Day 39

May 29 (May 28)

Another new obstacle/experience.

Travelling by train is easy, but getting on the right train, that may require some planning or so I thought. My train was leaving at 18.48. I had enquired at the desk how long it would take from the hostel to the train station; about 15 minutes I was told. I thought I better leave early as I may have some problems finding the right platform. Outside the hostel I went to a few taxi drivers who were not at all interested in taken me to the station for some mysterious reason. I thought they would scramble for a fare but not so. Later I figured that it was probably better anyway because of the peakhour congestion I noticed a bit later. A scooter taxi was the next option With my back pack between the drivers feet and myself on the back we set of into the direction of the railway station. The driver kept on laughing , perhaps it was the heaviest load he had ever carried, who knows.

20 minutes later we were at the (very large) station. I asked the driver if he could point me in the right direction- he pointed to the escalators which connected to the large waiting hall. The tickets checker –girl sat on a chair checking the tickets with a glazed look in her eyes. Than it was my turn, she looked up and said something and burst out in laughter. (well, I hoped that she did laugh because I was at the wrong station- probable said: "**** what do have we here?" ) I entered the large hall and saw various exits with numbers above it. One said K166, ok I saw that number on my ticket. I just followed the direction indicated by this number and arrived in another hall with side exits , One of the exits had a sign” K166” above it and had to be my train exit. A few minutes passed en the doors opened. Everyone walked through the gate and made a right turn followed by a left turn down the stairs to the plat form . Another sign with K166 pointed the train on the right hand side. I studied the ticket again and found the number 7 and 16. Every carriage door had an attendant and a number next to the door the stick this in the train with magnets) I entered number 7 but just to be sure I showed the attendant my ticket. She nodded and I found my bunk. The beds are perpendicular to the riding direction. This train is a so-called hard sleeper which means there are three beds above each other facing another three beds. (soft sleepers have two beds ) Perhaps the term hard sleeper stems from the fact that it is hard to get into them. I was about to find out.

This country is loading one surprise after another onto me. The cleanliness for one. An abundance of workers. Everywhere you look there are uniformed persons; cleaners, attendants, tickets sellers , ticket checkers all in their own type of uniform and even a person in a blue uniform who checks the ticket checker. As was on the borders, bus stations, the luggage is scanned before you can proceed to the waiting hall. Again everything is very very clean. On the way to the station I even saw a group of workers cleaning the steel vertical barriers along the roadside, all by hand with water and soap. Maybe this is the answer to the unemployment question. Perhaps China has zero unemployment; I have no idea but will find out. Anyone out of work gets a broom or brush and perhaps you can work your way up to a sponge later I have no idea.

Meanwhile the train left without a whistle or other sign, but exactly on time.

May 29, 2013

I have figured why the call these trains “hard sleepers” unless you sleep on the lower bunk it is hard to get in the bed (no wonder they have different prices for the upper , middle and lower bed. )The beds are very narrow , ok for a Chinese body but a bit hard for my size. The mattress is hard which I normally don't mind but the one I was laying on was very hard. Again it is also a bit hard to get out of bed again as the ladder at the end of the bed is a hard to reach. So now count the number of times I wrote the word hard and go figure why I will take a soft sleeper next time. The Thai trains I have been in were very comfortable and they were soft sleepers

The countryside is very pretty and very green. The train was traversing mountain range after mountain range, nice but it restricts the enjoyment of looking out of the windows as I guess, 60 percent of the time we travel though tunnels. Meanwhile we still follow the path of least resistance as at regular intervals we follow a fairly large river fed by other smaller rivers for either side. At times we pass magnificent waterfalls and raging torrents. A lot of construction is going on along the rivers as the need for power is met by means of building many turbine operating power stations. My thoughts about the fact that everyone just gets a job instead of being unemployed may be right. Going through the country side at times a small track may cross the railway line. I have seen attendant there holding a flag when the train passes although there is no traffic at all. Also, even at the smallest stations there are lots of attendants. The train I am in as very long. I figure that it may have 20 or more carriages. As soon as the train stops the magnetic signs with the carriage numbers are attached adjacent to the doors and the attendant stands next to the door to check and assist passengers. When the train leaves they stand at attention with serious faces.

It is hard to make contact with the other passengers; I have not seen any other westerners at the station or on the train thus far. The Chinese are very different to the Vietnamese; they may look the same but that is where it ends. Even if I try to talk with them they just look at me and some of them just turn away. I think tourism is not a big thing here they just don’t know how to handle it. I think once I get top Xian and Beijing it will change.

This is the 6th country I am had reached. Looking back at the last 6 weeks and think if I would like to go back to revisit at a slower pace perhaps one or two at the time. Everyone experiences travel and countries differently. How would I rate them?

Singapore? Only if I have to. Very much a “been there done that” place.

Malaysia? I should go back because I merely passed through.

Thailand?, Not really, although I saw amazing things. Perhaps the north east where I have not been yet. Cambodia ? Nice place but only If I am in the area.

Vietnam? most definitely Yes , I just love the place, the people and the country. The northern part has my preference but I like to visit the Mekong Delta next time. Although I hate traffic jams and dense traffic conditions at home I just loved it to be in the middle of throngs of scooters and people. Perhaps the fact that everyone smiles,is friendly and outgoing is one of the main reasons. My preference has always been the countryside instead of cities, but for some reason I just loved Saigon and Hanoi. If someone would tell me that I had won a trip to Bangkok for a month or Saigon for a week, I would pick Saigon. So I will definitely go back there. As for China it is too early to tell, so perhaps while on the train to Mongolia I will talk about that some more.

China amazes me. It is more modern than any city in world where I have been.

After arrival in Chengdu I suddenly found myself outside on the large square facing the station. I had no idea where to go but noticed taxi’s in the distance. Taking the taxi was the easy way out I thought. I knew that they have a metro system which was opened only a few years ago.

After a short while I found the entrance and went down the escalators. Next step: How do you get a ticket out of the ticket machine. I pressed a lot of buttons on the touch screen but all I got was more screen with writing in Chinese. A man with a walkie talkie approached , he must be important I thought. He had watched me and uttered some Chinese words which probably meant- Just press this button-you dumbo!. He did and the screen changed to English! Oh… Thanks. The man stayed and helped me get the ticket.

I found my way down and got another surprise. In the new Chinese fashion they had built this station, trains, ticketing system, public address system not by using their own design. This was an identical copy of the Singapore system, even down to the announcements in Chinese and English.

Three stops saw me exiting 100 yards from the hostel.

I parked my pack in the room and went outside for a walk to the nearby statue of Chairman Mao and circled though the people’s park and various avenues. When I got back a group was just about to depart for a two hour cycling tour through the city, the hostel manager asked if I wanted to join? Yes of course.

It was fun, I saw many things I wouldn’t have otherwise and met some nice people. One of the partakers was a man of 61 who asked if I wanted to join him on the Panda excursion tomorrow. Well this is Panda territory so I answered that I would.