11/9/08
On a train in Guangzhou （广州）2：12 p.m.
Finally, this tip is underway! After three days of frustration, sickness, and setback I’m finally on the way to what is supposed to be one of the best hiking spots in all of China!  My first real and substantial solo journey, I’m intrigued and a little bit excited to see how well I’ll be able to handle it, especially with the substantial language barrier that stands in the way.  Already today, I’ve made it from Shenzhen to Guangzhou and from that train to this one with no real problems.  Hopefully the rest of the trip will go this smoothly,  and I’ll come out of it feeling more confident about both my Mandarin and my solo-traveling competency.  Only 30+ hours, and then I’m in Kunming (昆明)!

8:15
Just a few hours into the trip, we passed scenery dotted with the karsts that Guangxi province is so famous for.  Guilin and Yangshuo are both on the “to-do” lists, but when?  Now it’s dark out, with only flashes of light to be seen out the train window.  The train (or at least my cabin) is a quiet and sedate affair.  Shared with a friendly young married couple (possibly newlyweds?)   and a more withdrawn older businessman (none of whom speak any real English), my trip thus far has consisted largely of reading.    A little bit of Dante’s The Inferno (where I’m to find the other two books of the trilogy in China is beyond me) and a lot more of Let’s Go: China.  While the actual act of traveling (the moving from Point A to Point B) isn’t necessarily one of the most fun exciting moments fo existence, the chance to read a travel guide for hours on end certainly provides some measure of inspiration.  I could never see all this country has to offer if I had a year to explore at will.  How am I supposed to do it with the few breaks that teaching offers?  

11/10          9:30 a.m.
I awoke this morning to nothing but fog outside the train window.  After passing through tunnel after tunnel under mountain after mountain, fog eventually gave way to panoramas of small villages scattered between steep hills.  As the train sped through pictures of the past, we intermittently passed the shells of ruined houses; abandoned for unknowable reasons in times past.    Soon villages gave way to larger cities, these a picture of the evolving China.  Traditional architecture side-by-side with brand new shopping malls/ Sinopec gas stations/ you name it.  Undaunted, the train simply keeps flying down the tracks towards Kunming.

5:20 p.m.
27 hours later, the train finally arrives!