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23 August: Chengdu

We were able to find place for our bags on the top racks and kept only our small carry-more with valuables close by. There was an area large enough to place the two chairs near the bathroom and thats were we settled in. The train started off to Chengdu, it was already 02h10, we had decided to make turns with staying awake, scared that our bags would get stolen. I took the first 3 hour shift, reading about alternative routes we wanted to take, while Leanne tried to sleep on the stool. The first hour was difficult and sitting on the chairs your bottom soon becomes sore. One of the men who had been staring at us, offered up his seat for Leanne and she was able to sleep there from 03h00 to 05h00. I read until after 04h00, before pushing my bag behind my back and trying to sleep outstretched across the train floor, not much success, but it was better than sitting on the chair.

At around 05h00, the train stopped at a station and some passengers got off, I was able to take a seat next to Leanne and slept from 05h00 until just after 07h00. I tried to sleep a little longer, without much success while Leanne admired the scenery. When both of us were fully awake we enjoyed our 5 minute noodles, prepared with the hot water available in the train and cookies the rest of the way. Most of the time we passed through tunnels, but in between there were beautiful landscapes of lush forest, rivers flowing past the railway line, waterfalls and towns after each tunnel.

We arrived in Chengdu just after 14h30, the last 40 minutes into the city was filled with constructions of residential flats. Some in excess of 28 floors and 20 such buildings built in one designated block, who knows where all the people will come from to live there! The station was enormous, it looked and felt like arriving at at international airport. We took the escalator to the exit point, the only way to describe the outside would be when the Springboks returned from the World Cup as champions, with everyone waiting at the airport to congratulate them. There was a huge open square filled with people all waiting for loved ones returning, there were thousands of them. We made our way through the crowd, looking for the ticket office, we had learnt in China you purchase tickets a few days in advance. Leanne made the purchase while I looked after the bags, we had heard horror stories of theft and we weren't looking to become the next victims.

Tickets in hand we made our way out to find a bus to Sim's Cozy guest house, we found the bus taking us near to a temple which apparently was a stone throw from Sim's. The thrower must have been an Olympic gold medalist in Beijing... It was another long walk to find the guest house, at least a few people along the way were either able to tell us where to go or point in the direction. Arriving at Sim's we were greeted by a locked door and a flier explaining that they had moved. Well, we couldn't read the note but a passer by explained and allowed us to use her phone and we called them, to confirm whether they had a room available. It was a lot more expensive than we were used to but it was the only option at the moment. Our luck, knocking at the door had brought one of the residence, who offered to take us to Sim's for free, he however filled in a log book along the way for the 3.5 km he traveled and then went in and they signed the book so obviously there is some kind of arrangement.

At the guest house we booked in and were shown our room, it was the most expensive we had paid in the 3 weeks and it didn't even have a bathroom and it was really small, but the backpackers really was a nice place to stay. Lots of other people around and a nice friendly atmosphere. We went out exploring and also to look for something to eat, along the way stopping for a dish of wonton's in a vinegar and soya source. We continued in search of a panda card which would give us free entrance to the panda breading institute. Along the way we met up with an English couple who had just bought theirs and explained the way. They had also traveled for 6 months although they had also been to India and Japan along the way. We bought the panda card and also some contact lens solution which we found while lost in search of the panda cards (luckily), before returning back to the guest house.

Later the evening we went out again for food. We had gotten a DVD for the evening (loads that you can choose from at the guest house and were planning to watch it after dinner. Only problem was we couldn't really find a place we wanted to eat, we settled for popcorn and coke, before returning to watch part of the movie and then sleep.