The bus was looonnngg...my seat/bed was not solo, but connected to another one. The guy sleeping next to me was pretty big and the seats were pretty small (china-size) so he essentially slept ON me half the trip! When he got too generous with the space I was all elbows LOL So yeah, not a great sleep. Then straight to the train station to wait in line with thousands of chinese to buy a train ticket. It all went really smooth tho, the lady at the counter was really helpful (by helpful I meant took her time with me pointing to phrases in my phrase book and not giving me the "why are you wasting my time...learn to speak chinese" look and going onto the next person) and I ended up getting on the train at noon no problem!
I am getting used to being the only white face in the crowd now. I walked through the train looking for any person that spoke english to talk too, but nope...i was the only one. So for 16 hours I read my lonely planet, watched chinese soaps and chinese "gladiator." The guy in the bed under me played chinese pop music on his phone and I think half the train was smoking the entire way (one guy was even smoking under the NO SMOKING sign lol) The squat toilet in the bathroom had a little handle on the wall, which turned out to be very helpful during corners!
Chengdu is awesome! Mostly because it is warm LOL I was in a tshirt walking around today and seriously, I am so happy to not be freezing! Went to the Wenshu monestary, checked out the tea house (super cool), saw the mao statue and the square. Tomorrow I head to the breeding centre to see the pandas with a few people from the hostel and then Ill walk around a bit more to the markets probably...maybe go to the People's Park where people do tai chi and aerobics and play chess.
Ill probably do a day trip to Leshan at some point, then who knows...maybe songpan? Ive had to ditch my plans to go to Korea because of travel issues, so my last stop now is Beijing. Cant believe Im going to be home in less than 2 weeks!
Some quick reflections about China:
-people either ignore me or stare at me and take "secret" pictures on thier cell phones.
-no one speaks english, not even the information people at attractions or bus/train stations. And even when people know you cant speak chinese they will try to carry on a conversation in chinese with you anyway.
-there is no direct travel route from point A to point B by bus.
-stop lights are optional... (actually this is true for most of asia)
-all food comes on a stick :) tasty!
-lines are survival of the fittest: elbows out or hold onto the railings beside you or people will push you aside
-public bathrooms...well....lets say squat toilets dont really flush. its usually poo on poo. plug your nose, lift your pant legs up and dont look down (or hope you make it back to your guesthouse!)
-just because water is in a dispenser in a hostel DOES NOT mean it is okay to drink! I watched them fill it out of the town fountain in Shangri-la. I learned this lesson too late...back on my pills again :( Should have stopped drinking the water when it tasted bad....
Some quick reflections about China:
-people either ignore me or stare at me and take "secret" pictures on thier cell phones.
-no one speaks english, not even the information people at attractions or bus/train stations. And even when people know you cant speak chinese they will try to carry on a conversation in chinese with you anyway.
-there is no direct travel route from point A to point B by bus.
-stop lights are optional... (actually this is true for most of asia)
-all food comes on a stick :) tasty!
-lines are survival of the fittest: elbows out or hold onto the railings beside you or people will push you aside
-public bathrooms...well....lets say squat toilets dont really flush. its usually poo on poo. plug your nose, lift your pant legs up and dont look down (or hope you make it back to your guesthouse!)
-just because water is in a dispenser in a hostel DOES NOT mean it is okay to drink! I watched them fill it out of the town fountain in Shangri-la. I learned this lesson too late...back on my pills again :( Should have stopped drinking the water when it tasted bad....
