Train-ing Day

Hong Kong to Beijing to Xi'an to Shanghai to Hong Kong.  All by sleeper train and it only took about 67 hours and at a cost of $349.64.  Considering the distances traveled that was a pretty good price and I'd say it was more comfortable than flying.  There are two options on these trains: seat or sleeper, and those are divided into hard and soft class.  We only did soft seat and sleeper and from that we would not try either of the hard options.  The price difference is enough for the chinese but minimal for us.  The seat is a seat; either facing the back of another seat with an airplane-like folding tray or facing two other passenger that you share a table with.  No a problem, but we could not get comfortable enough in the seats to sleep restfully.  They are better padded with more leg room than an airplane, but the fact of the matter is that you are seated for 11+ hours.  We also ran into a problem with some locals that wanted to listen to some tunes as they fell asleep.

The soft sleepers sell out fast and we can see why.  You share the berth with two other passengers and each car has shared toilets and wash rooms.  No worries, everyone is courteous.  The sleeper berths have a small table and each bunk has a reading light and chinese-language TV.  Renee and I found these comfortable and easy to read/relax in.  The beds aren't the softest, but they must be softer than the hard sleepers that are in six person berths.  I would recommend booking your tickets as early as you can as these sell out first.  Though, tickets are always cheaper when you buy them at the station.  We used out hostel in Beijing and had to pay a 30-40 RMB ($4.42-6.34)fee per ticket.  Food is provided through a dining car or periodic carts.  It isn't the cheapest, so we learned to bring our own provisions in the form or granola bars one time and wine/cheese another.

After Xi'an we did not shower until we got to our hotel in Phuket.  We tried changing our clothes and washing our faces or using a washcloth when we could, but our hair was probably the dirtiest.  We had heard of a traveling remedy for greasy hair that involves baby powder.  The powder is supposed to attract the oil and make you look cleaner.  I went for it with talcum powder.  While my hair felt and looked less oily, I think I looked more like I put talcum powder in my hair than clean.  

Planes, trains, boats, and buses: Will it end?

We just completed a marathon travel session.  We left July 24, at 6:30pm and got to Koh Samui the next day around 2pm (bus and ferry).  We left for Koh Phangan on the 28th at 5:30pm and got back the next day at 6am (minibus, speedboat, minibus).  We started our journey back to Bangkok at noon the same day and arrived the 30th at 10am (minibus, ferry, bus, train).  We are officially tired of traveling!

We wish that we could slow down or stop for a bit, but our Thai visas expire on the 2nd, so we are now enlisting the one thing we though we would only need to get to Hong Kong and then again to get home.  That is right: an AIRCRAFT.  Just the thought of sitting on anything that moves slower than 200 mph gives us chills.  I don't care if it is a VIP, super, rapid, express, direct, sleeper, 1st class, air conditioned, magic people mover.  I want to just stay somewhere for a while and even that isn't likely to happen soon.  As I dread moving to the next place, we are in talks about buying rail and air tickets for coming home twice more and getting around China and Europe.  All this has caused us to open our wallets and deal with airport security to get from A to B as fast as possible without dealing with C.

Granted, all our land and sea crossings are cheap by comparison (especially when a hotel isn't needed for sleeper trains/buses).  But nothing beats the allure of shooting to your destination at 36,000 feet in hours rather than days.  W also have a time crunch as we cut out some stops (anything hiking related) to make room for the ones that we can relax at (read: beaches).  So wish us luck and hopefully the roll of the carriage can once again swing us to sleep.

VT night train BKK

7/23

We took the train from Vientiane to Bangkok, well actually a hard seat car from Thanaleng station outside of Vientiane to Nongkai, Thailand and then a sleeper train to Bangkok.  The whole ordeal cost 560,000 kip ($68.18) per person and 12 hours.  It is a farther distance than taking a bus, but it gets in quicker because the boarder formalities are easier and only costs a few dollars more.  We didn't know how expensive food would be on the train, so we brought snacks, but had to buy beers at an inflated train-price.  Interestingly enough, time flies when you drink several 640ml beers and play 12 games of UNO.  

Renee got the bottom bunk, which was our seats folded out and it was slightly roomier than my top bunk.  My bunk folded out of the wall like a Murphy bed and was fine for what it was, but the light came through the curtain and made an eye shade a life saver.  Generally everyone kept to themselves and no one was loud after the sun went down.  

The bathroom was a toilet that gave an excellent view of the tracks below and several wash basins were provided for simple freshening up. 

All around this was a pretty good introduction to trains in southeast Asia.  

Let's take a bus from LP to Vang Vien, It won't be too bad...

Mini bus to Vang Vien from Luang Prabang.  About $14 and six hours later.  The ride was ok, but cramped as it was just a large minivan.  We stopped a few times for the driver to eat, but the views were nice as we wound through the mountains.