Urumqi-Kashgar Train

Buying tickets was a hassle, first because of the security checkpoints, then because of the confusing signage and long, chaotic lines. Plus side? I could pay using a credit card (Visa), and I nearly saw two guys get into a brawl. I got train K9786, which leaves later in the afternoon (I’m hoping I will still catch the good scenery), though I wanted the letter-less train that left at 12:14. Of course, that one gets to Kashgar at 7 AM Beijing time, which means the crack of dawn locally, so perhaps it’s just as well. It has some of the best scenery according to some google searches I did, but it wasn’t what I expected—mostly desert on one side and mountains on the other for the whole journey. It goes through the main mountain range in two long tunnels, so don’t expect anything spectacular, though the ride up to the tunnels is nice. 

Scenery example 1 (filter provided by dirty train windows)

Scenery example 2

There were two people in my compartment, an old Uighur man and a girl of indeterminate age, probably in her late 20s. They were actually very friendly and we made some limited conversation around the language barrier, mostly concerning the trip I was on. The old man even paid me 20 RMB (I tried to give it back to him) for taking the top bunk instead of the bottom where I had been assigned. There was another toddler in this train, and it took a liking to my fold-out language card. To distract it, I gave it a stuffed animal souvenir I had gotten as part of some travels before this trip.

Peace offering

The cars themselves were double-deck and obviously old; the only toilets were squat toilets (danger zone) and there was only one working faucet. Also, they blast music constantly, with silence between 10:30 PM and 7 AM. This was the most annoying thing about the train; it would be wise to bring earbuds or headphones. Still, it was a pleasant experience to ride in hard sleeper and see the interactions that went on in the train (all cell phone conversations must be conducted by yelling), and for one night, it was very bearable. 

Scenery in the morning

Arrival in Kashgar (Kashi)

Urumqi

I checked in to the Maitian hostel with no problems—be warned, it is a bit hard for taxi drivers to find as it is down a side street. Bill was not lying when he said there were soldiers and tanks everywhere. There are. Not tank tanks, but white APCs and a lot of guys with assault rifles. There are police and “SWAT” checkpoints everywhere. The “SWAT” guys are actually just out of shape, unarmed, underemployed people half of whom are asleep at the switch (literally). If you’ve got a bag, though, you will be searched at the entrance to absolutely everything (including the park). In terms of things to do, there is not much. The Grand Bazaar is worth a visit, but the part I went to that boasted of “handicrafts” was actually full of the same goods pumped out some factory. I’m sure they were “handicrafts” because the cost of labor at said factory is so low. 

Bazaar

Uighur culture is definitely present, though, both here and in the city at large. The Xinjiang regional museum is quite nice with reasonable English descriptions, as is the Red Hill park with the temples and towers. A note about the latter: if you draw a crappy picture of the tower on a piece of paper and give to a taxi while pointing in the general direction of the park, they’ll understand. Not really much beyond that, except to sit around and eat meatsticks. That being said, there are some tasty meatsticks around. I had a bunch of lamb ones before walking by a truck full of sheep next to a butcher shop and then I realized that whatever I had was certainly fresh. Also, Maitian didn’t have any TP that I could see, so I bought my own (this is a generally good idea in this area). I’ve spent the morning trying to get the internet and VPNs to cooperate (they don’t, so I’m going to have to dump all these posts at once). Also, the plan to cross into Kyrgyzstan is getting increasingly complex, as the Irkeshtam crossing is apparently closed on weekends (when I planned to cross). 

Captain Meatsticks and his trusty grill

Urumqi: A bazaar, a museum, a couple of parks, lots of excellent meatsticks. 

The park

Shanghai-Urumqi Train, part 3

The kid’s reign of pantslessness came to an end around 9:24 AM today. He is a crazy dude. The train is crossing the boundless desert, on what is evidently a high-speed line. Very much reminiscient of Southern Utah. I woke up at 6:30 and was too tired to watch dawn break over the mountains, but by the time I woke up (around 8) there were walls on either side of the tracks which restricted the view. When they finally went away it was just desert and windmills, but impressive in its own way. We arrived a half hour late, around 11:45, in Urumqi.

A desert-looking place

Shanghai-Urumqi Train pt. 2

                The train ride is pretty solid, and as the afternoon wears on the scenery gets reasonably spectacular as such things go. You will be treated to a landscape that features mountains that go from tree-covered to arid throughout the course of several hours, with various shut-down industries to add to the mile-a-minute thrills of sitting on a train for 38 hours. Of course, bringing your own food (and beer) is always recommended, though snack cart ladies patrol the train constantly pushing their own more expensive (but still relatively cheap) food items. The good news about this is that it is not instant noodles, which I have been surviving off of. The bad news is that I am not sure of its quality, despite the in-compartment TVs displaying a mini-documentary of the meals being prepared in a lab-looking environment that I am pretty sure is not where they are actually prepared.

A vista you too can see if you like 38 hour train rides

                The staff are nice, but after one spoke English to me I got a little ambitious and when I tried asking our arrival time, I found they not only didn’t speak English but thought I had some sort of problem and summoned the train cop. He was very courteous and we quickly established the train was an hour late, before following up with a friendly enough conversation/interrogation concerning my level of Chinese knowledge (despite Bill’s efforts, I can reliably say 5 words), financial means, and purpose for being out there. Lest ye get suspicious, I never felt threatened, or that I was being harassed—if anything I think the cop had no idea why he had been summoned. I grinned like an idiot the whole time. At any rate, the staff is far friendlier than those I’ve seen in Russian trains.

A steel mill of the abandoned variety

 Anyway, the train is hurtling into the night. The kid from my compartment has been bouncing off the walls (literally) and generally being the craziest individual in this train car. I turned around a second ago and he was peeing into a bottle his grandfather held for him. He’s out of control. I think I’ve got to sign off, in any case.

Lanzhou Sttion