fanfare!

we're through! we're in china, with a clash of cymbals and a fizzle of old fairy lights we charge forward into the chinese night.

an odd sensation: the changing of the bogies put us into the position of a product on a production line. our train was divided into 2 parallel sections and shunted into a huge warehouse. over a period of about 3 hours each carraige was lifted up on bright orange hydraulic lifts, right off their wheels and about 8 feet in the air; all passengers remaining on board. the wheels wheeled off one way and a whole new set came from the other. 5 inches shorter, all you train geeks. afterwards we were lowered back down again.

very.

slowly.

while this was going on, passport control continued their inspections. the best thing was watching the ingenious ways they climbed on and off carriages suspended 8 feet in the air. it seemed a new challenge for them each time, as if they don't do this day in, day out. the most success was by combining an upturned bucket with a bunk-up and someone's shoulder as the final step. go team red!


we missed a trick by forgetting to play a game of 'bogies' while all this was going on. shame.