All Aboard: My Unexpected Ride

By Gab Bok

I know you’re probably looking at that picture and asking yourself…Gab WTF? Before you get all judgmental… Let me explain!!

For those who don’t know me, I’m a stock exchange trader in the gas market, and a videographer. Both of my businesses allow me to travel to, on average, 10 to 15 countries a year. This fact is just to clarify that I’m not a travel blogger nor do I offer influence on Instagram. I’m just a regular dude with fun travel stories to tell in the most random places on earth.

So, here’s what happened:

My assistant and I missed our flight from Beijing to Urumqi, the western part of China . Every flight was fully booked for the next 4 days. We couldn’t wait that long because the weather in this area was about to change for the worst and we wouldn’t be able to work. So the lady at the counter proposed that we take the train…which we did.

At the train counter the guy told us that one train was leaving in 45 minutes. Lucky us…right?! However,  the problem was that there were no more first class tickets (private room), no more second class tickets (bunk bed), and no more third class tickets (elongated seat). There was only remaining 4th class tickets (regular seats). This class was identified as the “Peasant class”.

Hell! Travel is not a straight road…so we bought the 4th class tickets and thought that maybe we would sneak away to a better class (wrong idea). So, the guy gave us the tickets and the ticket stated [31 hours].

So I’m like “Ooh, they have the time backwards, they probably meant 13 hours ( which is already bad)” or “This dude charged us for a round trip ticket”

To my great sadness…I WAS WRONG!

I was about to do 31 hours of train riding that turned to be 34 hours (God knows why!!!)

Back to the picture. This picture was taken by my assistant after the following event occurred during this crazy ride:

• We had 13 packs of every noodles you can think of (chicken, beef vegetarian…)
•  Watched both seasons of “insecure” (I love molly btw).
•  Helped a teenager with a epileptic crisis (Thx to the medical military training)
• Finished the book “Wrong side of the goodbye” by Michael Connelly
• Took a hundred pictures with random Chinese people because I was Black
• Was scolded by the security for trying to sneak out into a better class about 5 times
• Got fined by the same security for trying a 6th time
• Tried to play a kind of Chinese poker where I lost too much money because I didn’t understand the game (or they just played me…Idk).
• Had 8 Chinese beers ( I don’t drink but I couldn’t be sober for this long on the same train)
• Separated a fight between Chinese over noodles ( I think it was because of noodles, I can’t guarantee because I don’t speak Chinese).
• Took a doo doo in those chinese toilets where you have to squat all the way down and pray you don’t fall into the dirty a** toilet (I promised myself I wouldn’t never do It but your man had nowhere else to go).
• And had to change shirts because the baby next to my seat had to vomit on ME!!!! Outta all people…

And all of that happen with loud chattering noises only Chinese can make! And of course no A.C. Remember, I was in the Peasant class, where rats and cockroaches acted like they paid for their own tickets!

When that pic was taken, all I wanted to do was get out of there.

That was, by far, one of the most ridiculous train rides ever. But it came with a lot of memories!

We managed to do the work in the Taklimakan Desert before the storm, but clearly the journey was what I will remember for the rest of my life!

Follow Gab Bok on FB @Gabbok19