Catching the train from Hong Kong to Beijing West station is like climbing Mt Fuji. You'll be a fool to do it twice. Actually, does the return journey count as doing it twice? Indeed we must be fools. It takes 24 hours - one way and the scenery doesn't change much. All you see are rice fields, crops and small farming communities dotted along the way and ever so often you hit a city with taller buildings and traffic. In terms of sleeping/seating arrangements, I recommend the deluxe soft sleeper. I don't know if the width of the beds are any bigger compared with a 4-booth soft sleeper but you get your own bathroom and you don't have to risk sleeping with strangers and making uncomfortable exchanges with. Trust me, you really really want to have your own bathroom. Aiming is poor especially when wheels are in motion.
Remember it's 24 hours. Being in such small confines with someone I knew was hard enough once all the snacks were eaten and a chess game had been lost. For reading material, I suggest the one and only - War and Peace. I read Mao's Last Dancer. Although quite apt, obviously, it did not last the distance.
Part of the List of 101 Things to Do on a Train (Note: these activities are mainly for those with a shutter bug):
- Take self portraits using the mirror on the back of the door.
- Take photos of people on the platform.
- Take photos of your toes (even with socks on).
- Try out every single function on your camera.
- Use the zoom and annoy the crap out of your travelling companion by taking close ups of their nostrils, mouth and hands.
- Take photos of the stuff on the table.
- Get your travelling companion to wave madly at the people on the platform and practice using the consecutive shutter function.
- Take photos of funny Chinglish signs.
- Get your travelling companion to convey an emotion like Eric and snap away.
- Eat Beef chips while doing all of the above because it makes the journey all the more worthwhile.
Beijing
This was my fourth visit and my second visit as a tourist. It's as dusty as ever, though I did manage to see some blue skies. The air was filled with cotton-ball like tumbleweeds (willow catkins) drifting with the breeze like snowflakes. The streets were cleaner compared with my last visit and they are now lined with flower beds for the Olympics no doubt.
Highlights: Walking around in the hutongs where some of the poorest people in Beijing lived; bargaining for my red star magnet in Wangfujing Snack St; climbing the Great Wall - Mutianyu section; and going to a chopsticks shop to buy a cup!
Xi'an
The train from Beijing West took 11 hours and 1 minutes. Really it did. That's what the train announcer said. The public tourist bus No. 941 cost us RMB7 each and we caught this from the east side of the railway station to the terra-cotta warriors. The directions were provided by seat61, the best train travel website on the world wide web. Incidentally, the day before we were offered a guided tour at RMB250 each by our hostel, so I'm very proud of the fact that we found our own way there using the same bus locals used.
At around 2.30pm I went for a walk around the terra-cotta warrior museum gardens and I felt the ground beneath me move. Sure enough, someone had yelled out "EARTHQUAKE!" in Mandarin. I ran back to see where The V was - still sitting under the shade. The ground beneath us was still moving for over a minute and the trees above us were swaying. Swarms of people were ordered out of the viewing pits (where the warriors are kept) and they waited outside until it was declared safe to return. When we got back into the city we joined a group of people gathering around a TV only to learn that the earthquake took place in Sichuan with a magnitude of 7.8.
Two things:
- We were lucky that we had actually finished viewing the warriors before the earthquake.
- Our train back to Beijing was not delayed whereas other trains were.
Highlights: Muslim Quarter - I would happily live in this neighborhood if not for the bread then to free all the caged birds one by one. It was worth the walk despite weary legs and tired feet.
Train ride back
Someone was paranoid that we weren't going to make the train back to Hong Kong and magically we found ourselves going through immigration and standing at the platform about an hour early with NO food or snacks. How can that be? But there was more to be concerned about. Who was going to share our compartment? I could only book a 4-booth compartment from Hong Kong. Every 10 minutes we were checking to see who was going through immigration and potentially spend the next 24 hours with us in a confined space. Luck was on our side again when it was 11.55am and it seemed that no one else was going to come on board. Is it wrong to sleep for 10 hours, be awake for three hours and then have a nap? I think we pondered over this question and we decided in the negative. Many trips were made in search of the food trolley. Commentary was made about absolutely everything under the sun - If I were a lesbian would I be the butch one? Was there singing? More photos were taken. Is he really reading the ingredients on the packet of peanuts? Are we there yet?
Thank you for being insane The V.
3 comments:
How strong was the earthquake where you were? Could you lose your balance? What was it like? Tell meeeee!
Did you bring your DS?
Cleaner kits for cameras are pretty useless.
Not very strong but strong enough to feel the vibrations when seated and to make the trees sway. Imagine if you were sitting in a chair and I was shaking the base of it. That's what it felt like. No, you couldn't lose your balance unless you were drunk.
No, I didn't bring my DS because there would have been a fight over and it would have ended in tears.
I'm going to buy a turkey baster to remove dust and a chamois.
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