We packed and took a cab to taste of India for a curry before our long train journey to Beijing. The curry was awesome, really tasty and way too much! Headed to the station, a different one to the one we went to and from Hong Kong. It was mayhem! Hundreds of people queueing outside the station to get in, for a baggage check and body scan that no-one seemed to pay much attention to (the staff anyway). Inside was no better, just people rushing about for their trains that left over half an hour later, it was crazy. Seems that they have no idea how to use planes, trains and in fact automobiles in Asia. Rush to get on, rush to get off, then wait around being annoying and disgusting!
So, we wandered to our train, our 4 bed soft sleeper already had 4 people in it. 2 adults and 2 kids. Why does it appear that kids don't count as passengers in Asia? As it happens they had to pay 256 for the kid anyway. The annoying ADHD boy who didn't stop talking and going up and down and up and down from top to bottom to top bunks... Banging about, shouting, ate noisily, squealed and was generally just annoying. But what do you expect when you take kids on a 21 hour train journey! The little girl was 100% better. Why boys are favoured here, I have no idea. I think Jenni was ready to kill him.
The chinese didn't want to speak to us, unlike in Vietnam where the little girl gave us some fruit and they tried to make conversation, on this journey there was none of that. Just no drinks to buy except green tea, smoking everywhere on the no smoking train and the guards didn't seem to care, hocking in the washrooms, just a disgusting race of people really.
We whizzed past some greenery in the centre of China, a welcome relief from the smoggy, built up urban areas of everywhere else.
And it's no wonder they get hit by bird flu and swine flu around here, because they are disgusting, with no personal hygiene (coughing, sneezing, hocking – it's gross) and little respect for other people – queue jumping and pushing past is normal. I feel sorry for Sam stuck here. We have a week left, hopefully it will fly by...
No comments:
Post a Comment