Yesterday morning I woke up and felt like death; then realized that I needed to catch a 27 hour train to Guangzhou in just over two hours. Oh dear. I packed up a few things; tried to buy some snacks for the bus, but ran from the store before purchasing so I could hurl the water I drank that morning into the bushes. I ended up not buying any snacks, but it probably was for the best seeing as though my stomach could not even handle water at the moment. After throwing a few t-shirts, my application forms, passport and some tea bags in my backpack I said a quick good-bye to Hana and Willem and headed to the bank, seeing as though the night before I spent the last of my money, jumped in a cab and prayed it would get to the airport on time for my 11:50 train. Time was ticking down, but I felt confident I would make it; a friend had said so long as I turned up 5 minutes before the train left I would be fine. And I arrived exactly 5 minutes before the train left, I dragged myself out of the cab, paid the equivalent of $3 and headed to the entry gate; where the guard told me, I had arrived too late; missed my train. To which I replied, you’re kidding…right? she wasn’t; and told me to head down to window #3 to change my ticket to another time.
Down the stairs and into the ticket purchasing hall I went; the line up at window #3 was long. very. very. long. I got in; almost got to the front when the man behind me the window was about to close and we should switch lines, I scoffed and again asked if he was serious…he was. So after double checking that the line would close, I switched into the #2 window line; and sure enough, right after the lady in front of me completed her exchange, the blinds came down and the window closed…luckily I was in window #2’s line up, and after waiting only about 15 minutes I got to the window and said I’d like to change my ticket. No dice. This was the return your ticket window; not change your ticket window, I would have to get into window #4’s line up…which was up past the door, easily over 200 people. As my stomach churned in pain I contemplated scraping the whole taking a 27+ hour train idea; and purchasing a plane ticket. But then I remembered, I was much too poor and got in the line up; after about 45 minutes, I was right smack dab in the middle; no longer one of the poor suckers at the back of the line, but with window #4 many many minutes ahead of me; then a wave of nausea came over me, and I had to abandon my place in the line to hurl into the nearest, non-populated area. After which I decided waiting in line for hours was not going to happen. Not today.
I headed over to the information desk to see if there was some other way, a kind Chinese couple told me the info-guy had gone for lunch, what did I need; so I told them my sob story – I was supposed to leave, I arrived late; or the train left early, I waited in line, but was sick, I needed some other way to change my ticket; and I wanted to leave today. He told me I just should go to the front of the line; I was a foreigner, really it was no problem. Usually, I wouldn’t try my luck at pulling the foreigner card, but today was an exception. After trying another window with a shorter line and discovering window #4 and it’s mile long line up was the only way to go, I decided I would budge in front of the giant line of Chinese people to change my ticket. So I walked right up to the exit lane at the window; and said excuse me I need to change my ticket, can you help? and for an extra 9rmb ($1.5) I changed my ticket to one that left at 4:10 pm that day. With hours until the next train left I headed out to the front of the station and decided I should call my family on Christmas day.
So I did. After a good half an hour talk, the phone card ended and I cried in front of the copious amount of Chinese people; but felt happy I got to wish my family a Merry Christmas. Wandered about checking prices for flights to Nanjing next week and buying fruit for the train. At 3:30 there was announcement for the boarding of train N232; apparently they board trains 45 minutes early these days..good to know. So I boarded the train, crawled into my top bunk and after reading a magazine Merrill gave me fell asleep for the night; but not before listening to the man below me eat noodles at an usually loud pace, and have the man across from me turn on his Chinese karaoke music for the whole train to hear.
Hours later I awoke, crawled down from my top bed and took a look around. No one spoke with me, and I finished reading a book I brought with me four months ago. About 18 hours into the ride a short man boarded the train and I offered to help him put his luggage up on the rack, seeing as though I’m tall and all, in Chinese; after which the people around me all discovered I could speak Chinese and began to talk. I first made friends with a man from Guangdong who studied English for 10 years, but could barely make out a few sentences, then with the two grandma’s who were taking care of their grandkids, my little friend was at first scared of his new foreign friend, but after I read him a story in Chinese…he warmed up and when I went back to my bunk to study he couldn’t stop asking for his new ‘big sister’; cute kid ;), then the guy who had been staring at me the entire trip made nice and said he wasn’t sure if I could speak Chinese, and he couldn’t speak English so he didn’t want to embarrass me and ask, but was glad I could speak their language. By the end of the 27 hours I had made friends with a good handful of people and safely arrived in Guangzhou at 7:30, 27 hours and 20 minutes after the train had left Kunming.
It was then I realized that I didn’t know where I was staying in Guangzhou; but spotted a Starbucks, ordered my favourite misto tea, sat down, opened my computer and found a Youth Hostel near the cities river front. After writing down directions I asked how to get to the subway station, bought a ticket and eventually found my way to the Riverfront Youth Hostel where dorm rooms go for 60rmb a night ($10), put my things on my bunk, walked out of the room to see a giant GIANT rat crawling out of the trash can outside my room and proceeded to find somewhere to eat; seeing as though the apple and sunflower seeds I consumed in the 27+ hour trip left me a bit hungry.
After a traditional meal of egg and tomato on rice, that cost me triple what it would in Kunming, I headed back to the Hostel to figure out how to get to the Russian Consulate tomorrow morning and write this. Now. I’m going to sleep. Keep watching to see what the outcome of the Russian visa escapade is tomorrow.
Good night.
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