Speeding through the Chinese countryside again, this time on a hard sleeper ticket. Pure luxury compared to the last trip. When I find my bunk, there is a man and three girls, maybe mid-twenties, socialising on the bottom bunks. Two of the girls are still in pyjamas, and I wonder if all three are sisters. Nobody speaks any English, so I sit down, grinning like a gurning idiot, saying 'thank you' when offered some food. They have enough snacks to feed an army. The man leaves for a cigarette and I become invisible. There is no attempt to communicate, and the peace is welcome really.
At the next stop, a small family board, and I break out some postcards for writing. I can see they are intrigued by the cards, but do not ask anything. When I take out my journal, the father of the family openly stares. I show him the contents, listing where I have been. They are impressed, but the language barrier is too much. On impulse, I break out my photos, and like all Chinese, my family of nine astonishes them. The mother describes Gabriela as 'beautiful'.
With that, we lapse back into our respective activities.
Emerald emailed last night to say she had found a room for us for free in Chengdu! She even offered to meet us off the train at 5am, which of course we said was totally unnecessary. We will sleep in the Inn for one night (if they have our reservation), and then move to Emerald's. Her friend has some café that does English lessons, so we can help out.
The kindness of the Chinese! We bought some rice wine for the guy who brought us to the hostel yesterday - Xue Xiao Ning.
Chinese trains seem to incorporate the worst of Irish Rail and Ryanair. Late and filthy; constant carts and vendors disturbing you. Though it's bliss not to have to shift every time they pass.
A note on cities: Xi'an is an ancient Chinese capital, surrounded by massive walls and a putrid moat. Today it has a subway system (2 wks old) and a plethora of KFCs, Pizza Huts, Starbucks. It's frequently choked with smog, like Beijing. The rivers are mud-coloured, the roads clogged with traffic.
Beijing is monumental, a vast city that defies scale. It is unwalkable, the polar opposite to the closeness of St Petersburg. Moscow had no defining characteristics, beyond the whistles of the police in Red Square. Irkutsk was industrial and ugly. Listvyanka is a bit of a tourist trap.
Ulaanbaatar was neglected and rough, the one place we were constantly aware of the danger of thieves - even witnessed a man rifling through a stolen purse.
The countryside is infinitely more beautiful in every place. Rolling across Russia, taking in the birch, walking in the forest on the shores of Lake Baikal, horse riding through the Mongolian National Park, or the train through the barren Gobi, and mountainous northern China. These are the images I want to remain in my head when I picture the countries I've visited.
Chinese countryside - valleys so deep and foggy that they seem bottomless. Waterfalls cascading down.
http://domcheeseman.blogspot.ie/2011/10/day-122-xian.html
At the next stop, a small family board, and I break out some postcards for writing. I can see they are intrigued by the cards, but do not ask anything. When I take out my journal, the father of the family openly stares. I show him the contents, listing where I have been. They are impressed, but the language barrier is too much. On impulse, I break out my photos, and like all Chinese, my family of nine astonishes them. The mother describes Gabriela as 'beautiful'.
With that, we lapse back into our respective activities.
***
Emerald emailed last night to say she had found a room for us for free in Chengdu! She even offered to meet us off the train at 5am, which of course we said was totally unnecessary. We will sleep in the Inn for one night (if they have our reservation), and then move to Emerald's. Her friend has some café that does English lessons, so we can help out.
The kindness of the Chinese! We bought some rice wine for the guy who brought us to the hostel yesterday - Xue Xiao Ning.
***
Chinese trains seem to incorporate the worst of Irish Rail and Ryanair. Late and filthy; constant carts and vendors disturbing you. Though it's bliss not to have to shift every time they pass.
***
A note on cities: Xi'an is an ancient Chinese capital, surrounded by massive walls and a putrid moat. Today it has a subway system (2 wks old) and a plethora of KFCs, Pizza Huts, Starbucks. It's frequently choked with smog, like Beijing. The rivers are mud-coloured, the roads clogged with traffic.
Beijing is monumental, a vast city that defies scale. It is unwalkable, the polar opposite to the closeness of St Petersburg. Moscow had no defining characteristics, beyond the whistles of the police in Red Square. Irkutsk was industrial and ugly. Listvyanka is a bit of a tourist trap.
Ulaanbaatar was neglected and rough, the one place we were constantly aware of the danger of thieves - even witnessed a man rifling through a stolen purse.
The countryside is infinitely more beautiful in every place. Rolling across Russia, taking in the birch, walking in the forest on the shores of Lake Baikal, horse riding through the Mongolian National Park, or the train through the barren Gobi, and mountainous northern China. These are the images I want to remain in my head when I picture the countries I've visited.
***
Chinese countryside - valleys so deep and foggy that they seem bottomless. Waterfalls cascading down.
***
http://domcheeseman.blogspot.ie/2011/10/day-122-xian.html
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