Another Overnight Train

Trip Start Dec 26, 2005
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Trip End Jan 25, 2009


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Flag of China  ,
Wednesday, April 19, 2006

We're definitely moving at a lightning pace on this trip, but I find that 2 nights in each city gives a good overview of what each place has to offer, but nowhere the time to soak up the atmosphere and relax. Most of the Chinese cities I've been to so far are very unattractive, dusty, over-populated places. But the country-side and smaller towns have been beautiful. The scenery has definitely started to change as the train moved its way south from Xian to Chengdu... back to mountainous terrain with lakes and streams... beautiful. This trip has provided us with such great diversity and I'm glad I've taken it... diversity in every sense of the word - people, scenery, culture, accommodation, food etc. What a great overview of China.

I managed to get through to the Australian Embassy in Beijing and the woman I spoke to was excellent. She answered all my questions re the re-issue of both an emergency and a replacement passport and it doesn't sound as bad as I once thought Making the most of the cramped space
Making the most of the cramped space
 . I'll keep you posted as I go through the channels:)

Given that our train didn't depart Xian until 1.10pm, I had a few hours to kill to do the mundane things of laundry, internet etc. Xian has a fantastic western-style supermarket where I stocked up on supplies for the train and RED WINE! Haven't had red wine for months - since Bangkok. So look forward to downing that.

Xian's train station was awful, full of people, long queues and lots of people shoving their way onto the train. It was quite a spectacle, but with the added load of a backpack and my injury, made for an awful experience. I was definitely not in the mood for my 17 hour train trip from Xian to Chengdu, but my treats that I had brought definitely lifted my spirits. I stupidly thought that I was ready for a middle bunk on this trip, but woke up the next morning in agony. After 6 days, the pain from the camel fall is still there. It's two days later as I write this and the pain is getting a lot less.

I shared my six bed compartment with Mora and 4 locals on this trip, but spent most of the trip with the group eating, playing uno etc. It was a long trip, and I arrived in Chengdu over Chinese train trips. Intrepid has provided me with an opportunity to travel on hard class, but it would of been interesting experiencing the soft class which is slightly more expensive but very rare and difficult to obtain.

Chengdu is another large unattractive Chinese city, but the main reason for being here is to see the Giant Pandas - definitely looking forward to that.
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