The train was still light as it had been but we'd stopped again which had woken me. It was gone 5am and there was still a bit to go but people were boarding the train and one sat in my bank of chairs. I got up and moved to another bank of 4 chairs only but empty and rested for less than an hour before we stopped again and more got on. There were not so many free seats now and I made myself a pot noodle for breakfast and read up about Pingyao and the temples nearby. We arrived and I was greeted by a woman who desperately wanted me to store my luggage with her. I went to buy my ticket first and then found her at the ticket office wanting to escort me back to her shop and luggage store. The train I'd wanted had been full so I had hot a ticket on the train before which left quite early at 5.43 yet arrived at 5.30 in Beijing while the other left at 8pm arriving at 5.13. I didn't have so much time here and wouldn't make use of a hostel so I decided to use her luggage store. She wanted 15 yuan at first and then afterwards tried to ask for 20. I really should have paid 10 or gone elsewhere considering the hostel was 20 for the night, but I agreed and paid the 15 and at least saved some time. I went into town where there was a city gate and wall which were smaller than Xian but in good condition mostly. I walked along the inside and it was fairly quiet with not many people around until I got to the south gate where hoards of tourists were. There were steps up to the wall there but you needed the city ticket so I gad a look and it was 130 which is less than the 150 wikitravel had listed. Still I didn't fancy running around to every little museum and traditional house in Pingyao to get my moneys worth so I headed out through the gate to look at the gardens which were nice for a bit but beyond that the fountains and water features had no water. I went back into the city and found a tourist information centre where I picked up 2 brochures but no map and I found that they had a phone charger I could use for free. I headed on to a temple but you needed the ticket and although the passages looked like they might get into the temple they were part of a hotel built next to it I went round and then headed to the east wall and the Catholic Church there which was small but looked nice from the outside. I was going to go west but I saw people climbing up steps next to the wall so I went to have a look and there was a locked door at the top. I went round past some bookmarked places that did not exist and others that did none that looked worthwhile and I came to the city temple which looked quite good from the outside. There was another information centre and I left one of my chargers there to get powered up as I gad the whole day and night possibly without electricity. While that was charging I did a loop round and saw some more places and shops. It was all very touristy with big groups of Chinese sometimes turning up on golf buggies going into these places included in the ticket. I find find a nice quiet area in the centre which was like a paved park with new Chinese buildings around and some areas were fairly empty with shops looking a bit deserted while others were crowded. In other Countries there would be a lot better spread of people around the city with more people wanting to just wander like I'd done a bit. I picked up my charger and headed north to the city commerce building which was big and had a tower and a temple inside, another one I would have liked to visit and further on there was a tower that you used to be able to climb for 5 yuan but was now disappointingly closed. I saw some of the other bookmarked places and then left through the north gate to try to see the 2 temples. I was going west and needed a no.9 bus but I couldn't see any so I kept walking to the train station where I decided to take any bus as it should go for a bit in the right direction. I took a 108 that turned after a bit and was heading south but the road turned west which looked ok only it went more south before turning east again. I was a bit over 1km away when it turned as I knew it would towards the high speed rail. There were several people on board with suitcases and other luggage which was the giveaway and I tried to get off the bus but he wouldn't stop until the bus stop some 800m down the road. I thought about cutting across the dirt area but decided to stick to the roads and walked back then west and finally a bit south to get to the temple. It was 1pm and I had gotten my temples confused as the bus no.9 went to the other one, had I come to the wrong place, should I just go back to see the other one, I decided to go here and try to get to the other one as well and when I read the information board I realised this was the one I wanted to see after all and was called Shuanglin but also known by another name. It was 1600 or so years old and had some old statues and frescos but it cost 35 yuan where wikitravel said 25. I'd come all this way and not spent much so far so I grudgingly bought the ticket and went in. Inside there were not many people there and I walked around the several halls with statues inside which were pretty cool as they were old and well preserved. I went to all and looked first and didn't take photos as it was not allowed except for the first room but as wikitravel said they had CCTV everywhere. Some guy just walking around taking photos so maybe they don't monitor it. I went up on the wall they have around the complex to the end and then went back down. I went around the place again but this time taking photos and then I left. I went to the bus stop for bus number 108 and there were 2 girls and a woman waiting there. Soon the woman got a lift and minivans or taxis kept coming up to see if they could get our service. The 2 girls didn't look sure of the bus so after a while I left to walk back to a road to catch a bus there. The girls left as well and took minivan and I carried on walking past a junction and looked down the street and saw a bus coming. I didn't know where it was going but it did u-turn and went to the stop so I'd missed it. I went to the end of the street where it joined the main road and thought there might be the 103 bus but there were no buses, no stops just trucks and cars. I ended up doing 25 minutes of walking until finally there was a stop but no bus. I walked on and a 207 bus did a u-turn so I missed it. At the next stop a 108 bus came and I got on back to near the bus station which was not much of a station. There was no number 9 bus which would take me to the other temple and it was getting late but I tried the road north and there were no bus stops there. I gave up and went to a food stall and bought some rice with prunes and then went back to town. There were golf buggies and I considered getting on one but my hands were messy from the prune rice and I wanted a toilet. I went west and then south and found a toilet. After that I went south to the hostel to connect yo the wifi there for a bit and then went back north then west to the city gate and left through it. I wanted food for the train journey so I went in a shop and bought pot noodles and some water to drink. Then I picked up my luggage and went to the train station and found somewhere to charge things which is a problem when sleeping on trains back to back. We went down to the train platform early for a change to wait and the staff were helpful making sure I was in the right place. I got on the train but my ticket didn't give me a seat and there were none free so I stood and read. A female teacher sitting down talked to me for a while and then after a couple of stops I got a seat. The teacher and her friend left soon after and I managed to sleep a bit. We must have stopped as I was woken and had to move but I found a seat and slept a bit more until another stop where I had to move again only now there were no seats. I was lucky a bit later on to get another seat and this was a window one but I had cramp so I had to wake people to get up and go to the toilet and when I came back I couldn't sleep. Then the train stopped and lots of people got on and I had to move but there were no seats so I stayed standing for a long time until the early hours.
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