The train ride we had been waiting for, 27 hours from Xi'an to Guilin.
Xi'an station was even more overcrowded and manic than when we arrived. Thousands of people all pushing, elbowing and shouting to get into the building. We, quite literally, fought our way through the crowds to the entrance security check. It is an advantage being taller than the mass of people around you. Then we found the queue for our train, the K818, and finally into a shuffling, stumbling swarm of bodies all moving towards platform 4. It felt like half of Xi'an was trying to get on the same train as us. No surprise as this is not the nicest city in China.
It was a big sweaty relief when we got to carriage 5 and found our bunks in bay 9/10. This time it was Dominic on the bottom, Eva in the middle and I had the top. Again the train was full with some people travelling the full route to Nanning, another 6 hours beyond our stop. A few beers and an oversized spicy pot noodle helped us settle into the journey ahead and after a game of cards it was lights out at 10pm and sleep.
I woke up at 0730 to a morning chorus of excited Chinese voices as the breakfast trolleys made their way through the train selling a variety of food and drink.
Looking outside it was good to see that the scenery had changed from industrial cityscape to open countryside, rivers and fields of crops.
At 0830 I realised there were still 15 more hours to go on this train, or was it a mobile prison!!! (Joke. This is a great, relaxing way to travel). At least it was comfortable and the ever-changing views outside were beautiful. People around were very excited to point out the wide expanse of the rainswept Yangtze river as we hurtled over it.
Before lunch a group of Chinese ladies, who were high school teachers from Xi'an, invited me to their bunk bay so that they could practice their English. It was very amusing and as we chatted they shared various bits of food - some good, some weird.
Then the train stopped at one of it's many scheduled stops and they ushered me off the train. I tried to explain that this was not my destination and that I was going to Guilin. They thought this was very funny and explained that when the train has a station stop of more than 10 minutes it's ok to get off for a a breath of fresh air.
It turned out that there were a number of these longer stops where you could get off and trolleys would appear on the platform full of drinks and snacks. Eva slept on.
With my Kindle having decided to reconnect to the blog using 3G, I made use of the time to do some updates while on the move. Dominic woke up about 10 but Eva kept on sleeping.
With 11 hours still to go it was noticeable that the fields had changed from corn to rice growing. Eva was still sleeping.
Hour 18 (9 more to go) was a chance to get off at Heng Yang station for 18 minutes. Enough time for a cold beer and a good stretch of our legs, well for Dominic and me because, you've guessed it, Eva was still asleep! Staying asleep was her tactical way of avoiding the need to use the train toilets.
Eva finally woke up after sleeping for 17 hours!!!
I enjoyed some really good train food. Spicy, full of flavour and great aroma. Nobody else joined in with this meal. Their loss as it was great, or I was tired and hungry.
I lost the 3 way game of toilet roulette!!! I was the one with the bullet in the chamber - literally and metaphorically! Using a squatter is not easy at the best of times, but on a moving train with only a water skiing handle in front of you to hold onto for balance... use your imagination. But I survived, with only minor mental scars. It left me wondering if the train food had been such a good idea.
We arrived in Guilin about midnight. A slightly calmer station but outside an array of buildings clad in flashing neon lights and LED screens was quite a shock after more than a day on a train.
Yangshuo was an hours bus ride away but the minibus driver said he was fast. He was! Bouncing over bumps and even taking out the barrier at a road toll station because he'd tried to tailgate a bus through. No, he didn't stop. On the more rural roads at night all drivers seem to use their headlights on full beam, as if they act as a protective forcefield, when overtaking into oncoming traffic.
Yangshuo is a bit more of a tourist town and was still open and lively at 1am.
We checked into the, very centrally located, Friendship hotel, near the river, and went to bed - even sleeping beauty, Eva.
I woke up at 0730 to a morning chorus of excited Chinese voices as the breakfast trolleys made their way through the train selling a variety of food and drink.
Looking outside it was good to see that the scenery had changed from industrial cityscape to open countryside, rivers and fields of crops.
At 0830 I realised there were still 15 more hours to go on this train, or was it a mobile prison!!! (Joke. This is a great, relaxing way to travel). At least it was comfortable and the ever-changing views outside were beautiful. People around were very excited to point out the wide expanse of the rainswept Yangtze river as we hurtled over it.
Before lunch a group of Chinese ladies, who were high school teachers from Xi'an, invited me to their bunk bay so that they could practice their English. It was very amusing and as we chatted they shared various bits of food - some good, some weird.
Then the train stopped at one of it's many scheduled stops and they ushered me off the train. I tried to explain that this was not my destination and that I was going to Guilin. They thought this was very funny and explained that when the train has a station stop of more than 10 minutes it's ok to get off for a a breath of fresh air.
It turned out that there were a number of these longer stops where you could get off and trolleys would appear on the platform full of drinks and snacks. Eva slept on.With my Kindle having decided to reconnect to the blog using 3G, I made use of the time to do some updates while on the move. Dominic woke up about 10 but Eva kept on sleeping.
Eva finally woke up after sleeping for 17 hours!!!
I enjoyed some really good train food. Spicy, full of flavour and great aroma. Nobody else joined in with this meal. Their loss as it was great, or I was tired and hungry.
I lost the 3 way game of toilet roulette!!! I was the one with the bullet in the chamber - literally and metaphorically! Using a squatter is not easy at the best of times, but on a moving train with only a water skiing handle in front of you to hold onto for balance... use your imagination. But I survived, with only minor mental scars. It left me wondering if the train food had been such a good idea.
We arrived in Guilin about midnight. A slightly calmer station but outside an array of buildings clad in flashing neon lights and LED screens was quite a shock after more than a day on a train.
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| 27 hours on a train takes its toll |
Yangshuo was an hours bus ride away but the minibus driver said he was fast. He was! Bouncing over bumps and even taking out the barrier at a road toll station because he'd tried to tailgate a bus through. No, he didn't stop. On the more rural roads at night all drivers seem to use their headlights on full beam, as if they act as a protective forcefield, when overtaking into oncoming traffic.
Yangshuo is a bit more of a tourist town and was still open and lively at 1am.
We checked into the, very centrally located, Friendship hotel, near the river, and went to bed - even sleeping beauty, Eva.
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