Have Chopsticks, Will Travel!

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Currently we are about 23 hours into our very long train ride. The boredom was overwhelming so I pulled out the laptop and decided to start typing this blog up on Microsoft Word, even though of course we won’t have internet until we arrive in Guilin in just over four hours.

Yesterday was our final day in Xi’an. Very much enjoying our private room and no snoring roommates, we slept in, caught up on some reading, and completely unpacked and reorganized our backpacks. Most of the laundry we’d hand-washed was dry, but I found a new use for the mini hairdryer I brought…sock dryer!! I sat for half an hour blasting all of our socks that, after two days, were still very damp. You may think it’s all glitz and glamour over here, traveling from city to city, country to country, but I can assure you…it’s not. Trust me!! The word “travel” actually comes from a French word meaning “to work.” And it is work. But so worth it. Even as I sit crammed in a train car like cattle with way too many Chinese people still staring at me after 23 hours (you think they’d be used to the sight of me by now)…

And on that note!! I’ve decided that if I ever return to this country on a future trip, my blond hair is going bye-bye. Dyed or under a wig, either way, the attention is starting to drive me crazy. I understand now how celebrities go mad having paparazzi chasing them around. For my own sanity, I wish I were exaggerating how much I’m getting stared at and photographed, but it’s the truth. Yesterday in Xi’an, on one staircase alone, I had FOUR different men all point their cameras in my face and shoot, completely oblivious to my discomfort. The first couple of days, it was kind of cool getting all the attention, but now I’m very much over it. It’s quite invasive.

Their whole culture is invasive, really. For a people that prides itself so much on self-control and respect, they certainly show very little to others. The pushing and shoving in train stations, buses, and subways has only intensified since leaving Beijing. If you try to politely wait your turn for something, you just get bowled over, pushed out of the way, or completely ignored, which reduces you to pushing and shoving also. It’s so childish, and something we still cannot get used to. The fact that everyone smokes like fiends, too, even in places that are clearly labeled "no smoking," is a little tough to deal with too. Yet, that is the way it is, and we’re doing our best to roll with it. The whole concept of “personal space” just doesn’t exist here.

Anyway, I ramble. This is not to say that we aren’t having a great time, because we certainly are. Just noting a few cultural differences. When you travel, you have to take the good with the bad…

So anyway, upon checking out yesterday and stowing our bags until our evening departure, we headed out into a gray and gloomy day and went to climb the ancient city wall around Xi’an. To our delight, we found that you could rent bicycles and pedal around the entire perimeter of the wall…probably a good 10-mile jaunt. The city wall is 1500 years old and enormous, like a fortress; maybe eight stories tall and probably 100 feet wide at the top. It’s quite the contrasting view from the top…ancient bell towers, mosques, and tiny corridors to the interior of the wall, and skyscrapers and massive hotels and shopping complexes to the outside of the city. The skies cleared and it actually turned into a beautifully sunny, warm day as we spent a few hours cycling the bumpy bricked wall.

On a side note, I haven’t mentioned the fashion here yet. They’re probably about 20 years behind us, and the women especially dress either super-frumpy or straight out of the 80’s - mix-matching patterns, color clashes, bright hideous stockings, polka dots with plaid…we’ve seen some truly painful outfits, but it has made for good people-watching. It’s also funny to note that, even on days when it has warmed up into the 70’s, everyone stays bundled up under sweaters, coats, and scarves. I was sweating the other day in a T-shirt and Capri pants, yet people were walking by bundled up like it was snowing out. Very bizarre - and I’m the pathetic Floridian ha!

At this point, too, we’re fairly used to the incredible language barrier that exists here. This isn’t like Europe, where 99% of people understand and speak (even if they pretend they can’t) at least a moderate amount of English. Salespeople and touts here at least know, “Hello” and “You want to buy?” but communication pretty much ends there. In Beijing, all signs and menus were printed in Chinese and English, but we aren’t in Beijing anymore, Toto. Today on the train, we headed into the dining car for lunch and had to resort to pointing at the table next to us to order (we didn’t even know what it was - turned out to be pork and veggies and was actually pretty good). The menu was entirely in characters, even the prices, so we were at a loss. We tried to order a Coke and the waiter didn’t even understand that. We had to wait for the beverage cart to go by to grab one. Despite the language barrier though (and aside from the pushing and the rude photographers up in my face), on the whole they are quite a friendly people and try to be accommodating, even when we can’t understand a word the other is saying.

Anyway, I ramble again. So we biked the wall yesterday until our hands were blistered from the bumpy ride, but we had a blast and enjoyed the warm weather. After our ride, we wandered the streets and ended up eating at a restaurant that featured seafood baked in pumpkin mousse, braised fillet steak, potatoes au gratin, and a four-page dessert menu. Would you believe me if I told you that this dining establishment was, in fact, a Pizza Hut?? It surely was, and of course they had pizza too. We ordered the pumpkin mousse seafood dish (incredible), and then split a large cheese pizza. Yes, Jeremy cheated and ate the dreaded gluten, as Pizza Hut is his favorite and he simply couldn’t resist. And it was SO GOOD…I’ve really missed cheese these past ten days or so. I understand now why our American fast-food restaurants are so popular over here - they’re REALLY good, way better than the greasy stuff they slop out in the states.

After lunch we hit an underground supermarket to stock up on snacks for the long train ride. It turned out to be basically a Chinese Whole Foods. Beautiful, beautiful supermarket, complete with a gourmet bakery, Belgian chocolate truffles, an entire section of imported cheeses and fruits, and the famed and very expensive delicacy “birds’ nests” for birds’ nest soup (actual edible birds’ nests…I saw it on the Travel Channel, but even if the budget allowed I doubt we’d ever try it)…So we loaded up on snacks, headed back to the hostel to grab our bags, and made for the train station.

On our previous overnight train from Beijing, we’d booked a cushy and semi-private soft sleeper, but as we are trying to watch our budget and have an “authentic” experience, we opted to try the open “hard sleepers” on this journey. The beds themselves are not any different, except there are six per compartment instead of four, and no doors on the compartments…everything is pretty much open. We got onto our car and discovered that our middle beds were in different compartments, which we weren’t too happy about, but as we’re stuffed on here with about a hundred other people, what could we do? So we stowed our stuff (locked it to the overhead rack…can never be too careful) and hit the sack.

This morning I had a major Irish temper flare that would make any Powers proud. I awoke about 7am in a CLOUD of smoke…I swear every single person in our car lit up. Gagging, I got of bed, almost broke my elbow on the way down, and headed for the restaurant car in search of staff to complain to. Upon arriving, I found about ten members of train staff, all sitting directly under the “No Smoking” signs…and they were all smoking. I figured it was a lost cause, and I’m sure they wouldn’t have understood me anyway (nor obviously enforced anything…I don’t think much of anything is enforced in this country!). Infuriated, I stomped back into the car, grabbed my stuff to wash up, and headed for the bathroom…only to find that someone had defecated all over the floor.

And I lost it. Visions of going postal, smashing heads, and throwing bodies off the train traveling at 120 km/hour danced in my head and actually sounded like a fantastic idea. I slammed the door shut, shouted angrily, pounded my fist against the wall, and began searching for another open restroom. Nothing for five train cars - they were all either locked or occupied. At last I found one that didn’t have human waste on the floor and was at least able to brush my teeth and freshen up a bit…slowly started calming down. Grabbed my novel and went about three cars down, where thankfully no one was smoking, and sat there and read for most of the morning in sulky silence.

Fortunately, the pack of smokers (and I mean no offense to smokers, by the way - whatever they want to do is fine, just don’t make the rest of us suffer in a cramped train car with no ventilation!) got off the train at the first stop of the morning, and the rest of the day has actually been quite pleasant since. People getting on and off, the occasional stop…I finished a 400-page novel in a couple of hours, listened to some music, occasionally visited my husband (although there’s really nowhere to visit without being in everyone’s way)…forced a 3-hour nap just to pass some of the afternoon…and here we sit!! We will be arriving in Guilin in about three hours now, and we’re very much looking forward to getting the heck off this train…

We Made It!!!

So here we are, the morning after. The train was an hour late getting in, which bumped the ride up to almost 28 hours...ugh...Oh, and I added that intermediate point (Chengsha) on our route map because it's the only sign we could actually read at any of the many, many stations we rolled through on our journey...we certainly zigged and zagged around much more than that, but your guess is as good as mine as to where we actually were for the last day and a half...1800 kilometers is a lot of ground...

But!! We got a taxi to our hostel and it is just lovely, bamboo everywhere and definitely the prettiest one we've stayed at yet. I'll snap some pictures today for the next blog, but it's amazing what $4 a night will get you here...so!! Without any further ado, we head out to explore the crazy mountains, caves, and rivers of Guilin...

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Comments

[Jody]

Emergency Equipment~ HAT!!!
Hey guys! Well I have to say that this train ride was very eventful. And I can't believe that the Chinese have never seen blonde hair before. Seriously have there very been any blonde tourist! Try putting your hair up in a hat for the time being until you can get the heck out of town or should I say country. And hopefully you will have a wonderful time in Guilin! I love the picture at the end of Amy with the earphones in she does look a little sycotic Ha Ha! Love the blogs keep them coming.