Saturday, August 04, 2007

Not All Who Wander Are Lost (Hopefully)

Tomorrow morning I'll be leaving for Chengdu on a 30-hour train ride! I think Janet and I are finally going to get the tickets tonight. I've learned that traveling in China is exponentially more complicated than traveling in the United States where you can just hop in your car and find the nearest interstate or book bus or plane tickets online.

Here, you usually can only get a ticket in the city that the train leaves from, so our travel agency had to send a person to the Beijing train station to physically get the tickets and then return with them. Despite trying to get the tickets a week ago, they were apparently not being sold until only two days before the train leaves. I think Janet and I have both been very anxious about being able to get the tickets, travel halfway across the country and arrange to have our bags shipped to Hong Kong (where we will meet up with them later)!

I know once we get to Sichuan (四川) it will be worth the effort and I'll feel much better once Janet and I board the train tomorrow morning. I'm hoping to visit the Panda Breeding Center in Chengdu, home to about 60 Giant Pandas, and many other outdoor sites such as the LeShan Buddha, Emei Shan and Jiuzhaigou National Park.

Since we will be out traveling, I probably will not have regular updates for the next couple of weeks. We are currently planning to fly into Hong Kong (香港) and will probably try and arrive on either August 22 or 23; our visas expire on the 23rd and the train ride is 3 days long! Once there, I know I will have many new things to post and hopefully lots of great pictures to share!

1 comment:

Carolyn said...

Wow! Hard to believe six weeks have gone by! I hope your exams went well and you feel much more comfortable with the language. Dad and I have certainly enjoyed your journal and eagerly await more news of your travels. We pray all goes well with you and Janet on your adventurous trek across China!
Love and Hugs!!!!
Mom