Ahhhh….. Civilization
Now I’ve taken long and short train rides from 3 hours to 20 hours in China and I have to say that the experience never ceases to amaze me since none of the train rides have been anything alike. The first trip I got a seat, but only 1/2 way to where I wanted to go on hard seats with spitters, no smoking violators 
and snot rocketers. This guy was just blatant! He’d hold in the smoke when a conductor was near and let it out after he passed. I was patient and caught him on film. I could see the nervousness in his face as the conductor passed by after this photo as he had no clue what I was going to do. My 2nd trip, I didn’t have a seat reservation, but it took me all the way to Luoyang and I was glad to find a seat amongst the spitters and snot rocketers. From LY to Xian, I booked my ticket in advance and had an open cabin with good people that didn’t seem to have the urge to spit or rocket. From Xian to Nanjing, I found that all the good beds on the fast trains were booked out by Chinese scalpers 9 days in advance so you have to buy the “Huang Nyu Piau” so I had to take the 20 hour train on a slow train from China in a partially enclosed cabin with 6 non spitting but loudly snoring people. I spent most of the ride with a nice conductor that put beers in the fridge for me and traded MP3 players for the ride. (Thru most of Western China, it’s quite difficult to find a cold beer unless you’re in a western bar). Now just when you think I’ve seen it all, I get to the train station late as usual and find that there are no reserved seats left from Nanjing to Suzhou and the standing room only ticket is more expensive for this 2 1/2 hour trip than the 4 hour trip from Qingdao to Jinan. I’m not happy, but it was time to leave NJ so I booked it anyway prepared to stand for the next 2 hours. Luckily, I find a car with the best seats I’ve ever seen on a train in China that don’t require reservations. Now I’m talking airplane seats that recline and a tray table with a cup slot that conveniently fits the cup I bought at Carrefour. As I sit back and start to journal on my tray table sipping a cup of tea and having some biscuits, I realize that I’m back in civilization AND I DON’T want to get off. I call a couple hotels from the train and make a reservation at the only one with a room available. I swear if I didn’t look out the window, I’d think I was back in the civilized world: cell phones, MP3 players, laptops… I actually even looked out the window and saw meadows with yellow wildflowers, greenery and multi-story homes. Where Am I? I’m thinking to myself that I hope C comes thru with her connection in Shanghai at the 5 star Shangrila Hotel. She’s been great coming through with nice 5 star hotels like the Grand Hyatt in Taipei and the Intercontinental in Seoul. Thanks C!
Tags: Travel
Kane
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