Monday, September 10, 2012

Sleeping in Train Stations

So, on my trip back to my little town from the states, my flight from Beijing to Kunming (the capital of Yunnan, my province) got delayed, so we got in at around 2a.m. which was apparently a pretty regular time for flights to get in. Buses were still running by the time everyone got their checked bags, and there were plenty of flights that were just getting in then. Rather than get a hotel room, I decided to just hang out at the train station until the morning so I could get on the train back to Heqing, and I was really surprised when I got to the train station how many other people had made the exact same decision as I did. There were sleeping people everywhere! People just stretched out on cardboard or newspapers and conked out all over the station. I ended up deciding that, because I was foreign and travelling alone, it would probably be foolish to sleep, so I just hung out in a 24 hour dicos (kind of similar to KFC) with a whole bunch of other people, none of whom, it seemed, had actually ordered any food. 

My train left at 10am the next morning, and by the time I got to my town, I'd been awake for about 48 hours straight, other than the 2 hrs that I managed to catch on the international flight over. I was pretty dead, but I managed to rally myself, and after hibernating for about 12 hours, I headed to Shangrila with some friends, and got to spend more time on a cramped bus. 

The entire time I was travelling, I was carrying around a bag that had books that I brought back to study....it was a little heavy:


I believe I've said before that my bed it only about five feet long, and a little hard, but here are two pictures showing it. 


Headed to Shangrila on a sleeper bus (during the day)


4 comments:

  1. Dude, I have many hotel points. Uncle mark

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  2. Once again, I'm deeply impressed by your cheerful tough-it-out traveler ethos. Pretty sure you didn't come by that in the family sedan.

    Like your books!




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  3. Will, I am glad I skipped the sleepless 48 hours of travel ....but I am glad you ended up in Shangrila. I am one of six people in the US who thought Lost Horizon, (the musical), was a pretty good movie.
    Also, the picture of the books is great. Calculus, Physics, Differential Equations and more! I tried to repeat your explanation of one useful application of differential equations to friends this morning. I am afraid I did not do it justice.

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  4. Thanks Uncle Mark. It wasn't so much paying the money, as avoiding the hassle of checking in and out of a hotel, and doing the cab rides and stuff. I had to go to the train station first anyways to buy my ticket (they can run out) so....yeah.

    But thanks!!

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