Golmud - Lanzhou

Arriving in Golmud was something I didn't want to do. Decaying concrete and toilet tiles in a desert light, a taxi ride with the driver trying to charge triple, train ticket chaos... wandering around the streets trying to find tomato and egg and internet. In the end it turned out well - Itamar and I ended up at a set of deep-fried skewer stalls, under an umbrella with beer and a pile of greasy fish, octopus, potato and cauliflower, reading out poetry. Then a drunk policeman turned up to practice his three phrases of English with us: "Welcome to Golmud," "My name is...," "I like you." And he bought us beer.

We went on another walk. Played guitars in a music store. Ended up back under the umbrellas. The guys next to us decided to buy us pints and force us to skull them in a toast to God-knows-what. No more beer after that.

The hard seat train carriage wasn't nearly as chaotic as I'd expected. Everyone had seats, there were trays for rubbish and people actually used them. Smoking was forbidden. Attendants would walk by with a broom every few hours and clean up. The music stopped at 11pm. Despite the desert cold, I slept well. The guy in front of me slept with his head on my lap. 17 hours later we were in Lanzhou. Upon getting out of the station we were approached by a girl who told me I had beautiful eyes. Unfortunately she didn't.

Lanzhou is a forest of chimneys followed by a 30km high-rise sprawl alongstside a river. For some reason I'm becoming fond of it. Went to the first "cheap" hotel in the LP, they told me 90RMB. I told them "thank you", bought a Pepsi and asked the seller about cheap hotels. She pointed across the road. I went there and the woman just said, "no." Asked her about cheap hotels. She pointed down the road. Eventually, I stumbled across a young guy who led me up some stairs. 25 for a clean single with TV, phone and shared bathroom. Not bad.

Spent the day wandering around looking for greasy food stalls, but it seems that they only open up at night. Ended up eating delicious tofu and eggplant that cost next to nothing. Parted with Itamar over a beer. It would be nice to travel together longer. Inshallah. A Chinese guy from the hostel in Lhasa rocked up, and so I drank more and as he bitched about the local people - apparently uneducated and dishonest, and his uni course - the professor ordered him back from his holiday.

Walked around Lanzhou's neon-lit streets for several hours in a drunken daze. Met an old dude who wanted to emigrate to Australia for the sake of his son. Ate skewered octopus and vegetables. Went back and slept.