Another day, another train

Last day in Beijing today. We didn't have too much time, so we hurried to get as much done as possible.

First was a trip out to get some breakfast. We went to a small cafe on one of the main roads around our hotel, and had a decent lunch, for breakfast. There were lots of noodles, lots of rice, and plenty of chicken. Not knowing what the eating arrangements on the train would be like, having a big meal before we got on, was a smart thing to do.

After breakfast, it was time to head to the supermarket, and stock up on supplies for the train trip. The wonder of Chinese supermarkets, is the amazing array of certain products, that you don't get in the West. For example, the cooking oil aisle, resembles the wine aisle in a Western supermarket. The same goes for the noodle, and rice aisles. The fruit is also more than a bit different. Having stocked up on supplies, it was time to check out of the hotel, and head to our last attraction in Beijing.

Arriving at Qiongdao Island Park, it didn't look like much, being an island, in a lake, in a park, surrounded by eight-foot hight walls. Once in the park though, things were rather different. The hustle and bustle of Beijing was gone, and there was nothing but space, and groups of school children laughing and playing, around what was a very polluted lake. Courtney wanted to steal one, but I wouldn't let her.

Trying to get to Qiongdao Island, we had to chose which way around the lake to walk. We picked wrong, and as we got to what we thought was the bridge to the island, we actually arrived at the end of the park. Not having time to turn around, and walk the other way around the lake, we decided instead to head for the train station.

Having arrived in China at Beijing Central Station, we had a very good idea of how busy the place was. What we didn't know however, was where the entrance to the building was. Looking from one end of the building to another, we could not find the way in. All we could find was the way out, and many, many ticket booths. Wasting about 25 minutes wandering around, trying to find the way in, we eventually discovered that the some of the ticket booths, were not in fact ticket booths they were a ticket check station, from where you could enter the station.

Sighing at our stupidity, we made our way to the closest ticket checking booth, to enter the station. Only we couldn't. We were at the wrong station. We were supposed to be at Beijing West Station, not Beijing Central Station. Cue panic. We had arrived with plenty of time to spare, but had wasted so much of it trying to find the entrance to a station that wasn't even ours. Speaking to the ticket check man, he suggested that we get the subway to our proper station. A taxi could be faster, but with the Beijing traffic, it could as easliy take 5 times as long as the subway.

So we headed to another ticket booth, to get a ticket to the the right train station, and got ourselves moving. Courtney was not at her best, in the rather stressful situation, which was not aided by the muggy heat of Beijing. Despite having had a shower only a few hours ago, we were both saturated in sweat from the stress, the heavy bags, and the running that we were doing.

Making it onto the subway, we hoped that we would make it our correct train station in time. We knew from our research that the Chinese authorities recommend arriving two hours before a train departs to make sure that you can clear secuity and check in. It works a lot like getting on a plane. By the time that we got to the right train station, we had 45 minutes left. As luck would have it, that was plenty of time to deal with all the admin, and make our way to our train.

Rather relieved, we got on, and made our way to our cabin. We had a bottom and a top bunk, and hoped, as had happened betwen Mongolia and Beijing, that we could get the compartment to ourselves. That wasn't that case sadly, and we ended up sharing with a mid-thirties Chinese man, and a late-sixties Chinese woman. Not being able to communicate with them verbally was a bit difficult, but through maps, hand movement, and food, we were able to strike up a limited report.

With the stress of the day, we decided to make use of the restaurant on the train, have a quick meal, and have an early night. The options in the restaurant car were a bit limited for vegetarians, but speaking to one of the train conductors, we were able to ascertain, what would work, and what wouldn't, and ordered it. The beer was half-decent too, though the conductor was adamant that it was a very poor example of Chinese beer.

Amply sufficed, and tired, we repaired to our bunks to read briefly, and then get some sleep. Though in Courtney's case, the prospect of sleep was an aspirational goal.Read more