt a huge gust of cooler air getting off the bus. I proceeded down the road and was home within a few minutes....what an adventure!
Here are just a few quick snapshots I took while at the first bus stop.
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