trocasices: January 2010

train landscapes...

just a note...

about trains in China... to/from Lhasa...
(don't have the experience to comment on other destinations...)

tickets...
you can only buy tickets with 10/7days in advance...
you can only buy tickets in the station where you will take the train... or by yourself or by using a travel agency to go there on your behalf...
there is a limited number of soft class & hard class sleepers... and millions of chinese travel by train...

sleeping...
Hard sleeper (open 6 plan bunks) - Upper bed (cheapest... safest... hardest to climb... impossible to be in seat position...), Middle bed (middle price... safe... not hard do climb... impossible to be in seat position... but higher space...), Lower bed (the most expensive... but the only one that allows to seat on it... since is accessible... if you don't pay attention... everyone will seat and even sleep on it... because here a person doesn't ask first... a person does...)

bed sheets...
are only changed before the train departure... and after the train arrival... which means that if you took the train somewhere in between... you're not the first...

food...
this route luckily is used often by westerns... so if your destination is Lhasa there will be in the restaurant car english menus available and more dishes close to western taste... vegetables and fruit are always a saver... and in every train stop you will find street vendors with other food choices... also over the day the train staff will route thru the corridores selling drinks and snacks... but better if you travel with your own food... specially if your not in a tourist route or if you are already leaving Lhasa... because in these cases english doesn't exist and the menu falls somewhere between chicken feet or bird stew... :P ...

my "home"...

for the next 45hours...

a new adventure...

was about to start...
and there I was... waiting...
with my heart travelling... fast...
and my thoughts... far... awaited for me...
in Lhasa...

Hutongs...

"...are a type of narrow streets or alleys, most commonly associated with Beijing, China. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.
Since the mid-20th century, the number of Beijing hutongs has dropped dramatically as they are demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, some hutongs have been designated as protected areas in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history."

and in between...

several unique encounters...

it's all about...

going up an down...

Summer Palace...

"...or Yihe yuan (literally "Gardens of Nurtured Harmony") is a palace in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures.

The Summer Palace started out life as the Garden of Clear Ripples in 1750 (Reign Year 15 of Emperor Qianlong). Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various palaces in China. The palace complex suffered two major attacks--during the Anglo-French allied invasion of 1860 (with the Old Summer Palace also ransacked at the same time), and during the Boxer Rebellion, in an attack by the eight allied powers in 1900. The garden survived and was rebuilt in 1886 and 1902. In 1888, it was given the current name, Yihe Yuan. It served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who diverted 30 million taels of silver, said to be originally designated for the Chinese navy (Beiyang Fleet), into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park."