Chengdu, China, Asia

I woke up on the train this morning around 8am after getting just a few hours sleep. It was fairly comfortable, but I am constantly waking up every hour to make sure my bags are still there and my valuables still inside. I guess that’s the bad thing about travelling with a laptop and an iphone, it’s just more for someone to steal. I watched UFC 136 this morning to help pass a bit of time, and the 24 hour ride was done before I knew it. It’s the longest single travel journey I’ve ever been on, and it actually wasn’t that bad.

We pulled into Chengdu East Station at exactly 1:30pm and I met up with Fabio at the station. We decided that the best way to get into town would be by taxi, so we shared one to my hostel first, and then he continued on to his. I didn’t have the address written down in Chinese, and I don’t think there’s one taxi driver in this country who speaks any English, so I found an easier way to get there. I phoned the hostel and just had the taxi driver talk to the taxi driver and she explained everything to him. It’s like having a translator right there with me. Perfect!

It took about 30 minutes to get to Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel and I said bye to Fabio for now. I checked into my room and it’s pretty basic, but not bad at all for $11. I have a single room with a tv, DVD player, A/C and a bathroom. At least I know I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight. The DVD player is pretty cool to have, since the hostel has about one thousand DVD’s that you can borrow. The hostel is really busy, the busiest hostel I’ve ever stayed in. Chengdu seems to be where loads of people come to try and get their permit to travel to Tibet. There are so many people sitting down in the lobby trying to plan their next steps. Hopefully I’ll be able to find someone else who’s going to Chongqing for the Yangtze River cruise.

I’ve signed up to go on the panda tour tomorrow morning, so that should be good. I grabbed some dinner near the hostel, and now I’m just ready for a good night’s sleep. Those train rides really take it out of me!