My morning was a bit rushed. I was taking a fairly early bus out of Los Angeles, using some small independent Vietnamese bus company that was going to pick me up in China Town. The main issue was that I had to have a printed copy of my ticket, which I had forgotten to do in advance, and I had to wait for the staff at the hostel to get up (they tend to party pretty hard, and normal office hours weren't until 11am), and then we had problems getting the printer to work. Once we finally got things working it was a pretty quick ride to China Town since it was on the same subway line as where my hostel was, so I managed to get there in time. The ride wasn't very good. The bus was cramped and completely filled, with only 5 people that weren't Asian.
We got into San Francisco in the late evening, and by the time I got to my hostel the sun was down. The hostel I stayed in was huge, and one of the few real organized hostels I've encountered in the US. It must have had a few hundred beds, and had other perks like a fully-equipped industrial kitchen, pool tables and even a small movie theater. It was right on the border of the nicer part of downtown and the much less nice Tenderloin district (you can't expect much from a district named Tenderloin) which was full of beggars and homeless. Since it was already evening by the time I settled in I only went out to get a pizza, and then spent the rest of the evening trying to plan out what to do in San Francisco.
4 comments:
Avoid the tenderloin at night!
11dollars (last time I went) got you unlimited surface transit (including riding the cable cars). Since the cable cars normally cost $5 for one trip, and the cable cars are my single most favourite part of San Francisco, it is well worth it.
Check out Haight Ashbury for the cultural significance. Check out both fake and real china towns (one street apart). Check out the fortune cookie company. Check out the sea lions on pier... Which pier? The Golden Gae bridge is a must (long walk or short bus ride).
Unfortunately because I'm terrible at keeping things up to date I'm actually 2 weeks out of San Francisco now, so it's too late to follow up on your suggestions now. I actually only used public transit once in San Francisco, but I don't really do things the way most people do them. I like walking, and for me the process of getting somewhere and the things I see along the way are half the fun, so I try to only use transit of something is prohibitively far away, or I'm short on time.
No cable car? Hanging off the side as it whips around the corners at top speeds?
I have something planned that will put all cable car rides to shame. I just feel it's better not to share details until after it's over to save parents from unnecessary stress.
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