The trip got off to a pretty good start. We had a wonderful last meal in Changzhou, eating at the brand new PapaJohn's. I had heard it was opening, and it was right there by the train station, so we went on in. I had the pasta alfredo, which left a lot to be desired, but the pizza Dave and Danthemanstan got was absolutely wonderful. We then headed to the train station and
loaded the train at 12:25. Now with a little bit of experience, we knew that it's best to seek comfort on long trips. So, Danthemanstan and I decided on the soft sleeper and Dave opted for the hard sleeper because there would be "Chinese hotties". Well, the soft sleeper is the Ritz Carlton of train transportation. As the pictures show, it is quite spacious and clean. The rooms have four beds in them, and a little table in the middle. We shared our room with a couple from Shanghai and their super cute three year old daughter. They were quite cordial upon arrival and the husband was fairly talkative, so I was able to talk with him a little; his English was pretty good as well, which made it easier. I am a firm believer that perspective is quite important in evaluation. My two previous overnight train rides had been standing, sitting on the floor, or in a not so spacious hard seat, so I really appreciated the soft sleeper. Danthemanstan taught me knock rummy, so we played that for quite awhile, and along with reading and watching the three year old play around the cabin, the time passed fairly quickly. I can't really express how nice it was to have the ability to change positions, lie down, get up, walk around; and to do this without having to budge, bump, and annoy another person. For food I had purchased a bag full of travel food from the supermarket on campus (to avoid the high priced t
rain food). In the evening we took a trip down to Dave's hard sleeper car, and he had managed to meet up with two university students from Shanghai, who were quite friendly and nice. As we went to bed, I could barely believe myself, as the bed on the train was actually softer than the bed in my apartment (although much smaller and considerably more rocky and bumpy). I managed to get a good night's sleep and slept in in the morning. After some more cards and some chats with Dave's friends in the hard sleepers, the trip was done. All in all the 29.5 hour train ride was quite a delight and something I would do again.
loaded the train at 12:25. Now with a little bit of experience, we knew that it's best to seek comfort on long trips. So, Danthemanstan and I decided on the soft sleeper and Dave opted for the hard sleeper because there would be "Chinese hotties". Well, the soft sleeper is the Ritz Carlton of train transportation. As the pictures show, it is quite spacious and clean. The rooms have four beds in them, and a little table in the middle. We shared our room with a couple from Shanghai and their super cute three year old daughter. They were quite cordial upon arrival and the husband was fairly talkative, so I was able to talk with him a little; his English was pretty good as well, which made it easier. I am a firm believer that perspective is quite important in evaluation. My two previous overnight train rides had been standing, sitting on the floor, or in a not so spacious hard seat, so I really appreciated the soft sleeper. Danthemanstan taught me knock rummy, so we played that for quite awhile, and along with reading and watching the three year old play around the cabin, the time passed fairly quickly. I can't really express how nice it was to have the ability to change positions, lie down, get up, walk around; and to do this without having to budge, bump, and annoy another person. For food I had purchased a bag full of travel food from the supermarket on campus (to avoid the high priced t
rain food). In the evening we took a trip down to Dave's hard sleeper car, and he had managed to meet up with two university students from Shanghai, who were quite friendly and nice. As we went to bed, I could barely believe myself, as the bed on the train was actually softer than the bed in my apartment (although much smaller and considerably more rocky and bumpy). I managed to get a good night's sleep and slept in in the morning. After some more cards and some chats with Dave's friends in the hard sleepers, the trip was done. All in all the 29.5 hour train ride was quite a delight and something I would do again.
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