Fast forward to my 9th day in China. We were back in Guilin. After the not so good experience at Backstreet Youth Hostel, I was glad that we checked into another hostel in Guilin. It's called Guilin Oasis Inn.
This would be the last place we stay in China, as we would be returning to Malaysia the following day.
At only 135 yuan (RM68) per night for a three-bed room, I thought it was worth our money!
This did not look like a hostel but more like a real hotel!
The service was good and the place was reasonably clean. I was going to have a good sleep that night! Or so I thought.
After having our dinner and walking along the pedestrian streets, visiting the night markets, we decided to call it a day and return to Oasis Inn. As soon as we entered the lobby, the lady at the counter received a phone call asking for Jam.
That caught us by surprise. Who would want to contact Jam in China? Nobody knew where we were staying!
As soon as Jam answered the call, I could see the expression on his face changed. He did not say much and then he put down the phone. I was like, what the ....?
The lady at the counter looked at us suspiciously as we hurried into our room. It was them! Jam told us it was the tour agent calling! My worst nightmare had come true! How the hell did they find out where we were staying?
And Jam had hanged up just like that. Great! What would the caller on the other side think? They would surely be on their way to Oasis Inn, we had no doubt about that! Maybe we should move out of the hostel? Run away like fugitives? That's out of the question! I do not want to end up in jail! Especially Chinese jail!
And guess what's worse. They could be bringing some gangsters to rough us out! Who knows what the Chinese people are capable of? Frankly, the thought of this made me a little panicky.
But luckily, we managed to calm ourselves and think rationally.
First things first. Did we try to avoid paying them? No, we didn't.
Did we try to run away? Not really. In actual fact, we were waiting for them to collect the payment from us, and it was not our fault if they did not do so.
So why were we so afraid? Maybe because Jam had hanged up on them. That's why! Jam, I am not blaming you for this. I would most probably do the same thing too if I were in your shoes. It was just too unexpected. Who would have thought that they would chase after us after so many days passed by without any news from them?
I told Jam maybe he should call them and explain the matter. Just then, there was a knock on our door. We stood there, too stunned to move.
Oh my God! They are here already!! How did they arrive so fast?
To my relief, it turned out to be the hostel staff. Phew!!
It was a call for Jam. Must be them again! Jam went to answer the call and came back telling us that they would be coming to collect the payment. I think the owner of the hostel was a little worried and asked us what was the problem. We said no problem! And went back into our room.
Gosh, I could not believe we did that! Oh, well....
We decided that we would meet them at the hostel lobby as it was not safe to meet them in our room. They could do anything to us inside the room! So we told the hostel staff to inform us once they arrive.
Meantime, we planned our strategy. Well, we were about to go to war!
We decided that we would not pay for the whole package that include the Li River Cruise, tour guide to Yangshuo's 5 tourist attractions and The "Impression Liu San Jie" show. That's because we went to the "Impression Liu San Jie" show by ourselves. So we would only agree to pay for the Li River Cruise and tour guide in Yangshuo. That would cost us 330 yuan (RM165) per person. Nothing more, and to be fair, nothing less.
Even then, Jam and his friend did not have enough money. They had splurged way too much thinking that the tour company would not be after us!
Fortunately, I had excess money with me, so I lent it to them.
Our main strategy of course, would be to make a big fuss over their poor service and question them over their inefficiency at collecting payment from us. Haha! We would act as if we were angry! They want to be angry with us? Let us show them that WE were the ones who were pissed off! Not them.
Despite this, I could not help feeling a bit jittery. Waiting for them to arrive must have felt like one of the longest nights in my whole China trip.
As it turned out, we had nothing much to worry about. A lady from the tour company came to meet us at the lobby. There were no men, no gangsters. Well, maybe the gangsters were outside, ready to move in if we fail to make the payment. Who knows? I could see the hostel owner was as worried as us. Poor fellow!
We talked to the lady and complained all we could. Well, it's part of our strategy and it worked. She agreed that we pay for the whole package except the "Impression Liu San Jie" show. So we paid up.
Before she left, we asked her how she managed to track us down. According to her, it was her duty to track us down. If she fail to do so, she would have to pay the company for the losses! So she went all out and contacted all the backpacker hostels in Guilin in search for us!
I could not help thinking what a coincidence it must be for us to be at the Oasis Inn's lobby when she first made the call. The phone actually rang the moment we walked in. If we had entered the lobby just a few seconds later, she would have missed us. And we would have gotten away with it!
I have never really believed in coincidences. There are no coincidences, as they say. I can only say this is karma at work. How else can you explain it?
It never once crossed my mind that a trip to China would reinforce my belief in karma. Anyway, it was a hell of an experience! And I'm pretty sure that this experience would remain in my memory for a long, long time.
Coming Up Next : My Yulong River Rafting Adventure
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