Thursday we got up at half past five and headed off to the station. This time we shared are cabin with two nice Belgium guys, both called Bart. In the afternoon we played some games with our old cabin mates Brett and Kathy, which was the most fun thing in the so far boring ride. After a while we found out that the train was driving throught the middle of the Gobi dessert. The landscape was vast and dry with a lot of low bushes. We even spotted some wild camels, which was pretty awesome. The Mongolian border control was boring and the same as last time, but this time only took one and a half hour. At the Chinese border control the chassis of the train had to be changed. It was already eleven o'clock and because of the early rise next morning and the bad sleep the previous night we were really tired. After we were lifted up and put down on the new chassis and saw it happen to another carriage (that was really cool to see) we decided that we would lay down for a bit and not fall asleep in case the border control wasn't over (we already got our passports back). The staying awake part failed and we fell asleep fully dressed.

Yesterday morning, Friday, we arrived in Datong around 8 0'clock. After ten minutes walking we found out that the hostel was a bit farther than we expected (good preparation). So we took a cab and in five (terrifying) minutes we were there. The neighborhood of the hostel looks pretty old school Chinese, but than new. Around it they build a old style wall, but it is not older than twenty years. We couldn't check-in yet, but we could take our usual shower. During breakfast we met a Italian guy named Francesco and decided to meet with him two hours later to have lunch and visit an old temple together. In those two hours we had to get our tickets for the train to Beijing. Of course that wasn't an easy thing. We took a cab (those are really cheap in China) to the address on the voucher. It also said that they moved 300 meters east. So we walked east, and did not find it. Luckily, after a few times walking up and down we discovered that it was on the other side of the street, but their signs were covered by trees.

We picked up the tickets and went back to 'our' part of the city and met up with Francesco. For lunch we ate hot pot, a real traditional Chinese dish. You get a bowl of soup that is boiling on a fire and then you put in small pieces of food, boil it and get it out with your chopsticks. Delicious and really fun. After lunch we went to a ATM to withdraw some money. Unfortunately the ATM did not want to give us any money (in the morning we already tried four of them and they did not work). So we went to the Bank of China and changed the Euros we brought (it wasn't that much). Still low on cash we went to the temple. The temple is in the middle of the pretty busy center, but inside the walls its really quiet and peaceful. The statues were massive and gorgeous and the further we got in the temple complex, the older the statues were.

For dinner we had dumplings with various kinds of vegetables and meat. We went back to the hostel pretty early because we needed to find out why we couldn't withdraw any money. After a lot of long phone calls to the Netherlands, it turned out that there was nothing wrong with Marits account but that the problem lays with the Chinese ATM's. The conclusion was that via Western Union cash would be sent to us and we could pick it up next day at a bank.

Today, Saturday, isn't the most successful day of our journey. Anniek had some trouble with her stomach and intestines, luckily it didn't last too long, and our money worries aren't over yet. We got up on time and headed out for a quick breakfast. We searched for the right bank, and quickly we found one. There we were sent to a bigger one. We walked for half an hour, hoping we would actually find one. We did, there we got the same answer, but this time they wrote down the address so we could take a cab. There we actually got somewhere, but unfortunately it turned out that the person that worked for Western Union was not working in the weekends... No money for us... After making a small scene and trying the ATM again (failed) we gave up.

Back in the hostel we rested (Anniek was still not feeling well) and made some phone calls to the Netherlands again. Now they will sent the money to Beijing were we hopefully can pick it up on Monday. Luckily if the transaction failles we have a back-up, because there we will meet up with a friend who is willing to help us out.

Around five o'clock we went out again, did some groceries and visited the wall with the nine dragons. The wall used to stand in front of a palace and now it's the only thing that remained of the palace that burned down. While looking at the wall we got photographed a lot of times. We even went on a photo with a group of Chinese people. Here they seem to find it pretty normal to take pictures of us and say hello to us. It is a weird experience and its start to get a bit annoying. Back in our neighborhood we decided that it was a good idea to rest on a bench. In two minutes we where surrounded by twenty people?! For Marit is was fun though, because she talked some Chinese with them. We found out that there was a cultural festival in front of the temple with a lot of music and dance. The dancing was pretty awesome, but the singing wasn't always that beautiful. One song a guy sang had such a high pitch voice that it made our ears hurt.

Tomorrow we have to get up early to catch the train to Beijing, this time it is only six hours, so it will be easy peasy.