Up, Up and Away

You are probably wondering why I am writing this while sitting on an airplane. I was supposed to take busses, trains, and mini busses all the way aroud the world (well, except for a couple of oceans and one country that would not let me in). I suppose now is a good time to tell you about travelling without a tour guide. It's an adventure.

 

In China, one gets one's train tickets by going directly to the station a week or so ahead of time. That is hard to do when one is not in China, so foreigners have to arange with a special agency to buy their tickets (I did this with the Internet and Paypal), and deliver them to the hotel (and they did!!!!). I immediately checked with the girls at the desk in the hostel to make sure I knew they were right for dates and times and sleeper and such (they were) and that I understood what the seat and car number were (I apparently did, but we will never know!!!). I also checked about where the train station way, pointing to the tourist map and asking "The 'Beijing Train Station' subway stop."Yes," I was assured, "that was the Train Station stop."

 

With three or four hours before time to go, I went over to Tiannamen Square, which was a zoo at the time. Everybody was flying kites, taking pictures of themselves and Chairman Mao's portrait, and such. I figured this was just a Saturday night. I did not know that Tiannamen Square closed just after sundown. So, the whole herd decided to hit the subway at the same time. We had to go through security. We had to contend with the masses. It was taking forever--but I still had nearly two hours or so before departure time. And it was only a fifteen minute subway ride under normal circumstances.  At last, I  cameup out of the subway at Beijing Station, and looked around. It looked a bit like one of those post-apocalyptic movies where everybody is living outside on the pavement. But I did get to the guard at the ticket line, and he just shook his head. And then another. And then somebody who almost spoke English asked me if he could help. I showed him my ticket. That is when I found out that there were two Beijing Train Stations. I still had nearly 45 minutes before departure time, and was told my best bet was the subway. Great. As I was about to enter, I saw a taxi stand, and showed them my ticket for the other station. He shook his head and pointed to the traffic. Then his friend looked at my ticket, grabbed my bag and ran off, with me chasing, about 100 meters to where he started yelling at his buddy, who quickly opened his trunk, took the bag, and said, "Let's go." (or something). Remember, I had already been told twice that taxis could not make it through the traffic. I said, "How much?" "150 RMB" I said "meter." He said "180 on meter." It would only have been about 20-25 on a meter from my experience with taxis in Beijing. And everybody had told me not to go with any taxi that would not use a meter!  So, I went back to Plan A, hit the subway, and a short taxi ride from the subway stop to the Beijing WEST train station. And my train had apparently just left. Seriously, I entered the train station at 9:40 for the 9:36 train.

 

So, no big, there are five or eight trains a day from Beijing to Xian. I went to the ticket window for people who speak English to make a ticket change....and was told that the next available space on a train to Xian was not that evening, but at 4:45 the next day. And it was a "Standing Room Only" reservation. There were no sleepers, seats, or anything for something like three days. But hey--I can stand for 14 hours, can't I. I had to get to Xian in order to see the Terracotta Warriors, and to take the train the next day for Emei Shan, where I was going to see the eclipse. So, I took the spot they were offering.

 

Then I walked outside. It was 10:30 at night. I had left my hotel, and I needed a place to stay. (I mean besides with all the people sleeping outside, inside, and around the train station. Apparently all the people from Tiannamen Square had decided to come over to the pavement of the Beijing West Train Station and sack out. I bought a phone card, called my nephew, and cried like a baby about needing a place to stay (I did not cry, that part was just to make the story interesting). (One note here: There were like eight pay phones in a row at the station. I called from the only one where I would not have had to straddle a sleeping person to get to the phone.)

 

Anyway, Justin met me at his subway stop. We stopped at the 7-Eleven because I had not eaten anything since an afternoon hot fudge sundae at MacDonalds. Then he took me to his apartment and made me a reservation on a morning flight to Xian. It was about 12:30 am by now, so he showed me the couch, gave me a towel for the morning shower, and left to meet his friends. He had pretty much saved my little self.   

 

Adventure. Travel is an adventure. Maybe it's not Hemingway chasing lions in Afrrica, or Hillary and Norgay climbing in the high Himilayas. But it is an adventure. Travelling alone is even more of an adventure. There are so many unexpecteds that can pop up. Even if you have tried to ask all the right questions and build in all the safety factors, sometimes things go bump. Overcoming these tribulations gives me a real sense of satisfaction.  Of course, it is not quite as exciting to solve your problems with a fast internet connection and a visa card like I did this time (well, mostly Justin did) .....but it still is pretty nice to overcome adversity. (Oh, and while we are at it, the airline called an hour later to say that Visa had rejected the payment.....but I'll spare you more details. You have had to read enough.)

 

Added after arrival:  You can see from the photo that I did get to Xian in time.....