Xian Jude

We’re on the road again. If I’m honest I was a little reticent to leave Hong Kong behind. What was supposed to be a 2 week stop over grew into almost 2 months. Note to any would be Silk Road travelers, visas and paperwork for these lands are not a piece of cake to obtain, leave enough time! It was a wonderful 2 months though. Being back in our ‘home’ with friends that are as good as family, without the stresses and strains of a work life...what’s not to love? I became very comfortable, too comfortable. Thanks to our long suffering friends we had a luxurious place to call our temporary home. I started to wonder if we were doing the right thing, panicking even, at what we would be leaving behind, and this time seemed all the more final as we have no definite plans to return. What were we doing?! My anxiety was fed by the wild ramblings of my imagination, we are off into China for a start, then practically into the desert through countries that are not well trod by the western tourists foot……...and so my mind went into a downward spiral. After several teary goodbyes we were off.

The most immediate of my concerns was our impending departure by train from Hong Kong to Xian. Rich and I had discussed which classes of travel were available. The top was ‘Soft Sleeper’, a private cabin with four bunk beds, we would of course have to share with two others, but this seemed like our best (read my favourite) option. The second option was ‘Hard Sleeper’, where by the entire carriage is split into cubicle sections that hold 6 bunks each, these are open to the corridor and general thoroughfare. In total each train carriage would sleep 60 folks in this class. There are other classes but these involve sitting upright on hard seats for the entire journey. It is a 25 hour journey. No need to expand on that. Initially after a brief think about it, and I really did, I asked Rich if we could go for ‘Soft Sleeper’. We agreed on this, however after a look at our budget we decided that ‘Hard Sleeper’ was the only option we could justify. Hmmm. So, after buying some pot noodles and fruit as sustenance for our journey we waited in the station for about 3 hours until a friendly gent practicing his English advised us it was time to board. We could have worked this out however as the 1000 or so folks waiting with us rose en masse and made their way to claim their seats. We headed for carriage number 16 to find our bunks, I was trying to remain upbeat and optimistic.

How much of our lives are wasted fearing the unknown I wonder? My fears were not justified. The carriage was clean and bright and our bunks were even made up with fresh coordinating sheets, it had the feel of a giant caravan. We put our bags away minus the bits and bobs we wanted to keep us company. Settling into our top 2 bunks, which are not hard as the name would suggest by the way, rather firm which is the way I like my mattress should anyone care to know. What is nice about being in China is the lack of staring, even though where we are our white faces are not as common as in some parts, it is nice not to be a complete spectacle. Indeed if you do catch someone looking they offer a shy smile before turning away quick smart. In fact I would go as far as to say there was a gentle feeling of camaraderie between our immediate bunk neighbours. As the train slowly chugged out of the station I was starting to feel a real flush of excitement. 

There is something really fab about train travel. I am a big fan of plane and bus travel, but the constant gentle chug of the train on its tracks is hard to beat. Watching the scenery flit by as you begin to realise there is nothing else to be done other than sit back and relax. No dishes to wash, no jobs to be done. No, you can get your book out, listen to your tunes, do a bit of knitting (!) anything you please as long as it involves sitting back and letting the world literally go by. And so our 25 hours passed. We watched a movie, read our books and ate pot noodles as and when we felt like them. We drifted off into blissful sleep around midnight and awoke early by the only drawback we found. The music. There was a constant flow of upbeat Chinese tunes blaring through the speaker a couple of yards from our heads. This did stop thankfully from midnight to 7am to allow some sleep, but other than that it kept on pumping! Apparently it is not so long ago that passengers were able to smoke in the carriages…...this would not be pleasant given how strong cheap chinese cigarettes are! Thankful for small mercies this is now limited to the sections between the carriages.

And so here we are in Xian. It is hot, but not the humid kind of stick and sweat of Hong Kong, more like a summers day in Tuscany. We are settled into a very modest hotel/youth hostel. It seems quite a prosperous city, since having had a wander today we have stumbled upon a few Starbucks and I did see a Louis Vuitton store. We have had a couple of tasty dinners of spicy soup noodles and dumplings, although lunch today was an food experience I would rather not repeat. I can only describe it as what looked and tasted like a bowl of flem. Rich managed a few stellar bites, but I left a little hungry and figured I’d burn off some of my pounds gained in Hong Kong in relative luxury instead. We are off to see the Terra cotta Army tomorrow and then we leave on another 20 hour train further west. I honestly can say I am glad I hauled myself out of my comfort zone in Honkers, love it and miss it as I do, I can always go back. Bring on the adventure!