Hard Sleepers and Ferrys - Chongqing and.the Yangzi River..

The overnight train from Xi'an to Chongqing was some experience! The train was at 01.17am early Thursday morning - and the station was a little shady at that hour. There was absolutely nothing in English except the train number, K15 - so we just sat under that sign and waited. Around 1.30am there was an announcement and we followed the crowd to the platform where we boarded a dark crowded sleeping car. The carriage was a little smelly with berths of 6 beds, 3 levels, and a narrow corridor. Once I found my bed number in the dark, settled in for the night, and surprisingly, got a good nights sleep until 11am (it was a 13hr journey) Got a lot of funny looks from the locals that morning - they were surprised to see a Westerner on a train - and it was even worse for the girls - they had people come take pictures of them in the middle of the night ! Met a fellow traveller from NZ who was heading on the cruise also - and the 5 of us boarded the ferry at Chongqing for a 9pm departure and sailed downstream. The cruise follows the river for 350km - and runs through the 3 Gorges - and finishes off at the 3 Gorges Dam, the biggest water dam in the world.

The ferry would dock for a few hrs maybe twice a day - and the first was a 2 hr stop Friday morning. We skipped the temple here, and just went for a walk around the countryside. Nothing distinctive there except a giant statute of a Budda at the top of the mountain. We were sailing again by 9am until 8pm Friday night - so just chilled out in the cabin for the day - luckily there was 4 of us in the same cabin so we could make it home! Friday evening stop was also fairly uneventful - but got some really nice roasted potatoes - a welcome change from noodle soup! Was also able to watch a movie on the laptop from the ipod - so home theatre was the entertainment for Friday night. First full day on the boat - a bit too relaxing this early in the trip......but its still a cruise on the largest river in Asia - pretty cool.