Today is only 1st September, and everything went wrong. EVERYTHING.

After a crazy bumpy 4-hour bus ride from Tongren, we arrived in Xining (in Qinghai Province). Went to the train ticketing agent (in a post office) to purchase tickets for Lanzhou-Urumqi. Were told that tickets are sold out for the next one week. Fine.

We checked online and realized that there are many more other trains which the lady didn’t check. Went back to the post office for the second time and the lady told us she can’t check it in her system. Okay.

We tried looking for ways to get to the main train station in Xining. Managed to find the numbers of public buses that go there, but everytime we asked the drivers, none of the buses were actually heading towards the train station. NONE! We couldn’t even find some of the mentioned bus-stops. Nothing seems to work in this town!

Finally found a bus that goes there but it was super jam-packed. I was squashed by the bus door thankyouverymuch and that stupid door scratched my spanking new shoe and one slice or my poor shoe is now torn. 😐

After surviving the bus ride without killing ourselves everytime the driver brakes, we arrived at the train station and didn’t even know where the station is coz it’s still haphazardly new. Followed the crowd and found the ticketing counter.

After queueing for damn long and telling people off (those who cut queue; a lady looked at us pitifully for her to go first coz she had kids only to be told off by Ed. Another girl asked in Mandarin if we could help her buy tickets, Ed purposely replied her in English…hahah!), it was our turn and were told again that all tickets are sold out.

Ed gave a list of train numbers he found online but the lady refused to check. She only checked for trains that start from Lanzhou to Urumqi but not trains that start from elsewhere and headed for Urumqi.

She.just.refused.to.do.it. What the hell? Just click some buttons and key in a few words into that blardy computer! You know, search function? Hello?

We both left the train station disappointed, bewildered and not having a Plan B. So mentally exhausted by then (been discussing the same issue the whole day) and hungry. We got back to town in time to have dinner before all the eateries closed for the night.

Now, Ed is trying to buy the train tickets online but the online banking system doesn’t work with Windows Vista and has some security feature shiats that don’t make sense. (We’re using a Chinese bank account)

The Internet in the hostel didn’t work the whole afternoon and only started working this evening.

Barely 24 hours here and nothing seems to be right. So frustrating! So much so that Ed immediately got hold of a bottle of beer the moment we stepped into the hostel. Stress!

Qinghai, tiuniamahai.

//EDIT//

After publishing this post last night, more bad luck ensued. Read on and feel my pain.

The ladder leading up to my upper bunk bed is loose and my fingers got stuck in-between the wood while climbing up. There’s this oddly-placed beam above my bed and I hit my head twice while trying to get down.

Our dorm’s windows face the main highway, so it was non-stop traffic noise even after I shut the windows.

This morning, we took a public bus but the driver refused to re-open the door even after we shouted that we want to get down at this stop. Got down at the next stop and walked all the way back.

After lunch, the sun was shining hot and I took out my umbrella only to find a dry patch of mud on it. Ed calls it “shit”. I don’t even know how it got there. I’ve washed it but there’s still a stain.

We came back to the hostel, opened our locker to discover that there are other people’s stuff in it and ours thrown into another locker, unlocked! Seems like the hostel gave the same keys to two different people. WTF? I went to the reception explaining the situation and trying to tell the girl the severity of this mistake but she just kept asking if I needed a new key. Gawd. The person who has the key to our locker is plain stupid. I mean, we had our laptops and electronics in there, not some junk. He/She could’ve just gone to the reception and tell them about it. But no, he/she chose to throw our stuffs out. Selfish ignorant backpackers.

By now, it’s not even the end of 2nd September. Looks like it’s gonna be a longgg month.

SIGH.

I don’t normally rant like this but I guess this particular series of unfortunate events calls for an exception >.< RAWR!