we left Beijing around 9:30PM on the 12th and arrived just after
8:00PM on the 14th. Our hard sleeper cabin, which we shared with 4
other people was less than 6' wide and about 7' long - the bunks were
stacked 3 high on each side of the room. After half an hour, just
enough time for Ellie and I to get settled in, the lights went out and
we fell fast asleep. When I woke up the next morning around 7AM we
were stopped in Xi'an, home to the Terra Cotta Warriors and apparently
as much pollution as Beijing. For the rest of the day we passed
through towns, some small and some huge (million plus), and rural farm
land. By the evening we started to get into the foothills of the
Tibetan plateau. The oxygen was on in the train when I woke up the
next morning, which was good because I had trouble breathing while
falling asleep the night before. We spent most of that day around
4,500 meters surrounded by snow, mountains, yaks, wild horses, the
occasional town of 50 or fewer people and what appeared to be
miniature deer. By the time we reached Lhasa, the sun had set and we
couldn't see much. The train itself is truly a feat of engineering,
unfortunately they did not accomplish as much in the way of plumbing,
a few of the toilets overflowed into sleeper and seated cars
(fortunately not ours). Overall the ride was an excellent experience
and one that I was glad to have had but if I ever travel fromorm-data;
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