2120hrs. I was in a queue with a few hundreds Chinese. There is not a single foreigners(non-Asian) in sight. Passengers with all types of luggage from backpack to rag sacks. ( we call them Ali Baba bag in Singapore army). Actually I thought I would see cattle and poultry.
When the gate opens, everybody inched forward. There wasn't much pushing even thought the queue was quite long. The ticket officers tries his best to check the tickets as fast as he could. Actually, he didn't even have time to check the validity of the tickets. As long as he sees a proper looking ticket, he lets you through.
Finding my place was easy. First, look for the cabin no. In the hard sleeper cabin, there are 22 rows. Odd and even rows shares an aisle. Each row has 3 deck namely- Low, middle and top deck. Low deck seems to be the best deck. It has allowance for an adult to sit upright. There's a table in between the 2 rows. Middle deck is narrower. I can't sit upright on my deck, I can only manage a crouch.
Top deck is the worse, it has even lesser allowance. Furthermore, it takes a quite an effort to get up and down the deck.
The main aisle is manageable, just wide enough for 2 person to walk side by side. However, near the windows are installed 2 foldable chairs with a 20 X 65cm table. Above the chairs and table are racks for luggage. I put my Mac Pac under the seat of the low deck. It's easier to access as compare to the luggage racks.
Other facilities includes a washing area with 2 basins. Above average toilet by China's standard (something like KTM Malaysia). Lots of rubbish bin but still lots of rubbish on the floor. Most pleasantly, there is 24hours hot water for consumption, not for shower.
Service was good. Officer check every bed to make sure everyone has a valid ticket. You can rest assure that you have a bed to yourself
During meal time, push carts serve reasonable meals. I got out of my bed at 0830hrs and immediately order my noddle. 10yuan, 2 times more expensive. After breakfast, I took out my useful Nalgene bottle to fill hot water and to take my daily dosage of coffee. Today I took double dosage. 2 packers of instant 3-in-1 Nescafe.
Right now, I have spent 17 hours 30mins in the train. 22hrs more to go.
Compare to long distance bus, i prefer trains. At least there are places to walk around. You can access the toilet almost as often as you like. You can sleep laying down. Most importantly, strictly no smoking. This time, they bothered to enforce the restriction.
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