Day 4- FIRST REAL Train Ride to Nanjing, Jiangsu

Leaving our first hotel we arrived at the train station an hour later. Traffic caused for a longer commute time. Traffic here is much worse compared to Hawaii. We got off the bus and a SWAT officer was standing outside carrying a gun. I tried to take a picture but he moved. We had to go through security with our belongings and because I had bottled watered we had to drink it so they knew it wasn't any other kind of liquid.

We received our tickets and proceeded downstairs to catch the train. It was huge. There was enough room for all of us to store our belongings and an additional overhead compartment. Two restrooms were at the rear of our cart while a little snack bar was in the front a little ways down from where we were sitting.

As the train pulled out of the station we gathered speed rather quickly. It was a very smooth ride and felt as if we were gliding. The train ride lasted four hours. It made three stops to other cities before arriving at Nanjing. A box type lunch was served which was disgusting. I ate it anyway because I was hungry. The country side was beautiful but so much pollution made the weather look as if it was voggy and extremely overcast. You couldn’t see blue sky anywhere. Many fields were cultivated but no one could be seen working on them. I also noticed that there was no livestock on any of the fields we passed.

Nanjing was hot and humid when we arrived. I got to experience my first Asian toilet which was an experience. We took a bus to our new hotel which was a drastic improvement from the first. This hotel is located next to one of the Universities we will be visiting. The room was very nice and they have internet access! Finally!! The last hotel had no internet access which was hard for all of us.

We relaxed for a few hours and got settled. At 6p we went to dinner. A 10 course meal was ready for us and dug in. The food was good but a little on the greasy side. After dinner a bunch of us went off exploring. It was very exciting and lively! There were so many people out and about shopping, socializing, working, driving etc. After a few hours we retreated to our rooms to get some rest for the next day.

Photos from left to right- Selfie with the train, China toilet, train station selfie, front of train