Seeking a more pleasant and somewhat unusual way of getting to TIbet and really not wanting to fly....again..., we had settled on the train ride from Guangzhou to Lhasa. It had a number of interesting features...
It would be about 2.5 days long; around 55 hours of travel. We would have a berth to stretch out in. We would cover about 5000 km through China and actually see something. It wasn't expensive, cheaper, in fact, than flights would be. And it could all be arranged by our agent in Lhasa. It seemed like a plan.
The agent we were working with was able to book the tickets about 2 months in advance. Interestingly, this was well before we would be issued the Tibet Travel Permit, something we would need to even start our journey.
At the end of our short visit to Guangzhou, our day of travel arrived. We made our way to the station and found our waiting room. The only symbols we could find anywhere that we could understand were the train number (Z264) and the gate (5). No instructions in English, even as it was time to board the train. Fortunately, the strategy of showing our tickets to a person in charge was sufficient to be pointed in the right direction. We found our train, got our room and, precisely at 11:45 am, the train left.
Within a half hour, we had left the city behind as Chinese countryside flashed by our windows.
Our part of the train was virtually empty to begin with. The car accommodates 36 people, 4 to a room. In our car, one of the cars with "soft sleepers", I think there were only 5 occupants as we left Guangzhou.
The hours pass, China unrolling outside. Farms, small and not so small villages, wind towers dotting green ridges, workers squatting by a path, taking a break from their jobs, bridges, overpasses, many other trains, broad rivers.... It looks very unlike the prosperous city we left just hours ago.
Our first stop is at Chenzhou, after 4 hours. Food vendors stand on the platform. Some garbage is offloaded. Some passengers board. In about 5 minutes we are on our way again.
I was approached by a young man who obviously wanted to talk. He was returning home after a month in Guangzhou. Home was a place about half way to Lhasa, called Hua Long. We chatted for quite awhile and he professed an interest in talking to foreigners. His English was quite good and anyway, how can you not talk to someone who likes Neil Young?
The train stops a couple of times and more people arrive. It's quite dark out and other than lights as we pass villages (and cities), we could be driving in a tunnel. Apparently we have a slightly longer stop coming up, perhaps 15 minutes, so we may go out to trot up and down the platform.
Otherwise it's time for bed, lulled to sleep by the rocking of the train.
Our longer stop didn't materialize, at least not until after 11 pm. By then I'd been asleep for a few hours. More people board. Some with very loud voices. It's a double train track and there are very frequent trains headed in the other direction. In the dark, their lights create a strobe effect in our room. Generally I sleep well.
We estimate our speed to be at least 100 km/hr. Stops are very infrequent, given the distance we're travelling.
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