For the love of Gladys Knight... it was the midnight train to Xi'an

Sunday, August 31, 2008 – 10:30am

Rolling hills, clear blue skies. We are truly chasing heaven. What a difference a day makes. Our adventure has officially begun. I have to say that once I got past the used bed linens, the squatting toilets that refuse to flush, and the fact that I have to wear shoes even in bed, I am really enjoying my time on this 36 hour train ride to Lhasa, Tibet. Talk about time to unwind and decompress. I will take you back a couple of days, however, to where it all began.
Much has happened since I last posted, and, as I am writing now, I truly have no idea when I will have access to post this, or upcoming entries. My heart is happy. I feel like a traveler again, I am on my own terms and I am quickly gaining a sense of freedom, cutting the proverbial strings…being able to see wide expanses of blue skies and endless terrain doesn’t hurt. I am exploding. I want to run and breathe in the air – no smog to be seen.
Let me tell you, nothing snapped me back into traveller mode quicker than approaching the Beijing West train station to catch our ride to Xi’an. Our cabbie managed to turn a three lane ramp into 4 as we dodged all the other taxis trying to get their passengers to the front. We finally made it and as soon as we opened the door, my senses were assaulted. A cacophony of yelling voices, horns, random smells, and babies cries engulfed me, rising in the air, somehow creating a symphonic rendering of my time in Beijing, perfectly summarizing in a strange musical form, my experiences up to that point. Throngs of people, call them lemmings, call them cattle, all vied for a place in the seemingly unending line to get into security screening. We strapped on our packs and got our elbows out, and shoved our way to the front using our ‘dumb westerner’ hats to get away with it. If there is one thing that I have learned here in China is that you have to do it for yourself.
The massive amounts of people were a lot to take. I was glad that I had come a few days prior to try to get the tickets and had seen what we were getting ourselves into. Ethan had a moment where he just stood awestruck, quickly got over it, and kept on trucking. We did well finding our waiting room and getting settled in…the only problem was we didn’t know where or when they would board the train. David and I took it into our own hands, walked down a hallway and found our train. Ethan took up the rear, desperately trying to decipher the strange flavour of his newly purchased purple ice cream treat. We had booked ourselves soft sleepers and were quite tired. Ethan and myself were in one and David in another. Ethan and I had two friends from Xi’an who travel back and forth to Beijing for work with us in our cabin. One was a computer engineer and the other, unfortunately, we could not figure out what he did. It was a good way to get to Xi’an and saved us a hotel night. Ethan and I chatted a bit then it was good night! We had a lot to accomplish the next day – finding our permits to Tibet was our top priority, getting train tickets to Lhasa, touring Xi’an etc. etc.
We were met at the station by our tour guide Kelly (it was great to have someone pick us up and not have to think at 8am after a grueling Olympic experience). We then went to the ticket room and fought through the masses and lined up for tickets. Thank Buddha for Kelly, she asked if we had our permit because we would need it to purchase the tickets. Off touring we went.
It was not the most beautiful of days in Xi’an – a torrential downpour actually – but we were troopers and made the most of it. The Terracotta Warriors were amazing. Indian Jones’s dream find really. They were built by an Emperor back in the day who wanted this army to accompany him into the afterlife. Don’t get me wrong – armies and concubines were actually buried alive with dead emperors to accompany him into the afterlife. I am sure they did not see that in the fine print when they signed up for the job…Also interesting was that they were not discovered until the late 70’s when a farmer (still alive and living there today) went digging a well and came across one of the greatest archeological finds in all of China, perhaps the world. It was humbling – and I was also glad there was a roof over our heads.

Following the warriors and stopping for coffee (my first decent cup in 41 days!), it was off to the city wall of Xian. It was cold, blustery, and we were almost blown off the ramparts! We cut the tour short, but not before learning all about Feng (wind) Shui (water) and rubbing the dragon horse for good fortune. Then it was on to the Wild Goose Pagoda. A less touristy temple than those in Beijing. I enjoyed it. It was calm and relaxed and with the added chatter of the rain on the rooftops, I was happy. The three of us also prayed (in a polite and respectful way) to the various Buddhas of train tickets… basically all of them because there is no one specific one for train tickets – because we still had no idea how were getting to Lhasa, Tibet!
It was then onto the hotel where our Tibetan permits were waiting for us! Some of our praying must have worked a little. We dumped our stuff in our room and headed to the train station – elbows up! Shields on! Everyone had been telling us that there was basically no way that we would get train tickets to Tibet for the next day due to the four day rule. Well, damnit, we were going to try. And try we did. We got in line at reception, showed our permits and passports and they logged us in (gotta keep track of our every step) then it was off to line up for the tickets. Somehow, we managed to pick a line that was not only short, but had an attendant that spoke good enough English that she knew we wanted 3 soft sleepers in the same compartment! WE GOT THEM!
Then it was dinner and some wandering before heading home for a much needed shower (it had been almost 2 days), and some R&R. The next morning it was off to Tibet on the 8:48 train. 36 hours to do nothing, but read, reflect, sleep, get to know each other a bit better and blog. I am glad to have experienced this.