I guess I never thought that getting to Kunming would be particularly easy, but having travelled to some of the least developed countries in Africa, the prospect reaching a vibrant Chinese metropolis didn’t seem like it would stand much of a challenge. But then again I’ve always been a bit of a penny pincher, so I didn’t mind going through layovers in Dallas and Los Angeles on my way to Shanghai to save a few hundred dollars on my flight. The prospect of flying into Shanghai and then taking a train to Kunming didn’t even seem that daunting to me either, more like an old time adventure and an opportunity to see a large swath of the country from out the window of a locomotive, romantic in a Wong Kar-Wai, Steampunk kind of way.

Everything went rather smoothly all the way to Shanghai, the Pudong airport is very easy to navigate and well-marked in English and Mandarin. I made my way to Airport Bus #7 which goes to the Shanghai South Railway Station, the point of departure for the train to Kunming. After about an hour on the bus we arrived at the massive station which Wikipedia tells me is the world’s first and only round train station, which means that trains radiate out from 12 platforms in 360 degrees, covering much of the country’s territory. The first snag of my journey came about when I arrived at the self-serve ticket station and found that both the first and second class tickets for the ride had sold out, which meant that I was relegated to the least expensive, and least comfortable option, auspiciously labeled as “hard seat”.

I was a bit disappointed and nervous, I knew that the ride lasts about 40 hours and the prospect of spending the entire time in a hard chair was something that no one would look forward too, however I consoled myself with the knowledge that I was A) saving money and B) getting to Kunming just as fast as my first class counterparts in the “soft sleepers”. I also splurged on a $60 hotel room near the station with floor to ceiling windows and a queen sized bed, I don’t want to give the wrong impression here…

After a brief bit of sightseeing the following day I made my way with my luggage to the train station, watched an episode of the Soprano’s on my laptop in the waiting room, and then eventually boarded train K181 to Kunming. At first it seemed OK. I had a seat number on a three person bench – the middle seat – but there was no one else on my bench and I was able to put my feet up, lean against the side of the train, look out the opposite window, and feel good about my decision to buy such an inexpensive ticket. However at the very next stop the train received an influx of passengers and I was quickly joined by some travel companions on either side of me. As we rolled along into the evening we picked up more and more passengers and the prospect of leaning against anything other than human bodies faded into the recesses of my imagination.

At one point a blue-shirted train worker made a sleeping motion towards me and then pointed towards the section of the train where the sleeper cars were located; I nodded vigorously, seeking any opportunity to get out of my situation, price be damned. However he then asked me a few questions in Mandarin that were wholly incomprehensible to me and then marched off once he realized that I was incapable of communicating with him. That brief exchange replayed in my mind for the duration of the trip.

I’m not searching for pity here, but let me just say that I’ve never experienced anything like the 42 hour train ride from Shanghai to Kunming. To sit down at 4PM and then have night pass, then a day, then another night, and then not disembark until 10 AM the following day is something that I’ve never experienced before. And while Kunming is without a doubt a beautiful city in its own right, it was all the more lovely as it represented the emancipation from seat 50 in cabin 3 on K181 from Shanghai.