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Published: July 15th 2010
36 Hour train ride from Lhasa to Xian, it helped that we have hard sleepers we were able to sleep and relax, the train was good but the toilets are mingy in our car that we have to go to the soft sleeper trains to go to the bathroom, there is trash all over the floor and the toilets in our car is overflowing, the floor is wet and slippery, people spitting everywhere mostly the men! To make matters worse 2 kids were in my compartment, thank goodness they were quiet at night and was able to sleep tight. We arrived around past 8pm in Xian and we got accosted by this fellow whose Youth hostel is near the train station, we went but Russ inspected the room and toilets and wasn't happy about it so we left and found another youth hostel, this one has a nice, really nice courtyard, we have to be separate only 1 bed available in each room rates, a 35 and a 45 yuan, Russ won the rock, paper,scissors contest and he gave me the 35 yuan room, i lucked out his was crap!
I am the only backpacker in my room, all are
locals, students from another city, they spoke no English except for one girl so they did not mingle with me, fine by me. Russ and I went for a walk in the Muslim quarter, had crayfish for dinner, checked out the street market then walked back to our hostel. Sleep was very good, both of us were very tired. I slept in while Russ visited the Terracota warriors, this is my 2nd time here so I don't need to see them again. I went for a walk in the alleyways and I hear someone calling me, it was a girl in a dingy room/shop trying to get my attention, I went and walked straight i know what she wanted from me, it's 10am! At least wait until night time.
Most of the time I spent in the hostel bar internetting, an annoying dude joined me, he was watching a movie in his laptop and even got up and turned down the big tv volume where soccer is on so he can hear his movie, he was set next to me and when Russ arrived from a disappointing Terracota warriors trip he was pissed, he is not having any of
it and told of the guy eventually, which i doubt he understood!
I had dinner before we left and walked to the train station to catch the 8:40pm train, Russ bought us a hard seat but when we got to the station he wasn't feeling well so he tried to get a soft sleeper, for the both of us, it is a bit more expensive but I don't mind, we got it in the end, he exchanged the tickets and luckily the woman in the counter spoke perfect English and was really helpful, 8:10 departure we ran to catch it!
Great comfortable beds we have 2 Chinese businessman roommates who have not seen backpackers before, they ignored us and tried not to have a conversation with us, one guy annoyed Russ to death with his portable game thing, the noise was so loud and he played it for 3 hours, Russ was sick again and wanted peace and quiet, he did not get it. I slept through quite well. Arriving in Beijing we have no clue which station we are at we asked information but not much help, we have to find a metro station, while thumbing through the
map a black dude approached us trying to help , he is from Ghana , a student here he said he is looking for the US embassy, doing a dry run for his interview tomorrow, he helped us ask for directions as he spoke some Chinese, the Ghana-US match was mentioned and he rubbed it in in jest, we parted ways soon and we walked to the metro station, 15 minutes away, we found it and followed the instructions from the Lotus hostel where we are stay.
Lotus hostel is in the hutongs, huge sprawl, with a number of gardens, friendly staff, with bar and huge tv to watch the World cup, what more can we ask for, our room is with a/c we need it in this heat, the place is quiet, not a lot of backpackers which was a welcome respite for us we did not mind. Russ and i went for brunch at a small eateries in one of the hutong districts, and it was a lovely dish of eggplants and some lamb stuff, we then parted ways, he to do some tourist things I wanted to go back to the hostel but got disoriented and
ended up taking the metro to get back. I chilled and chatted with the reception staff for most of the day, Russ came back tired from the Forbidden city, he took a nap while I took a walk again then we walked to the Zheng Jue hutong area for dinner, 3 years ago I stayed here at the Red Lantern house hostel, great memories but they are full at the moment, anyway we went for a walk and was surprised the many changes in just 3 years, there is now a metro station nearby the Pinag'anli stop, and the local bbq eateries near the Hugosi hotel is gone so we ended up eating at one of the hot pot restaurants, which we enjoyed immensely a bit expensive at 142 yuan but we were so full after it's worth it, a dude and his siser was set next to us and this guy chatted with us drunk and loud but funny, the sister was quiet as she spoke no English. Back to the hostel we watched football then off to bed.
The best sleep i had in days, i heard Russ leave to do his activity for the day, i
got up at 10am sort my stuff out, run errands and walked the Xijeng district once again, and tried to remember it as it was 3 years ago, full of people, lots of small eateries and did some bit of shopping for toiletries, then walked the Zheng Jue hutong again, until I ended up at Hugosi hotel where we stayed for a bit during my Dragoman trip, I saw they have good exchange rate for dollar so i tried to change money, the 2 girls in the counter were nice and made me fill up forms suddenly this obnoxious guy showed up and kept saying no to me, not possible to change, no passport not possible, though the girls said photocopy is ok, he then asked me my room number several times, I told him i don't stay there, in the end I got fed up and told him he was an ass_o_e and he should better his English if he wants to keep working at a hotel rather than saying no, no no, maybe try to listen first, since he can't understand me he is not having any of it, I yelled at him and left quickly.
I
ended up changing at Bank of China nearby our hostel the people spoke no English but the counter staff do and they were ever so helpful, was happy to do business with them. back to the hostel, I washed my backpack and day bag, cleaned up a bit and chill and waited for Russ to turn up. The next day we spent the day together by doing the Olympic sites, last I was here they were still being constructed, 3 years ago. We started by going to Tiananmen Sq. to visit Chairman Mao, much to our surprise, the queue to view him is looooonnnggg!It snakes around several times, we opted out, in this hot muggy day despite a loom of smog the sky is gray, eerily foggy we just can't be bothered, we went to see the National Arts complex which was a cool spherical building whose reflections in the water make for dozens of photos despite the aforementioned gloom in the horizon. i started to cough since this morning and nose itchy, I think all this pollution in the air is getting to me and breathing at times is difficult, I am not used to it perhaps. For 40
yuan you can enter the NACP complex but really not worth it despite the nice architecture and designs inside, you don't get to see the opera house, they shut all the doors so you can't view it.
Next stop we took the metro several transfers later we arrived at the Olympic park, a massive park maybe the size of Belgium(kidding), my feet was sore from all the walking, the Water cube is shut as well, some renovations undergoing so we went to see the Bird's nest and it did not disappoint, for 50 yuan you can go inside, this is much bigger than the Barcelona stadium which I saw years ago. Very impressive indeed. Then we have to have McDonalds, Russ was craving for it and did the guilty trip on me, on why I can go to Dico's with Boris in Lhasa and not McDo in Beijing with him, to shut him up I agreed. Then we head back to the metro and we split, I went back to the hostel and he did some more attractions.
In the eve we chilled with the French girls in the hostel, students, here for a month on an exchange
program, they were very tired after 9 hours in school so we went to dinner without them, I took Russ to my fave restaurant in the hutong district near the Red Lantern house, the small hole in the wall near the hostel is now newly painted and looks cleaner, and they have a picture menu, still there are the locals appreciating the fine food, very noisy but people are so friendly. eggplants again, Russ' favorite now, i made him get addicted to it. Then we walked in the hutongs some more and bought some beers, I need to pee after the meal and beer so we tried the public toilet next to it, Russ was behind me but once I got in I saw this fella squatting in full view doing his business, i pulled back bumping into Russ, he saw it too and we just couldn't stop laughing, he ended up pissing behind the bushes near the Ping'anli metro station.
Watched the Paraguay-Japan match before heading to bed, it was such a good sleep, we were both tired from all the walking,the next morning we did our own thing, I went to look for a photocopy place to
Lhasa to Xian train scenery
ice in the river still, in late Junecopy bits of Russ' Central Asia LP, I found one near the Hugosi hotel, after that I went to eat lunch at the next door local restaurant which we frequented when we stopped here during the Dragoman overlanding trip. The Dragoman truck was parked in the Hugosi hotel and to my surprise as I was eating in come through the door, John Zhao, our China truck guide 3 years ago, the shock in his face when I stood up and ran to him to hug him! John is with the truck drivers and they were nice enough to give me tips on Kyrgyzstan as they have just gone through it on the way here. I was told my next destination is safe, we shall see..
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Sharing the Journey
Alec & Cindy Sharp
Trains
I have always want to travel by train and have a sleeper. Sounds like you had a great time ... I will have to put a train trip on my bucket list. Thanks!