It was 2009. A buddy and I were headed south to visit some friends. Wanting to save a bit of money we decided to take the sleeper bus. This might be a new concept for some of you. It is just what it sounds like. It's a bus. It also happens to be a bus you sleep on. Seeing the massive size of Xinjiang, travel between cities requires a drive of some distance. The drive across the desert to our destination was stated to be an easy 18 hours. I've heard stories, from as late as 15 years ago, that this same drive taking several days. It was comforting knowing that modern technology, better roads, and buses with beds had made this trip much shorter. But not let me explain the bus.
Climbing on, your usually met with a cornucopia of odors; foot, b.o., and cigarette smoke. Occasionally someone might change a diaper which always adds an extra special scent to the potpourri. I will say some buses have been better than others and the smells have less.....present. Besides that, it is actually a fairly comfortable way to travel....unless of course your 6'3", which I am. I remember the first time I got on I was intrigued with the concept of a bus with three rows of beds stacked two high. It was yet another fun and exciting experience in this place I currently call home. The smell didn't even really bother me, after all, even I get a bit of b.o. now and then. Settling in my bed, I found my hips just barely fit between the two rails flanking each side of the bed and that it was impossible to stretch out on the 4'5"-5' bed. Soon, there was no comfort to be found as the bus bounced over pot-holed pavement or stretches of bumpy mountain roads in the wee hours of the night. Real sleep was nearly impossible for me. Each time I took the sleeper bus I would lay there in the dead of the night, the rails digging into my hips with each pot-hole, and wonder why I had yet again chosen to take the sleeper.
Getting on in 2009, I did feel a bit of aversion. I found my bed was right in front, in the middle, on top and had a TV installed right at the foot of my bed. The TV blared music videos girls dancing in grape vineyards and dubbed action movies late into the night and the driver chain-smoked just below me (right under the 'no smoking' sign). This particular trip was riddled with delay after delay. What was supposed to take 18 hours ended up taking 24. From 18 to 24 doesn't seem like a big jump, but when your 6'3" and crammed in a 5' bed, its a big difference. Getting off the bus the next evening, I vowed to my friend that I would NEVER take the sleeper bus again. I flew back to Urumqi.
Fast forward several years. I took another trip with some friends last summer. "How are you guys going?", I asked. "Train", came the response. Great! At the end of our trip, my friend headed out to buy tickets. Returning 30 minutes later he announced that the train was sold out. He had no choice but to get sleeper bus tickets. And just like that, my vow was broken. And just like that, there I was in a sleeper bus bed. Since then, I've found myself crammed in those little aluminum torture devices several times, always vowing under my breath in the deep of the sleepless night that THIS will be my last trip on the sleeper bus. If I've learned anything, however, is to never say never here.
Climbing on, your usually met with a cornucopia of odors; foot, b.o., and cigarette smoke. Occasionally someone might change a diaper which always adds an extra special scent to the potpourri. I will say some buses have been better than others and the smells have less.....present. Besides that, it is actually a fairly comfortable way to travel....unless of course your 6'3", which I am. I remember the first time I got on I was intrigued with the concept of a bus with three rows of beds stacked two high. It was yet another fun and exciting experience in this place I currently call home. The smell didn't even really bother me, after all, even I get a bit of b.o. now and then. Settling in my bed, I found my hips just barely fit between the two rails flanking each side of the bed and that it was impossible to stretch out on the 4'5"-5' bed. Soon, there was no comfort to be found as the bus bounced over pot-holed pavement or stretches of bumpy mountain roads in the wee hours of the night. Real sleep was nearly impossible for me. Each time I took the sleeper bus I would lay there in the dead of the night, the rails digging into my hips with each pot-hole, and wonder why I had yet again chosen to take the sleeper.
Getting on in 2009, I did feel a bit of aversion. I found my bed was right in front, in the middle, on top and had a TV installed right at the foot of my bed. The TV blared music videos girls dancing in grape vineyards and dubbed action movies late into the night and the driver chain-smoked just below me (right under the 'no smoking' sign). This particular trip was riddled with delay after delay. What was supposed to take 18 hours ended up taking 24. From 18 to 24 doesn't seem like a big jump, but when your 6'3" and crammed in a 5' bed, its a big difference. Getting off the bus the next evening, I vowed to my friend that I would NEVER take the sleeper bus again. I flew back to Urumqi.
Fast forward several years. I took another trip with some friends last summer. "How are you guys going?", I asked. "Train", came the response. Great! At the end of our trip, my friend headed out to buy tickets. Returning 30 minutes later he announced that the train was sold out. He had no choice but to get sleeper bus tickets. And just like that, my vow was broken. And just like that, there I was in a sleeper bus bed. Since then, I've found myself crammed in those little aluminum torture devices several times, always vowing under my breath in the deep of the sleepless night that THIS will be my last trip on the sleeper bus. If I've learned anything, however, is to never say never here.