A couple of days in Tongren - Day 1.

 Times had been a bit rough at Jiangkou lately so when I discovered that the pupils were having the days of examsI thought I'd escape for a few days.  Tongren is near and I know where some.things are, so I decided on there.  Equally my area boss , Jamie, wants to see me about the renewal.of my contract.  Two birds with me stone.
Up until now, I had always relied on friends to book my hotels and taxis, this time I wanted to try myself.  My friend Meng had used Qunar to book the hotel in Guiyang and recommended it to me.  However like most things in China, it is all in Chinese.  However , I thought I'd give it a go.  It's icon is a small camel.  As the app searches for things, things the camel walks, and as the longer the camel walks the more it sweats!  Cute, but after half an hour of trying my best, I could quite happily have throttled the little animal!
Anyway, I think I got it right because it took my money!  The next part was more difficult.  I tried the various apps to book a shared taxi, but eventually gave in.  I called Wendy, the girl who originally met me in Guiyang, and asked for help.  Within ten minutes, the taxi was there and I was on my way.  A fairly uneventful journey.
I got to the hotel and my booking and worked.  Success!  I took my stuff to my room unpacked and got out into Tongren.  Tongren was refreshing.  Much bigger and much more variety than Jiangkou.  I had made arrangements to go to Spring School, a place I had visited earlier, and was to meet up with Gloria.  When I arrived Gloria was teaching, but after a short wait she had finished and I went with her and Lilly for coffee.  Real coffee that was still warm!  Lovely!
Gloria is on the right in these photos.
After thisI went to see Wendy.  Her school seemed empty.  I looked for her but couldn't find her.  I tried the last door in the school, but it was locked.  Then I heard a mouse from inside.  It was Wendy, she had been taking a nap!  She took me to her office and we sat down and chatted for a while whilst she woke up!  Eventually the talking was done and I headed off back to my hotel.  In the meantime my area boss Jamie, had arranged to meet me at seven pm.  Later he changed that to 6pm.  So I left the office and wandered around a small covered market nearby wondering what it might contain.  It was quite a modern and clean market!
Not sure what is going on with the shirtless guy here but it was medicinal!

chickens

spices and souvenirs
souvenirs
fabrics

The market at the top of the stairs behind Buddha, Lao Tzu and Confucius... I think!
After that I wandered home along the main road. There were lots of old people everywhere, singing, or playing cards.  It was busy.  They were not too interested in the foreigner, or maybe didn't notice me, so I stepped back and took a few photos.  What caught my eye was the old man in a rope!  A kind of harness you put on children but this was on an old man.  Kind of sad really, but people were taking care of him, and he seemed happy enough.
Old folks just hanging around
More old folks just hanging around.
The old man on a rope.
After all this I walked back to the hotel and later met with my boss Jamie for dinner.
Jamie, the 'area boss' right and his admin assistant left.  The woman in teh middle is the waitress!
It was a sad meeting because I had to tell him that I was not renewing my contract and that at the end of my contract I was heading home.  I though I might be able to stay until the end of June to end the school year but he said not.

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