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Published: November 19th 2008
Returning to Chengdu....
This one is in fact a train in china... actually it is the VERY train that took me from kunmiong to Chengdu!Following my gut feeling that I just HAD to go back to Chengdu before leaving China, I packed my daypack with about 4 days of clothing and got a 19 hour hardseat train ride up to Chengdu from Kunming. The most uncomfortable train ride I have taken to date.
Hardseat train rides slide by, slowly, and always in a state of discomfort. The only time one can find escape from this discomfort is when sleep mercifully takes them. However, in the cramped spaces, sleep can be... elusive. After about 8 hours one's butt is constantly sore and the legs constantly need to be stretched. The train are bumpy, either too hot or too cold, and loud. They are very loud. They can be described as an unrelenting mild agony, especially as your time of arrival is past and the city is still nowhere in sight. In the end though, you get there, you survive, and it makes you just that much more happy to be there.
I had several reasons to come back to Chengdu, not all of which I am able to put words to. Pure and simple I was just following my heart and going with the
flow. Essentially, I needed to find closure with leaving China. This country has taken care of me and shown me some good times and good friends over the past 10 months and I needed to reconcile in my head that I was actually going to go.
Four Days in Chengdu... yeah right.
It went way past 4 days, in fact it ended up being eleven. The whole stay was a blur of friends, parties, bars, live bands, KTV, rock climbing hotpot, bbq, and just plain and simple socializing, nonstop, such that I never had much time to write or to run (both of which I had planned for). It was great chilling out once again with mark, my old travel buddy and the new friends he has made. I also spent a great deal of time with a beautiful Norwegian girl, who I had barely gotten to know during my last stay in Chengdu, but who is now (surprising both of us) my girlfriend. Lets just say that I am glad that I stuck around!
What held me in Chengdu longer was basically the girl, whose birthday was on the 14th. What made me leave though, was
Proud Owner
The new girlfriend on her brand spankin new electro bike! basically my Visa, which expired on the 16th. I flew down to Kunming on the 15th, had a beer and a few hours with the long term stayees at the Cloudland hostel (none of whom had left) and then hopped on a sleeper bus to Mengla. By 11am on the 16th I was in Laos.
Crossing the border left immediate impressions: 1) the had to wake up the guy giving me my laos VISA, 2) The same guy gave me more money back in change than i had even given him for the VISA, 3) suddenly it was warm and sunny, 4) Where did all the 1.3 Billion people go? This place is EMPTY! 5) What? you mean I don't need to bargain the ride to Namtha?
As I leaned back in the pickup truck that would carry me the hour and a half to my first proper Laos town, I revelled in the cool breeze and warm sunshine, this place is tangibly slower. I love it already and feel closer to home...
Now that I have left China though, my thoughts on it are still unsettled, I am still recovering from the whirlwind that was Chengdu?
Gonna miss the food!
Really gonna miss sichuan BBQ! Did I find closure? Maybe not. But I had an amazing last week, used up the last of my VISA, and I don't really need closure because now I have an extremely good reason to return later this year. She's about 5'7'', blonde, and totally amazing.
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