I wanted to take Amtrak from Seattle to Los Angeles. I thought it would be relaxing and scenic. I bought round-trip tickets for $110 each way. It's a thirty-six hour ride, but they offer an option to shave six hours off: get off the train in Sacramento and take a combination of two busses and another train to get to LA. I decided to stick with the train straight through instead of hassle with all those extra connections, but I started to worry that perhaps the last leg of the trip might involve a lot of sitting in a train that isn't moving. I love to ride trains. In fact, put me in almost any sort of contraption that's moving from Point A to Point B at an appreciable speed and I'm happy. I have a need for there to be something _happening_. If I'm sitting at home, I like to have clothes in the dryer, or a big file downloading, or something else going on. If I'm in a vehicle going somewhere - anywhere - and the vehicle's moving, I'm happy. This is slightly less true on airplanes, where the slightly less palpable sense of motion diminished the effect and my genetically inferior inner ears add a sense of general unease. Cars go nice and fast, but a bumpy car ride can also but unpleasant. So a train is perfect, because it's smooth, almost completely incapable of producing motion sickness, and, at least in China, moves with alacrity. When I'm on a fast train, I'm in a cocoon. I'm don't get hungry or thirsty, I'm not capable of worry or stress; I can stare out the window for hours no matter the scenery, as long as it's moving. The only thing I fear is deceleration.

Sitting in a train that isn't moving is a woeful experience - an existential crisis. One one Amtrak trip from LA to San Diego, we paused in an unfinished station for half an hour, then pulled out of the station _backwards_, rolled in the wrong direction for a mile, and then waited for another twenty minutes before resuming travel. Most uncool. So I decided to try and reconfigure my plans into a train ride south and an airplane ride north, thus minimizing my exposure to frustrating track delays. While navigating the Amtrak web site, I realized that "Reserved Coach," the reservation on my tickets, meant "reclining chair." Chinese readers, think "Soft Seat." Better than Hard Seat, to be sure, but not a bunk. The only available bunk option is a private cabin. $300 extra, one way.

Let's compare: Amtrak: $800 round trip from Seattle to LA, 36 hours each way. Alaska Airlines: $175 round trip, 2.5 hours each way.

I canceled the Amtrak reservation (got a refund less $30 disservice charge) and bought airplane tickets. The US government needs to let Amtrak collapse and then import a few China Rail executives to build new passenger rail companies.

So. I'll be in LA from noon Thursday, 24 Jan 2002, to 6 pm Monday, 28 Jan 2002. Call me in Seattle before I leave ((206) 860-0245) or send email if you want to hook up.

-------------------------------------------------------------------- I put up a wishlist at Amazon. If you go to this URL, you can buy books which will be sent to my China address. If you do this in January or February, they might even be there when I get back.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/wishlist/1I6CCB62V13HE/ref%3Dwl%5Fs%5F3/103-6992361-6751852

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten things a traveller should know about China:

1) China is crowded. Any given area contains five to ten times more people than an equivalent area in the United States.

2) Bring earplugs. Everything is as loud as possible.

3) The smell of human waste competes with the smell of bad cigarettes.

4) Most of China is permanently hazy, like Los Angeles but without the celebrities.

5) There is no sure footing in China. Floors jump or drop an inch without warning or marking. Staircase riser height is considered a venue for craftsmen to express creativity.

6) Corollary to Five: China is not handicapped-accessible.

7) If you pay listed price, you are being cheated by an order of magnitude.

8) If there is air between you and the person in front of you, you are not in line.

9) If someone stares at you, smile. They will invariable smile back.

10) Authentic Chinese food is wet and slimy.

Ten things a traveller should know about the United States:

1) There are many morbidly obese people. Don't stare. They won't smile.

2) The automobile is more important than the pedestrian.

3) Many people embed metal jewelery in the flesh of their faces. Don't stare.

4) If you just came from a longish stay in a third-world country, you may experience a sense of euphoria. It will wear off in a week or two.

5) Many buildings are, in fact, churches.

6) Except in New York, Americans line up at every opportunity, such as when waiting for service or boarding a bus.

7) Nobody will stare at you or treat you differently (unless you look like a terrorist - ie, brown-skinned but not African-American or hispanic).

8) If you approach closer than one meter to anyone, they will skitter away from you.

9) From a distance, Canadians are indistinguishable from Americans.

10) Spitting in public is frowned upon.

Kim (see postings on this site) and I spoke before she went back to Bolivia. The differences between our respective comparisons (China-US, Bolivia-US) were notable: while we both found the US much quieter than other countries, she found the US to be so modern as to feel like a sci-fi movie set, whereas public architecture featuring large, shiny surfaces and lighting is already quite common in China. We both saw massive disparity between the wealthy and everybody else - in China, a Lexus parked next to a rice paddy; in Peru, mud hovels abutting glass and steel skyscrapers. Bolivia offered constant threat of theft, while in China I felt even safer than in Seattle.