So we headed down to the hotel for breakfast – typical hotel breakfast of egg omelet’s, coffee, orange juice and Miso Soup – all good.
After breakfast I decided that it wasn’t fair I was the only one privy to the Temple Street Market where I stumbled upon toads, pig snouts etc from day 1 and convinced Ashley that she needed to see firsthand. So, we set out to the market. Probably not the best idea right after breakfast.
We went into the indoor market and were flooded with the smells of live fish, toads, turtles mixed with the smell of filleted fish and other meats. Then we saw them again – the TOADS in the cages ready for the plucking. An older lady was eyeing them and decided she should have one. Here she is picking her choice toad:
We took a few more photos in the indoor market and left before nausea got the best of us. We walked up and down the outdoor market and again saw exotic meats and other things we’re just not used to seeing in America. Not that it’s bad – just foreign.
We headed back to the hotel to check out and head over to the train station to board our 24 hour train adventure to Beijing. After a quick taxi ride we arrived at the train station with about 3 hours to spare before boarding. In America, I can honestly say Ashley and I have never eaten at McDonald's,
but in the Hong Kong train station McDonald's was our oasis:After indulging in good ol' American fried food, we bought a couple beers and sat down at Starbucks for Ashley to update the blog (yesterday's post).
We were mentally preparing for 24 hours of solitary confinement en route to Beijing...
At 3 pm or so we finally boarded the train.
We were in a deluxe soft sleeper cabin (apparently the best you can buy on this train) and it proved to be a pretty decent accommodation. Bunk beds, a table & chair and our own private toilet. Here are a few pictures:
The train departed around 3:30 pm and we nestled in for the long haul. Unfortunately, I (Jon) was feeling a bit under the weather - either from utter exhaustion / jet lag or the beginning stages of a cold. I got in the top bunk and before I knew it, it was 8 pm and Ashley awoke me asking me if I wanted to go to the meal cart for dinner. Groggy, I agreed.
We sat down for a meal and after a few minutes a train worker asked for our order; Ashley in her foresight had spoken with one of her China supplier contacts who prepared 'flash cards' of common items for us in Chinese (chicken & vegetables) being one of them. So we pointed to the flash card and placed our order. The waitress told us it would be $45 (~$7 USD) dollars so I reached for our Hong Kong $45 and she shook her head no and pointed to Chinese RMB dollars. We had NO RMB's. We asked if she took credit cards - a shake of the head meant no. With empty stomachs we retreated to our rooms.
I should point out that earlier in the day, Ashley mentioned we should probably buy water and other snacks, etc. for the train. I wasn't as concerned about the train thinking that we'd have no problems with getting water or food...but we ended up getting two big bottles of water and had a good amount of snacks for the train. It turned out we needed ALL of them! Here's our dinner, breakfast and lunch for the train:
*I owe Ashley big time for insisting we get water and food :) - I won't doubt her again!
After our failed dinner attempt, I fell back asleep and Ashley eventually did too. We woke up around 5 AM or so and given that I'd slept for 12 hours I was feeling much better and well rested. Ashley went back to sleep and I watched a few movies.
The rest of the train ride was pretty uneventful. We watched a movie on the laptop, read about Beijing, nothing all that exciting.
Overall, 24 hours on this train was not bad at all. We both slept pretty well and time went by fairly quickly. MUCH better than being on a long flight. We'd definitely do it again (and will in a few days as we venture on to Shanghai!)
We arrived in Beijing around 4 pm on Friday and after a mad rush at customs hailed a taxi and arrived at our hotel, the Park Plaza. The Park Plaza is a beautiful hotel - exquisite in comparison to our Hong Kong broom closet! We're on the 14th floor and have a view of the city - very nice hotel.
Pretty tired after the train ride and calling it a night early. Off to explore all that Beijing offers tomorrow! Til then!
