Midnight Train to Dunhuang

We were let off the bus and given 30 minutes to get food. It was a mad rush to the nearest KFC where we bought dinner and then a sprint through the small street market near the train station to find some snacks for our 14 hour train ride. Still catching our breath we grabbed our bags and moved everyone through security before waiting for our train in the station. Nerves were running high as we sat there waiting to board the train. We had been herded around all day and rushed everywhere and I think everyone just wanted to get onto the train and see what our sleeping conditions would be like. Luckily we only waited a short time before it was time to board the train. We all filed into our respective train cars and were met face to face with the reality of our sleeping situation.

The narrow corridor with beds on the left.

The car was filled with compartments each containing 6 beds each, all crammed in, three stacked on top of one another. There's was very little room to store baggage and almost no room to move about the train. Each compartment was open to the rest of the train, no doors. So as it was, the only seats on the train were in the middle of the aisle which were constantly teeming with other passengers moving about and people pushing carts full of fresh fruits and assorted hot meals. Once we settled ourselves in it was time to face the reality that was the next 14 hours. 14. Hours.

This number meant nothing to us at the time but by the time we left the next morning we'd known what 14 hours on a second class sleeper train meant. It meant 12 of us crammed onto 2 beds on which we played games to pass the time. It meant brushing our teeth in a disgusting bathroom with two sinks that everyone shared, and going to the bathroom through a hole in the train's floor. It meant whispering up and down to your neighbors once they turned the lights out at 10 PM. It meant constant motion that would both lull you to sleep and jar you awake, depending on the time. It meant...not the greatest sleep of my life.

The next morning there was a another scramble to get changed and freshen up as best as possible before we exited the train. Overnight we had left the mountainous region of the south east of Gansu and had entered the desert terrain that characterized the north west. Groggy and gross as I felt, I couldn't help but smile at the sunrise that met us as we exited the train.