About half an hour before boarding the train I took a wee (ha ha) toilet break. As per usual, the toilets were squat toilets. I’ve managed to perfect the art of squat-toiletting without peeing all over your trousers or feet (mostly), it’s always easier when you have something to hold onto though! On this occasion there was nothing to hold onto and I almost toppled backwards when suddenly a mop appeared between my feet under the toilet door. In her all-encompassing enthusiasm for toilet cleanliness the cleaning lady was mopping the first 4 or 5 inches of my cubicle, about 2 feet under my nose.
Bless her heart.
Later, seeing Sara and I sat on the cold marble floor, she dragged over some empty seats for us to sit on, and then chose to perch on her little stool near us when she had her teabreak. She took us under her wing and made sure she let us know when our train check-in came up. The whole time we passed barely a word between us.
After running the gauntlet of passengers brandishing such weapons as whole peking duck and bags full of noodles, we finally made it onto the train. Lucky things that we are, we found ourselves sat next to two gents who seemed very enthusiastic.....about what I couldn’t be sure.
They started talking to us, as far as they could, they spoke as much English as Sara does Chinese...and my Chinese is non-existent. They kept motioning to their tea and I was nodding and making ‘mmm yeah, nice’ noises. They suddenly produced a little paper wrap with 2 nuggets of what at first appeared to be hash. However, the strict Chinese anti-drug laws combined with the wild abandon at which they were waving the stuff around convinced me that it was, in fact, tea that they were offering me. The next thing I knew, one of them dragged me off down to the hot water dispenser to make ‘tea’.
Once I was re-sat with my beverage I found myself sipping at it very slowly, that initial impression not quite leaving my mind. All turned out ok and it was just tea you’ll be glad to know! Next they bought us beers, despite our protests.
Then the inevitable happened. Despite the not insignificant language barrier, they asked for our numbers. When we wibbled, they gave us theirs. So we gave them our email addresses, hoping this would sate their thirst for personal information.
No.
So Sara began to try and communicate that our mobiles were English mobiles and didn’t work in China (LIES!). And so began a tiresome roundabout of:
‘Number, number, telephone number’
‘No, our mobiles are English, don’t work in China, very expensive’
‘Yes yes,, Chinese mobile number’ *brandishing his own mobile for us to type into’
‘No.....English mobile, no work in China’
‘Yes, Chinese mobile!’
Until eventually the poor lady sat in front of us who obviously understood what the guys were after, and understood enough of what we were saying (or...had been in the same predicament herself) turned around and told them what we were trying to say. Even then, it took a little while for them to accept it.
Soon after, the lights went out, praise de lor’!
*insert countless whinges on how broken my sleep was during the night, and how Sara seems to be able to fall asleep standing up if she wants to, about how it’s all not fair and I’m so tired*
So, we disembarked the train in Harbin at about 7:30am.....and I’ve never felt anything like it in my life!
At first I thought I was bunged up from the night before.....what is this strange feeling in my nose like boogers every time I breathe in? Turns out it’s the moisture on my noztral hairz freezing every time I breathe in through my nose! It's around -30 degrees.
We have trouble trying to get a taxi to understand where we’re going and eventually Sara has to get the hostel on the phone to talk to a cab driver. By this point we’re both freezing our tits off....almost literally.
When we arrive at the hostel we have to wait for our room as we have arrived mega-early. A little while after the room is free I go for a nap because I’m being a nasty, snappy, weird and tired Becki, and we’ve decided to hit Sun Island for the snow sculpture part of the festival this afternoon. A couple of hours nap did me the world of good, and in the afternoon I set out wearing:
2 x long thermal trousers
1 x long leggings
1 x skipants (Michelin stylie)
1 x vest
1 x top
2 x thermal tops
1 x hoodie
1 x coat with a removable fleece lining
1 x neckwarmer
1 x scarf
1 x hat
2 x pairs of gloves
2 x normal socks
2 x thermal socks
And a pair of skiboots
And if we’d made it to that festival on that day, I’d have some really cool pics for this instalment of the blog. As it was, the sun was starting to set and my glasses froze as we crossed the frozen Songhua river! So took the decision to do both festival bits the next day and scurried back to the hostel and warmth, buying comfort cake on the way home.
At least I knew my clothes worked!
Just so it’s not completely devoid, here are some pics of our little jaunt down the road and across the river.
Walking across the deserted frozen Songhua river
Don't like cracks in the ice!!
Amazing pics coming in the next blog guys, keep reading. I must leave you now, Sara is trying to make me buy sauced pig nostril off of the train waitress. I must thump her.
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