So today is the day!!! Hard sleeper day! I'm sure this will be quite the experience. So I am just relaxing in the hostel before I have to go for my train which is at 4.30, although I am going to leave at about 2 because god knows what complications I will run in to, as nothing is straightforward here. I was going to go to the art district or the Temple of Heaven this morning, but I think I would have left myself too rushed, so decided just to relax, sort out some blog stuff and get chatting to a couple of people. The hostel is able to keep my rucksack so it means that I don't need to worry about carting that around with me all day.
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The place I am staying is in the hutong area, this is the name for the old small winding streets that make up a lot of Beijing. They are disappearing fast as they are being demolished in place of more modern accommodation, that has plumbing and heating which these places do not have. It's quite nice wandering around through these narrow streets, I find that people are more friendly, all smiling and wanting to talk to you even though there is the language barrier. Better than my hostel, that's for sure.
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So 2pm and time to go, so I say goodbye to 365 inn, and head on my way. Negotiating the subway was the usual amount of fun with my rucksack. I foolishly thought that it would not be as busy at 2pm, that as it appears was being somewhat nieve. Rammed as usual. So the stop I get off at it the military museum, as I know I have to walk a little bit to get to Beijing West Station. As usual though, there are plenty of signs showing you the exit to take but then when you get out on to the street, there is nothing. I do my usual walking around trying to find my own way before giving up and asking some people. I ask a police officer who tells me it is a subway stop away, I know this is simply not true, and so don't follow his advice. It takes me 2 hours of wandering and asking to eventually get to the station, good job I left in plenty of time. My shoulders are in significant amount of pain after this escapade, I also think I may have sweated at least 1 litre of water. I am not feeling fresh!
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As usual when I arrive I have to show my ticket and passport before moving through to security, off with bag and through the scanner, before I am allowed in. After security it open up to a huge hall complete with many levels and a smattering of escalators, I'm hungry, that McD will do, I'm not sure what there will be available on the train, if anything. I check the board for my train, gate 6, I sit down to eat and decide to check out the directions to my hostel for when I get to Xi'an. Brilliant! I can't look that far back in my emails, looks like i'll be flying blind. I can remember that it is near to the bell tower, hopefully someone will know when I get to the general area. I head over to gate 4 and try to get in, I join a queue and when I get to the gate with my ticket the guys says no, plenty of Chinese pushing and walking over the top of me as I cause this temporary block. I head back out and have a look at the board again, gate 6, good job Marty! There is a hall full of people, I try to nuzzle my way through, I can see that I should be heading over to the right so I try my best, get through the ticket check and in to the corridor to the platform. Pushing, shoving, bags on wheels, people running, people stopping and screaming kids is all part of the mix. As we head down the stairs to the train it is just starting to get dangerous. People trying to slide down the sides in an attempt to get ahead, no regard for anyone but themselves, I must get ahead mentality. Safely to the platform, which is clearly not wide enough for this pandaemonium. I just have to keep pushing and forcing my way through, no room for courtesy, i'll just get trampled. At the carriage i'm given a plastic card and my ticket is taken. I am literally on the train 1 minute before it is scheduled to depart. I move down the carriage and find my bed, there are 2 people in here and they are doing a great job of preventing anyone else from getting in, I have to wait in the gangway while they fill all the available storage space with enough luggage for a family of 10 for 2 weeks. People pushing past me, running their cases over my feet all part of what I have come to expect, I barely even notice anymore. Eventually I get the opportunity to throw my bags up on to my bed, then I take a seat, there is a small table in the gangway with two pull down seats. While I am sitting there I not a couple of westerners and I say hello, they speak English, bonus. I help the guy get his bag in to the room and then he takes a seat at the window with me.
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The train leaves 10mis late, but I am on and ready to go. The couple are from Sweden, Martin and Linda, and so have a high level of English. This is a complete bonus and they are chatty and friendly and so it looks like I am not going to be on my own for the 12 hours, which is what I had thought. Shortly after someone comes to check our passports, upon looking at mine he says to me, ahhhh Japan, I get slightly concerned due to the political issue between the two countries. He disappears off to the end of the carriage and it's not long before a couple of his colleagues are looking down, perhaps to see who the Japan sympathiser is. After 10mins we get them back, so I can relax again. There are little food carts that pass up and down the carriage with alarming regularity, one with drinks, one with fruit, one with noodles, a woman who tries to sell me Chinese books and a man selling gadgets from a basket. These people pass back and forth every hour, there is really not a lot of room for all this moving about. At the end of the carriage we have a toilet, of the squat variety and a hot water dispenser for noodles or a cuppa. Martin and I play cards while Linda heads to bed. Lights are turned out at 10 and so you are forced to your bed. Probably a good idea as the train arrives at 4am, I should probably try and get some sleep. The sleeping cabin has two columns of beds, 3 high, my ticket was for middle bunk. The bed is not too wide and when I am lying on my side with my bag, that's it, at least the length is ok. It isn't too bad comfort wise and it's not long before I fall asleep. You can feel the movement of the train a lot move when you are in the bed, I think the vibrations are more significant. I am woken about 12 by the guy opposite me, he is making some very strange moaning in his sleep, must have been all the chicken feet that he had been eating earlier in the journey.
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4am arrives, all too soon and I am woken by a woman tapping my feet, time to get up, I exchange my card for my ticket. They must use the ticket to know when to wake people, which is a good system. A bit more of a panic upon exit as the train doesn't really wait that long at the stop, but we all disembark successfully. The funny part is, we all just got off the train without checking that it was the right stop, just because the woman woke me up. It isn't until we are leaving the station that we see that we are in the right place. Now, my plan had been to wait in the station until the metro opened up, then take that to the bell tower. Martin and Linda wanted to get a taxi, I was not in the mood to be ripped off, and I had read that it might be difficult for a foreigner to get a taxi. This was not the case as we were swamped as soon as we got out of the station. Easy money, i'm sure they were thinking. First guy comes up to us, 100 yuan, I told him to jog on. Not sure Martin and Linda were happy I did that, but after he struggled to get anyone else it wasn't long before he was back over to us. I showed him a 50, he laughed, and showed me 80, I showed him 60 and he smiled and said ok. Still a good deal for him because I already know that the trip shouldn't cost more than 20, maybe 30 due to it being the middle of the night. I get a map of some street vendor and Martin and Linda work out where they need to go, easy for them as they have an address, I on the other hand am just going to get left at the bell tower. I get there and give the guys half the money and get my stuff from the boot and off I walk in to the night.
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I arrive at the bell tower, I remember that the directions were from the subway and there weren't too many after you exit the subway. So I look for a subway exit, obviously there are 8, 2 for each of the roads leading off the bell tower, which is in a roundabout. It looks quite good at night, though I am in no mood to be taking pictures as I don't know where I am, where I am going or how long it is going to take me to get there. As time goes on I am beginning to think how stupid I am not making sure that I have the directions before I set off to a new place. I also think that I should just have gone with Martin and Linda to their hostel, used their wifi and then checked my emails. Hindsight is wonderful. After speaking to countless people, with no success, I eventually get a guy in a hotel who can speak a bit of English. I ask him if he could use the internet to check the address of my hostel, a wee bit sneaky but at this stage I have little choice. He agrees and marks it on my map. I am overjoyed as I feel that I am nearing the end of my trek. I head to where he had marked and walk up and down the street, but nothing, asking in the surrounding area proves fruitless. I need a rest so I sit down for 5mins. I hear the town clock chiming for 7am, it is getting brighter, I have decided that I am not going to do anymore of this pointless wandering. So I am going to make my way back to an internet cafe I saw earlier and just sit there and wait until it opens and then work out where I am supposed to be going. As I am hauling myself up the street, hot, sweaty, tired and sore, I see a sign 'Han Tang Inn