As I mentioned in my last entry, we decided spur of the moment to catch a 48-hour train from Beijing to Lhasa, Tibet in order to fulfill somewhat of a life dream of climbing Everest... at least to the base camp. China recently completed the long railway with much fanfare and a flower-covered float in the middle of Tianamen Square. China is truly a unique place... keep reading.
We caught the brand-spanking new train in the evening and found our six-bed-berth, settling in for the long haul. To be honest, China spent a LOT of money on the entire project, billions and billions of dollars. From this large expenditure, you would expect a level of quality including various elements. Our first impression was positive, beautiful clean hallways and bathrooms, nice rooms, etc. Once the train started moving is when things got interesting.
As we adjusted to our home for the next 48 hours, we began realizing that things were missing. Such as cabin doors... and light switches. Well, in the truly communal Communist spirit, the good old Politburo decided that cabin doors and light switches were too bougois for their trains... so each cabin shared a dim light controlled by the conductor, who turned the light on at 7 am and off at 10 pm. The lack of a door was a whole other matter. Missing the door presented a few security questions, but nothing that couldn't be handled. The larger problem was the blasting of obnoxious Chinese music from a speaker all night directly outside our berth. Of all the things missing on the train, of course we had the only functioning speaker in our car!! On the plus side (check the "our videos" link to the right), the cabins did contain oxygen hookups with free hoses for the high altitudes (over 16,000 feet in spots).
Add to this exciting train ride our three Chinese cabin mates. Three businessmen from the looks of them... at least while they kept their clothes on. Hanging out in the cabin in their formerly-white whitey-tighties, our Chinese counterparts spoke on their cellphones at all hours of the night. Overall, I'm a pretty relaxed person, it takes a lot to annoy me. But I do have this one pet peeve; when people eat loudly. Not mouth open chewing kind of stuff, but slurpy sucky sticky noises. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to convey this pet peeve in Mandarin, but to be frank, when the Chinese eat they sound like children sucking up noodles through a straw with their nose. It was a fun 48 hours!
As negative as my post sounds, the trip was fantastic. Carson, Topher, and I had a great time hanging out, eating, reading, and relaxing, as well as learning a few Chinese words. We are even getting in the habit of hawking up loogies all day long on any type of flooring, similar to our new Chinese friends. For more interesting habits refer to the classic travel book "Riding the Iron Rooster."
We have arrived in Tibet... and it is mesmerizing. But you'll have to wait for that next installment, I'm tired of typing.
We caught the brand-spanking new train in the evening and found our six-bed-berth, settling in for the long haul. To be honest, China spent a LOT of money on the entire project, billions and billions of dollars. From this large expenditure, you would expect a level of quality including various elements. Our first impression was positive, beautiful clean hallways and bathrooms, nice rooms, etc. Once the train started moving is when things got interesting.
As we adjusted to our home for the next 48 hours, we began realizing that things were missing. Such as cabin doors... and light switches. Well, in the truly communal Communist spirit, the good old Politburo decided that cabin doors and light switches were too bougois for their trains... so each cabin shared a dim light controlled by the conductor, who turned the light on at 7 am and off at 10 pm. The lack of a door was a whole other matter. Missing the door presented a few security questions, but nothing that couldn't be handled. The larger problem was the blasting of obnoxious Chinese music from a speaker all night directly outside our berth. Of all the things missing on the train, of course we had the only functioning speaker in our car!! On the plus side (check the "our videos" link to the right), the cabins did contain oxygen hookups with free hoses for the high altitudes (over 16,000 feet in spots).
Add to this exciting train ride our three Chinese cabin mates. Three businessmen from the looks of them... at least while they kept their clothes on. Hanging out in the cabin in their formerly-white whitey-tighties, our Chinese counterparts spoke on their cellphones at all hours of the night. Overall, I'm a pretty relaxed person, it takes a lot to annoy me. But I do have this one pet peeve; when people eat loudly. Not mouth open chewing kind of stuff, but slurpy sucky sticky noises. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to convey this pet peeve in Mandarin, but to be frank, when the Chinese eat they sound like children sucking up noodles through a straw with their nose. It was a fun 48 hours!
As negative as my post sounds, the trip was fantastic. Carson, Topher, and I had a great time hanging out, eating, reading, and relaxing, as well as learning a few Chinese words. We are even getting in the habit of hawking up loogies all day long on any type of flooring, similar to our new Chinese friends. For more interesting habits refer to the classic travel book "Riding the Iron Rooster."
We have arrived in Tibet... and it is mesmerizing. But you'll have to wait for that next installment, I'm tired of typing.
3 comments:
when do you start to hike up to base camp? how long will that take you guys?
I just finished a sweet book about a guy that started a bunch of libraries and schools in nepal and other close-by countries. Its called "leaving microsoft to change the world". Great READ!
hey man it all sounds great! that story really made me laugh ... I hope you guys continue to have fun and just go with the flow. I miss you guys tell the others I say what's up. You guys are in my prayers.
peace/love
Z
Hey guys,
It is always good to hear from you boys. The trip seems to be going very well. The comments concerning your expectations, stereotypes and american culture influence are interesting. I now have a google account so I will be posting comments often. I miss you guys and I will continue to pray for you guys. Please send more videos. Topher is a fantastic narrator, Andrew a great go-go dancer, and Carson looks like a sick hospital boy. Send pictures of the base camp! Oh, and some great news from back home... I did it!
Cheers,
Clint
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