through the looking glass

another sanjiang was a mere half hour ride away and the group was headed out for the sunday market and potential for cheap silver. after brilliant homestyle noodles we piled into a cab for the bus station then crammed into a tiny bus for the trip out. a woman tried to save a seat for her bag of goods, unsuccessfully. people crouched in every available corner, a foreshadowing of the chaos we were about to fall into. people flowed like a tidal wave up the mud covered market lined hill. I cannot begin to describe the momentum that carried us forward, no one seemed to be pushing yet everyone was pushed by the sheer volume funnelling in. I caught one picture in a moment out of the crowd, a man peacefully sitting, getting a haircut. occasionally a car would shove its way past, forcing people to fold over tables strewn with candied ginger and fried dough.

reaching the end the bar owner suggested a walk to the nearby villiage. the town felt like a shadow, empty on market day and shrouded in water. two little girls became our guides, showing us through the narrow paths. the group proceeded quickly while hu and I hung back, walking around every corner and trying to understand life in this small place.

3pm and hu and I decide to break from the group and make a run for the 10pm train from huaihua to wuhan. on the bus here he’d shown me a map of the city and that was all it took to sell me on the place, it’s 90% water. we ran back to the hotel, finished packing and ran for the bus stop, only to find out that we’d missed the last bus. undaunted due to recent experience we wandered around for a bit and talked to some other drivers and sure enough, not ten minutes later, a bus from huaihua showed up, unloading a plethora of chinese tourists. same bus driver as the way out and he was in some kind of rush to get home, we waited all of five minutes before pulling away. traffic again, he said, but not bad, maybe an hour delay. we made it to huaihua in time for dinner at a sichuan place with decidedly unsichuan food, a stop at a bakery for train food, cigs and orangeate, and a leisurely walk directly from the station door onto the train.