The winter in Baoji is long, cold, and grey every day. The
pollution is worse this time of year and I was really looking forward to
getting out of town for a while. A
beautiful blue sky and bright sunshine was on the menu and breathing some fresh
air was high on the list of priorities.
I had been warned about train travel in China as being
complicated, crowded, and overwhelming and because of this misinformation; I
was terrified to make the trip alone. A friend who was supposed to travel with
me came down with severe stomach flu and could not make it, but I was
determined to make the trip and decided to venture out on my own.
After hours of research on the internet, I learned that Dali
has many hostels and there were several owned by foreigners who speak English.
Oh, how I longed for a good conversation with someone that I could understand
completely. The hostel I decided on was the Lily Pad Inn, they had a private
room with a shared bath, but it would have to do as it was the high travel
season and accommodations were limited so I packed my bags and headed to the
train station.
The train station was not crowded and I arrived very early
just to make sure I could get used to the new surroundings and be clear about
where I was supposed to go. It reminded me of the airport in Myrtle Beach, not
as nice of course, but small and organized. Grudgingly, an attendant and his
supervisor carried my bag up a mountain of stairs and found me a place to sit.
As time passed, more people arrived and a few came by to display their version
of the English language to me.
Finally, the train arrived, it was easy to read the train
ticket and get on the right train. It was late at night and everyone was asleep
so I found my bunk crawled up to it (the upper bunk is the smallest) and went
to sleep. The next day, I met a
wonderful warm Muslim family who occupied the bunks underneath me, the wife had
a little knowledge of English and between the two of us, we were able to put
our two languages together and communicate enough to have pleasant
conversation. She had made some homemade
bread and insisted on sharing. She also had an endless supply of fruit to eat
and included me in all of the the family meals. They were a wonderful family
and today as I write this, I miss their warmth and hospitality.
I arrived in
Guangtong around eight in the morning and caught a bus to Dali, which was around four
hours away. The bus driver was a wild man and whipped around the corners and
over the mountains in record time. The girl who sat next to me on the bus threw
up because of so much motion, but personally, I loved the ride as I sensed that the
driver was a professional who makes the trip back and forth over the mountain
many times in a day.
When we reached our final destination, I was met by a warm sunny day with
blue skies and fresh air. A nice man with a motorcycle buggy drove me to the
Lily Pad Inn. The ride was long and rough as I could feel every bump in the
road. Reaching the Inn was a welcome sight and even though I was exhausted, I
took a quick shower and went out to explore the town.
Train travel in China was not as bad as I expected although
I believe that the kind of trip you have depends on the friendliness of your
travel partners. I was lucky enough to have met one of the nicest families in
the world on that train and because of that family, my journey to Dali was a
great experience that I will never forget.
