The Himalayas

Growing up, I was always fascinated by descriptions of distant lands. I would imagine the sights and sounds, and think about what it must be like to visit such places. That, in part, is the reason I have always enjoyed reading. As the words on the pages progressed, in my mind’s eye I was transported to another place and time. It didn’t matter what our financial situation was, I could travel the world and beyond. Well, even though our financial condition is much the same as it has always been, we find ourselves now in a place I only thought I would see through books. As we travelled home from Chengdu, our train wound its way through the Himalayan Mountains. Yes, THE Himalayas. History, beauty, and wonder draped like a curtain across Asia. People from all over the world have come to scale these peaks. The tide of battles and the fate of nations have turned in these passes. Over seven hundred years ago, Marco Polo established the Silk Road that traced along this same route delivering silk, spices, and treasure to the people of Europe. You can almost see the past and present sharing the same time and space. As the landscape rolled by, so many things looked like they had not changed in all of that time. There were farmers working the steppes with the aid of bison pulling old plows. There were small houses and villages that just seemed to have grown from the earth like the bamboo from which they were made. It reminded me of how very small and insignificant man truly is but also how, whether for good or for bad, man always tries to leave its mark. Even so, that mark is like a single word or sentence on a page in a book. It has meaning and can convey so much but the Earth and its wonders provide context to the story.

Hard Sleeper

We took the slow train home. It was eighteen hours in a hard sleeper berth for us. There have been horror stories told about how miserable and uncomfortable these journeys can be. Others though, tell nostalgic tales about their time spent in transit in this manner. So, when there is no consensus on a matter, you just have to check things out for yourself. I will say this; I do understand why some would shy away from travelling in this manner. The bunks are not very comfortable but that should come as no surprise. It is called a hard sleeper. But considering that most beds here in China are hard, I expected the bunk to be like sleeping on concrete. It was actually not much worse than our own bed so I count that as a plus. Then there was the smell. Our car was, all things considered, not too bad. Occasionally, however, we would catch a whiff of either someone smoking in the area between cars, the pungent odor of the WC, or sometimes both. Recently, though, I heard a nice quote about smells that I think applies: “If you stay in the barn long enough, eventually you don’t smell the manure”. I believe we proved that true on this trip. Despite all of that, we really enjoyed the ride (Amanda probably would have enjoyed it more if her back was not hurting from falling out of a bus. That is another story for another time). It was so nice to be able to slow down for a little while. There was a certain charm to the gentle rocking of the train as the scenery slowly scrolled by. It gave us time for reading, study, and reflection. Oh, if only I could have found a soft spot in that hard sleeper...

– Frank

If the riches of the Indies, or the crowns of all the kingdom of Europe, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love of reading, I would spurn them all.
Francois de Fenelon (1651 - 1715)

PS - The video that I was going to load for the panda post was too big, Blogger would not let me load it. Sorry about that. I will save it and try to show it someday.