day 136, train to shanghai

Originally planned to catch the first bus back to Guilin and book a ticket to shanghai, though slept in and didn’t get to Guilin till about half 11. Queued up for about 40mins waiting for the train ticket, there were no sleepers, only seats, well there were the posh sleeper but that was too expensive. I got the seat ticket, and went to the hostel that Kelly was staying at with the hope of meeting up with her. Unfortunately (for me) she was on a day trip to the rice paddies, so I chilled at her hostel for a bit, which they were very kind to let me, then had a wander around town, saw a couple of lakes then got some food and attempted to wait for kelly but had to leave for the train. The train itself was exactly the same as the standing one from Beijing to Xi’an, though there were no-one standing which was cool so felt quite spacious. No-one spoke English though I got offered some rice wine so thought it would be nice to get me vodka out, had a couple of drinks and within 40 mins the bloke who was a bit annoying opposite me was asleep. I read more of Shantaram which I’m bloody loving, and got a decent bit of kip in considering with me wooly hat pulled over me eyes.