Wuhan-Guilin (The Train Ride of Horrors) - Day 26

As we had bought hard-sleeper tickets for our 10 hour train ride to Guilin,I suppose our pampered minds were set on something similar to what we experienced on the train from Shanghai to Wuhan (Clean, half-empty, nicely quiet, helpful staff. Just extremely comfortable.)...

However, when we finally hauled our backpacks and our tired selves onboard the (alreday delayed) train we were greeted by a peculiar and vomit-inducing combination of smells, which slapped our faces like a wet glove; tobacco, sweat, pee and strange foods made for a harsh reality check.

The original departure station being Beijing, the Chinese on the train had already made themselves extremely comfortable: Phlegm was flying from every direction, food scraps were thrown carelessly on the floor, little babies (aided by their tired mothers) peeing in corners and garbage cans, snoring men scratching their butts in their sleep and people getting sick in the toilet.

The sheets in our upper berths were soiled with strange dark flecks and greasy stains. The loudspeakers as well as our fellow travellers were blaring out their incomprehensible language at noise-levels far exceeding the acceptable. The floor was sticky and damp.

Having a flu and already harboring a slight feeling of malaise, I literally thought I would not survive the day (aka the 10 hours that turned out to be a good 12 hours...). To make matters worse I burnt my finger on the leaking hot water tap. At that point I would not have been very suscpetible to all the claims of travelling broadening one's views and blah blah.

Somehow we still got through the ordeal of getting from point A to point B without developing a trauma, too terrible to cope with.

We blocked the loudspeakers with pillows and quilts, held ourselves to the very last minute in order to minimize familiarization with the train's lavatories, listened to our own music, comfort ate cookies and tried to read our books.

Curling up in fetus position and putting on a blindfold, were things that helped me get through the long grueling hours of that memorable train ride. As much as I would like to forget all about it, I can't deny that it was yet another instructive experience, albeit not a nice one.

I guess we'll all be able to laugh about it one day. Someday.

//R