Train to Beijing

On the 24th we relaxed in Guilin instead of going to see the rice terices like we thought we might. It was a nice day for not doing much. It was raining so we went to a cafe and played cards. Matthew played chess.

Yesterday we got on the train to Beijing. It is going to be a really long trip. We got a sleeper compartment so that we could sleep. In the station we sat and waited on the train which was late. sitting across from us was a couple and a baby. The man was eating melon seeds and spitting them on the floor. It was pretty gross. I kept hoping he would stop but he didn't. Before we got on the train they held the baby and tried to get it to use the bathroom I was really happy that it didn't as that would have been really disgusting. I have to say that I was happy to get on the train and not have to see them any more.

We had a really hard time trying to get our luggage into the space we had. Matthew and I shared the compartment with an older couple who didn't speak any English. This made it really hard for us to talk with them but we used our translation books. And were able to say a little.

The train had squatty potties and they were pretty clean when we started the trip but they kept getting grosser and grosser as it went on. The train allowed people to smoke in between cars. We had a compartment at the end of a car so it got smokey sometimes. About half way there my throat stated hurting but I thought it was because of the dry air and smoke.

When we finally got to Beijing the next day we tried to call our couchsurfing host but couldn't as our phone wouldn't work. It turns out it just had a dead battery. The couple in the car with us helped us get a taxi and made sure we were going to get to the place we were staying. They were very nice to us.

We made it to the couch surfers and she took us to dinner. It was a good dinner. We had chicken and yest that is a chicken head on the plate. Lotus our host is a journalist with one of the papers in Beijing it was really interesting to talk with her and see what she thought of the news and media. I was really tired from being on the train so long so we called it an early night.