The D123 to Zhengzou & beyond

As we depart Beijing West train station we are excited about embarking on the next step of our adventure. Beijing has left it's mark not only with fantastic memories but our legs are feeling the effects of the miles of streets we have trudged compounded by the steep steps on the wall. The thought of sitting on a train allday was an opportunity for much needed rest!

As we casually strolled into the waiting room it soon became apparent that the trains are a little more efficient than we are used to. With 7 mins to go to departure the sign saying last check in 5 mins prior to departure became a prompt to rapidly increase the pace. It was also clear that the waiting room wasn't full of people waiting for our train as first thought but those awaiting the next train as our train had already been boarded. Now we were running!

1st class looked very comfortable as we walked past... What would 2nd class be like?? Our concerns soon turned to relief as we entered the carriage to find reclining seats with more legroom than any train we had used before...phew!! This particular train had 3 classes- the 5 hr (450 mile) journey costs were roughly 1st class-£28, 2nd class £21 and Standing (??) at £15. Standing essentially involves bringing a little stool or sitting in a vacant seat when the occupant is using the toilet. Unfortunately 1st was full and we didn't fancy the prospect of standing!

Our other concern was that although we asked for non smoking this may have been lost in translation. It may well have been but the whole train is non smoking so now we can relax.

The friendly chap next to me actually didn't seem to want to sell me any goods or a tour but instead remarked on how he had on 3 layers as he touched my bare arms with a smile & snigger! I didn't attempt to explain that I was a typical Englishmen on holiday and not ready to hug any trees or start growing dreads just yet and 20 degree heat forecast will always mean shorts and a tee shirt. Let's be honest it's not like we don't stand out a bit already. The information screen soon justified my decision telling us it was 24 degrees in the carriage and 19 outside!

Additionally it became apparent that this was certainly not a quiet carriage. Ok I'm not adverse to talking constantly but the friendly chap raised the bar to the point that we were 2.5 hrs in and he hadn't stopped shouting at the 4 people (sat on the 3 seats behind us!) for one moment. The iPod had to go on once he showed no signs of stopping with mouth fulls of lunch that lasted the best part of an hour.

There isn't much to say about the journey itself as for the majority of the time, the countryside was as flat and quite frankly as interesting as Belgium. There were at least a few fields, a couple of cows and lots of sweetcorn to gaze at!! Naive maybe but we kind of expected a few more paddy fields but all they appear to grow is sweetcorn and sweet potatoes. This would explain why an apple or orange costs twice the price of a beer in the supermarket!

There was a brief moment we had a break in the monotonous countryside as some hills appeared to the west and rather magically this coincided with the welcome sight of the friendly chap falling asleep. Unfortunately as soon as the landscape once again flattened he awoke and the shouting continued!

A 2 hr stopover in Zhengzhou gave us a chance to test our Chinese buying onward tickets- well basically scribbling numbers on a pad and holding it up at the ticket window. It worked and we soon boarded what appeared to be a top of the range fast train. It didn't disappoint as the speedometer display showed a maximum speed of 344 km/ph and rarely dipped below 300! I guess that means we covered approx 350-400 miles in 2 hrs. Not bad! It also contained the most modern clean squatter we have seen so far! Not enough to tempt Sally though!

We learnt another valuable lesson (although you could argue this is common sense) on arrival in Xi'an- simply knowing the name of your hotel is not generally going to be enough! The cab queue was a bit mad so we thought we would have a go at the bus. We knew our hotel was somewhere near a bell tower so how difficult could it be? Hmmm of course buses don't tell you where you are at each stop and eventually we realised with the assistance of a local that we had gone too far. A quick cab ride and we found the hotel for a total of 80p. Strangely we were gutted we had spent the extra 60p on the cab!

All in all a successful day backpacking and 4 days in Xi'an await! Come on then Xi'an- you and who's army???