October 28, 2024
T4: 徐闻 → 海口
Considering how rough the crossing was a full 24 hours after ferry service resumed, I'm really glad that I went with getting a hotel and waiting instead of pushing to go to the ferry port and waiting there for 5 hours or whatever it is that the other three guys in the car with me did.
Last I saw them, they had determined that no one had yet checked out of the place (that wasn't actually that much cheaper than where I ended up) immediately across the street from the long-distance coach station and they were going to drop their luggage and try waiting in the station until people either checked out or the ferry opened.
考虑到轮渡恢复通航要在整整24小时后，这趟过海旅程还是这么颠簸，我真庆幸当初选择找家酒店等着，而不是像同车的另外三个男人那样，非要去轮渡码头等上5个小时之类的。
我最后见他们的时候，他们发现长途汽车站正对面那家店（其实也没比我住的地方便宜多少）还没人退房，打算先把行李放下，去车站里等着，要么等有人退房，要么等轮渡开航。
After attempting to take the bus that I know exists between the ferry terminal and downtown Xuwen¹ and giving up after Maps told me² a bus was totally coming "any time now," I gave up at around 20 minutes of sitting around and called a didi.
Being as I was leaving from the terminal with fewer ferries (but which drops me off 20km closer to home), I probably could have given it another 40 minutes of waiting without impacting my travel time, but—even with a schedule of sorts posted in the elevator of my hotel—finding the actual, most current, scheduled³ sailing times is not the easiest thing in the world, and it would have really sucked to have saved a whole 15y only to then have another 90-minute wait before I could get onboard.
我本想坐那趟我知道的往返于轮渡码头和徐闻市区之间的公交车¹，可地图²说公交车“随时就到”，我等了大概20分钟，实在耗不下去，就叫了辆滴滴。
我要出发的那个码头班次少些，但能让我少走20公里的路就到家。其实我本可以再等40分钟的，也不影响行程，可尽管酒店电梯里贴着个大概的时刻表，要找到最新、最准确的轮渡班次信息³，实在不是件容易事。要是为了省那15块钱，结果得多等90分钟才能上船，那可就太亏了。
Didn't feel like climbing up two extra decks to get to the not actually all that secret Secret VIP Lounge where 30y gets you a cup of the nastiest instant coffee known to man, reasonable air conditioning, and clean bathrooms. Although no one ever threw up in my cabin, it started smelling like Unhappy Humans about halfway across, but by that point, no matter how much I regretted my decision, the seas were rough enough that I didn't want to move from where I was already sat.
Once I got off the ferry, I walked until my stomach and head were calm, tried a bunch of broken share bikes before finding one that worked, and rode until I couldn't tolerate trying to balance what I was carrying⁴; at which point I called a didi the rest of the way home.
我没兴致再爬两层甲板去那个所谓的“秘密VIP休息室”，其实也没多隐秘，花30块钱能得到一杯难喝到极致的速溶咖啡，还有还算舒服的空调和干净的卫生间。虽说我那间船舱里没人吐，但船开到一半，就开始弥漫着一股“人不舒坦”的味儿。可到了那时候，就算再后悔没去休息室，也因为海浪太大，不想从座位上挪动了。
下了轮渡后，我先走着，直到胃里和脑袋都舒服些了。试了好几辆坏了的共享单车，才找到一辆能用的。骑了一会儿，实在没法平衡手里拎的东西⁴，就又叫了辆滴滴，直接回到家。
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¹ I ended up on this bus during both the May business trip to Xuwen and the Exciting Transport Adventure† part of the previously mentioned Weird Beihai Trip.
¹我五月份去徐闻出差，还有之前说过的那次“奇葩北海之旅”里的“惊险交通奇遇记”†，都坐过这趟车。
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† I bought what I thought was a legitimate interprovincial coach ticket off of CTrip. Without going into all of what happened, CTrip Customer Service refused to take my heads-up "you should know that the company you are reselling is up to something shady" complaint on the grounds that it was a "totally normal" travel experience and "perhaps [I] didn't have much experience traveling in China." So, I made a cheerful, upbeat video about "the wild and whacky adventure" I just had. This subsequently got me a refund I never asked for, an official investigation from the Transportation Authority, and the delisting of a large number of products.
† 我在携程上买了一张我以为是正规的跨省长途汽车票。具体过程就不多说了，总之我跟携程客服反映“你们合作的这家公司有问题，得留意下”，他们却拒不受理，还说这是“再正常不过的出行”，“可能是[我]在中国旅行的经验不够多”。于是，我乐呵呵地拍了个视频，讲了讲这次“超级有意思经历”。结果呢，我没要求退款，他们却给我退了钱，交通部门还展开了正式调查，一大批相关产品也被下架了。
² It wasn't the kind of bus where Maps had live info as to how many stops away it still was, but it was supposed to come every 15 minutes.
²这趟公交车，地图上没有实时信息显示还有几站到，只说大概15分钟一班。
³ Even when they aren't restarting just after the ports have been closed for inclement weather, scheduled sailing times ≠ actual sailing times.
³就算不是港口因恶劣天气关闭后刚恢复通航，时刻表上的航行时间和实际开船时间是不一致的。
Today's ride: 3 km (2 miles)
Total: 1,732 km (1,076 miles)
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