All Change In Chengdu

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Sorry about the absence of blogs over the last couple of days but we've been busy travelling to Chengdu by train and trying to catch up on some missing sleep! The internet connection at our current hostel, The Mix and Backpackers Hostel, isn't much cop so I'm going to have to keep it brief tonight.

The train journey from Xi'an to Chengdu took about 16 hours and although we were booked into the first class sleeper carriage again, it didn't feel as luxurious as the bunks we have on the way down from Beijing. Nevertheless, after strolling down the train and seeing what the rest of the options were, I was gratefulo for what we actually had. Some of the poor Chinese folk with the hard seats didn't actually have anywhere to sit and I couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like for them to have to stand up the whole of the way.

We were lucky to have the company of a fellow traveller, Sara, in our compartment too. We met her at the hostel in Xi'an and when she mentioned travelling to Chengsu on the same day as us, it seemed the perfect opportunity to make a new friend. She managed to book the compatment next to ours and after some tough talking, we managed to get the Chinese guy in our compartment to swap with her (he was getting a bottom bunk in return for his top bunk which is a more expensive option so he was actually better off). We chatted and played cards and generally wiled away the hours getting to know one another. The journey itself was a bit jerky. We were travelling by K class train which is an older style train and not quite as comfy as we were hoping. Still, we did get the chance to see some amazing scenery whizzing past our window as we went.

We arrived in Chengdu at 5.30 am and were grateful for the free pick-up service provided by the hostel. We couldn't check in until gone 8am but when we did, we found out we were across the street in a pretty new looking hotel with the most fabulous room ever! We only managed to get a twin room as all the doubles were fully booked but the room is immaculate and quite honestly, very posh indeed :-)

We didn't get round to doing much for the day though as shortly after we arrived, the heavens open and it tipped it down for hours. We hung out at the hostel for a while until sleepiness got the better of us so we went back to our posh hotel room and got some much needed shut eye. By the time we woke up again, it was evening so we just went for a short walk to check out the local neighbourhood. On our travels, we came across a hypermarket so we stocked up on food and drink for the night and the next day and basically called it a night. Not so exciting, I'm afraid!

Because the connection here at the hostel is so slow, you will have to wait a bit longer than planned for the next batch of photos I'm afraid. Hope you are well and enjoying the hot spell in the UK. One quick message before I sign out - a very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Linda who is about to become even older tomorrow! Have a great day, hon :-))

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Comments

[Linda]

Why, Thank You
Glad to hear you've landed a nice room to stop in for a while. The terracotta army visit sounded tremendous - congratulations on completing the mission! Guess what I'm likely to be doing for my birthday... that's right - going to a chineese restaurant!