The first direct encounter with Suzhou took place at the railway station, where lots of transport touts, map-sellers and beggars did their thing. We were glad that the "authorised" taxi queue moved fast and reached the hotel fairly quickly.
The Humble Administrator's Garden was our main destination this time round, and even the 1 1/2 hours we had before closing time was barely enough for us walk through the expansive grounds properly. The ticket price included an official guide who took us through the main sections of the garden by way of introduction. Thankfully, at least we had the guide's assistance to better appreciate the place, its history, design and interesting tidbits. A pity about the short time we had -- before coming I'd envisaged sitting around at various vantage points in the garden to contemplate the pictures of nature as its previous owners did. We'd need about 3 hours to get into that kind of contemplative mood!
Then it was a quick trishaw ride to Guan Qian Jie, the main pedestrian walking street in Suzhou where Starbucks and Haagen Dazs share the street with 100-year old stores. An evening bonus came in the form of a crepe outlet, from which I got a strawberry and banana crepe. Somehow, all the people buying crepes were girls!? After walking quite a while without getting a cab, we were very happy to board the right bus and stop at the right stop a stone's throw from our hotel.
There, our quick dip into Suzhou, and we're bussing out tomorrow.
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