Manic Panic

Me looking like a pregnant turtle!

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So we got the 12 hour sleeper train from Beijing to Shanghai and it was abit manic to say the least.

Beijing Railway station is huge and very crowded and it certainly did not help that it started pouring down with rain as soon as we arrived there. Unfortunately, the closest the taxi could get to the station was across the road but remember that Beijing roads are huge and to get to the station, it was through the metro underpass followed by a 100 metre dash to the entrance. Anyways, having a backpack twice the weight of yourself and a brolly in one hand is a skill I've not yet mastered and as such, I got soaked to the skin.

To get into the station was the next obstacle. Everything has to be scanned on entering the station and as you know, orderly queues are not very common in China. That together with my dad's voice in my head telling me to be careful of my belongings when in stations and I thought I was going to have a panic attack! Anyways, after finally getting through and another 15 minutes trying to find the right waiting hall, we finally got there only to be turned away.

Me in my bunk

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And the reason? Well, even though a friend had kindly booked the tickets for us in advance, unfortunately, we were silly enough not to have checked the date on them - the tickets were in fact for the previous day.

In our limited mandarin, we asked if we could change them and the woman referred us to ticket booth 1. Not a mammoth task you would have thought but Beijing Railway Station is huge and there are over a hundred ticket booths! So it was another dash out in the pouring rain and getting soaked a second time.

After minutes of pushing at ticket booth number one, we finally got to the counter only to encounter a very unfriendly woman. As our limited Mandarin did not work, we finally had to call a friend and ask her to speak to the lady. All at the same time, we were being hassled by ticket touts!

Us in our comfy bunks!

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The woman would not let us change our tickets and in the end we had to purchase new ones. By then, we no longer cared, we just wanted to get on that damn train!!!!!

Anyways, the train ride itself was very comfortable. We had to get top bunks as there were no lower bunks left and to tell you the truth, I prefer these. Unless, you're a very tall and large person, you can easily sit up on them and you don't have to worry about anyone peering down onto you.

In fact, I had one of the best night's sleep in ages, I remember waking up in the middle of the night to find myself snuggled up as the train twisted and turned on the tracks. The only downside was the man snoring in the bunk below!