Leaving Chengdu

Chengdu is great, by the way. It's an easy place to spend time. Clean, safe, modern streets. Brand new subway. Fast internet. Probably the best hostels in the country. It's famous for its super-spicy Sichuan cuisine (I'm eating a hotpot as I write this and smoke is coming out my ears). It's near a panda reserve, the biggest Buddha in the world, and a particularly good holy mountain I've now failed to visit twice. Next time, Emei, I promise!

Chengdu takes very little energy and it's tempting to ditch my schedule and hang out for a few days. Very tempting. But onwards, upwards, chaoswards: I'm heading to the wild wild northwest. Urumqi!

My hostel in Urumqi doesn't seem to have internet. Or a ticket-booking desk. Or anyone who likes it. It has the worst reviews I've ever seen for a hostel... apart from the other hostels in Urumqi, which are much worse. Most reviews mention either mould or bad smells. Almost everyone comments on the ramshackle metal beds and the surly staff. One guy notes that he came out of the shower dirtier than he got in. It sounds so inviting! This may be a situation where I cut my losses and check into the Sheraton, but it's still worth buying a dorm bed for access to the hostel common room. Common rooms are where all the good information is.

I've a 49 hour train journey ahead of me. My train to here, the K146 from Kunming, was really nice, so I'm hoping that the smoke, crowds and blaring music on the train from Shanghai were all consequences of the holiday week. Not many people travel the week after the major holiday, so the Chengdu train was half empty and very calm. I got the bottom bunk. The guy opposite gave me a hard boiled egg. The views were good and I slept like a baby.

There's only one Chengdu-Urumqi train each day though and all of the hard sleeper (second class) seats were booked out for the next few days. I have to pay fifty quid extra for a "soft sleeper", a bunk in a comfy four-bed compartment with a door. I can probably live with that.

Kazakhstan very soon. Can I learn Russian in 49 hours?