Farewell to a good friend
It was a 5am start for us this morning, so early. This was because we had a train to catch that would take us to Chengdu. I felt slightly bad for dragging Cristina out with us at 5 in the morning, but we did need her help to get to the train station. After we were all packed we headed outside and eventually flagged down a taxi. The journey to the train station was only half an hour or so and pretty cheap to be fair. Once we got to the station, we geared up and said goodbye to Cristina. I honestly can’t express how grateful I was for the help and guidance she’s given us the last few days. Plus, we had known each other for over 3 years prior to meeting, it really was great.
We went through the usual routine of going to the ticket counter, showing passports, going through security etc. But there was one little snag. As my bag went through the scanner, they had picked up on something in my bag. I couldn’t think what it was. It was no problem; I just went to open my bag to see what was the matter…except my combination lock wouldn’t open. I got into a bit of a panic at this point. Early in the morning, train to catch, unable to open my lock at security, awful. Luckily Mat was able to pull it open. It turns out the issue was my can of spray deodorant. Off it went with the guard.
Tip!
Similar to airports, be careful of leaving prohibited items in your hold luggage, these do go through the x-ray scanners. I had no idea canned deodorant would be prohibited, especially because they let me on the other train. It’s safe to say I used roll on deodorant for the rest of the trip!
Top speed train
After the faff of the deodorant, we managed to catch the train to Chengdu with no problems. We found our seats, and as we’d had less than 5 hours of sleep the night before, we decided to sleep whilst we could. This was the first high speed train I’d been on. So when we were zooming through nature at 300 km/h it was pretty thrilling. I was also surprised by how smooth the train was. There was no rocking or swaying, perfectly still. Sometimes I didn’t even realise we’d stopped/started at other stations.
Arriving in Chengdu
Once we arrived in Chengdu, we got seriously disoriented. We were using Apple Maps, but it was trying to take us up on roads that were above us. It took us a while but eventually we got on the right path. You just have to remain calm as we both got a little frustrated. Especially when you have heavy luggage on your back. We managed to take a bus into the city centre. Our hostel wasn’t too difficult to find from there. We stayed in the Xishu Garden Inn, very close to the main Tianfu Square. It was a very nice hostel, clean, lots of facilities. The main guests we saw were Westerners. You could also book trips here, and we booked our tickets for the Panda Research Base.
As we’d been on the go everyday so far, we thought we’d have a chill day. So we got some steamed food from across the road and chowed down at the hostel. I also managed to call my parents. It was really nice to talk to them. You get so caught up in travelling, that you sometimes forget your family at home. I think it’s very important to keep in regular contact, both for them and me. Mat and I also played some pool and table football (a favourite from where we used to work). We also managed to do our laundry. They gave the option of doing it ourselves, or them doing it but more costing more. As cheap travellers, there was no competition.
Tip!
When you’re travelling, you’re going to want to make the most of every day. Go on tours, see some nature, try new things, meet new people, and that’s all fantastic. That’s why we go travelling. But after having gone out every day doing something new, it really was exhausting. I think it’s very important to just have a chill day once every few days/a week. Otherwise you could burn yourself out and end up not enjoying yourself. Don’t feel guilty about having a day in watching TV shows! You’ll feel rejuvenated and motivated for the next day.
Seeing Chengdu
We decided to go out and see some of Chengdu. As we exited the hostel, we just picked a random direction and happened upon a park. It’s always nice to walk around these big parks. You get taken away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and rooted back to nature. Gives you chance to take a breather. Before we knew it, it had already gotten dark, so we made our way to the main square. Everywhere was lit up brilliantly. All of the sky scrapers, monuments, stations, and museums. It was phenomenally busy due to the holiday week. I’ve never seen so many people together in one place!
Whilst we continued walking out of the square, we happened to stumble across a McDonald’s. I swear I want to embrace the culture, but there was no resisting a burger. You just know you’re going to enjoy it, wherever you have it in the world. After this delicious meal, we made our way back to the hostel. We enjoyed the celebrations everyone was having. Lots of families and kids playing with each other and toys. Despite how busy everywhere is and low availability of trains/attractions, Golden Week is a wonderful time to experience China.
