Gwangzhou to Lhasa... and we begin again

Dragon had a bus waiting for ALL of us this morning... (eastern and western teams)...a bus big enough to hold all of us and our many, many bags.

We drove across town to the older train station here in Guangzhou and then began to circle. There is no parking access for a bus such as ours...and we are anxious we'll need to schlep our bags across a great distance. Our guide Dragon proves to be an excellent problem solver... as he gets out of the bus from one gate/station entrance to another and requests access... he finally asks the gate guards if they have ever seen westerners before... and they hadn't! They grant us access so they can take our picture as we exit the bus and collect our luggage!!! We are an oddity here. This is a relief. I am amused and impressed with his solution.

We navigate security screening and follow Dragon to a waiting room that looks like something out of Soviet era architecture.... but with big comfy chairs. I discover a staff member hiding and asleep and we wait and look for something cold to drink. Cold? Dream on.

Once we begin to board the train and make our way to our assigned berths we realize we are not prepared for our accommodations.... our luggage won't fit. There is no air movement. We are hot and crammed into each berth...with team members we don't know. Sweat and frustration abound as Hetty, Dragon, Cindy and I negotiate the heat, the space and our luggage. Not pretty but we survive.

As soon as the train takes off things cool off a bit. We figure out where to put our gear and settle in for three days. Yes, three days of train. How many photos of the landscape can one take in three days? MANY. We wander up and down the car... to see who is where and how the facilities work and look. We listen to each other's music, read our travel guides and get to know one another. At some point I decide it is time to take my altitude meds... and that proves to be my undoing.

I escape into the hallway and sit on a bench and watch the landscape roll by... and try to get a grip on myself. I am not well. It may be a combination of meds... I am also taking a motion sickness medication... whatever is going on, its not the way I want to spend my time on the train so I find my bed, take an Ambien and crash for the night. I try to read. I try to focus. It is like a bad trip... and I am worried a bit.