Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

Well we survived both our massage and the first overnight train experience. The foot massage ended up being quite enjoyable but the neck and back massage almost had me in tears and I’m pretty sure I have bruises. I actually squealed at one point.

The overnight train was much the same as the back massage tolerable but only barely. We boarded the train at midnight and the chaos began. The conductor couldn’t find anyone’s bed and had to turn the light on much to the annoyance of the other passengers. The lights may have made it easier for him but it unfortunately gave us a good look at our surroundings. I’m pretty sure this train was older than the last one we took. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they still had someone on board shovelling coal to make the train run.

On one side of the aisle were tables just big enough for all the passengers to pile their dinner remnants. Everything from empty cigarette boxes to cobs from the corn littered each table. On the other side There were 6 bunks to a pod. The beds are about the size of a coffin with just enough room for me to stretch out. We both “slept” in the middle bunks in the same pod. Lucky for us bedding was provided complete with cigarette burn marks, nicotine stains, and the assurance that the blankets hadn’t been washed since the train began operation sometime before the last world war.

After covering the pillow as best we could with a spare shirt we caught a few winks in between being woken at every stop by the rather confused conductor. He was sure we should be getting off at every stop despite having our tickets. But alas we survived and arrived safely in Xian.

We really took it easy today after our nighttime adventure and my recently acquired cold. We set out this afternoon to book our next set of train tickets which were also fully booked. Apparently all of China’s billion inhabitants are traveling this month. We found a workaround though and will still be leaving on Thursday.

After getting our tickets we wandered around trying to find a supermarket so I could buy some tea. Hoping for a simple convenience store we were more than surprised to find the familiar yellow face of everyone’s favourite store smiling at us. Hello Wal-Mart. In true Wal-Mart fashion we found everything we were looking for and then some. We rounded our the homelike experience with dinner at McDonalds.

Tomorrow should be a bit more exotic as we are off to see the nearby Terracotta Warriors.