Chengdu – A hostel nightmare and Panda’s! – Part 8

I left Labrang to get to Chengdu and this proved to be my biggest challenge yet. After 2 x 3hr buses I managed to purchase the last ticket for the train journey to Chengdu. Thinking it strange that the ticket had no seat number and then having a woman frantically waving her arms at me I thought it best to find the conductor. My worst fears were realised when sign language informed me I was on a 24 hour train with no seat!!! The nightmare journey, after spending all day on buses, had me playing an epic game of musical chairs as odd seats became available. Finally, almost dead on my feet, ha ha! I reached Chengdu. Being so tired I chose to take a tuktuk ride to my booked hostel.


The drivers discussed where the hostel might be in Chinese then I haggled a price with one after entering and exiting the tuktuk several times. We rode for a while then stopped on a corner to speak to a scooter driver. I was then transferred to a scooter with my 85 litre bag horizontal in the foot well after paying the tuktuk driver. After an interesting ride on the scooter we then approached a cross roads where my scooter driver slowed to a stop, eyeing up a police officer. The police officer had noticed us and assuming he might have been in trouble with the police my driver turned around in to alley corner where there where a group of bikers. I then paid the guy and was transferred to another scooter to go to the same police officer and then take a maze of back roads and alleys to a main road. The biker proceeded to drop me in the middle of the road with me asking him where the hostel was. After much shouting and him presumably asking other people if they spoke English I had had enough, so I grabbed my bag and told him to forget it. He soon ran after me for money and I explained as best I could that he hadn't taken me to the hostel so why should I pay him! A woman came out of the alley and kindly offered to walk me to the hostel, which turned out to be just around the corner I caved in and paid the biker. I was never so glad to see a bed and collapse.


After a good sleep I met 2 Chinese girls, who thankfully could speak English, and we visited the Panda Research Base. There has been a lot of effort made to provide a suitable environment for the pandas to thrive, with a large amount of plants and bamboo etc. but I still have very mixed views about their confinement, I suppose this is a means to an end though to prevent extinction.