adventures in *

Sleeper bus

I was looking at my options for getting back to HK. A flight from Guilin to HK would be 1200rmb, I’d still have to take a 1.5 hr bus ride from Yangshuo to Guilin, then another hour bus to Guilin airport. Flying to Shenzhen then bussing to HK was another option, 500rmb. The hostel worker recommended taking an overnight bus directly from Yangshuo to Shenzhen for only 180rmb. I wouldn’t have to transfer up to Guilin and I could get some sleep as well. I’ve never been on a sleeper bus, I wasn’t even aware they existed. The bus had 3 rows of beds going all the way to the back, no bathroom.

I picked a spot in the back corner and settled in. The little bed compartments seemed like deathtraps. If the bus gets in a collision, I could see people getting their legs pinned in. With the way people drive here, I was worried that I might not make it back to HK. I fell asleep quickly, but every once in awhile, we’d hit a bump or pothole, in my half awake state, I dreamt I was back in Antarctica, crossing the Drake passage. I would bounce out of the bed and felt momentarily weightless as I came back down. In Antarctica, we had 30+ft swells on the way
back to Argentina, the ship was tossed around like a toy and staying planted in the bunks was a challenge.

Around 4am, I was woken by the sound of the engine shutting off, I looked outside and noticed traffic wasn’t moving. After 20 minutes, the driver started up and moved 20 feet before stopping again. This continued for several hours. We passed by a bus on the side of the rode, it looked like it was involved in a sideswipe collision. All the passengers were standing outside in the rain. That didn’t make me feel easy about the ride.