Imagine, ladies and gentlemen,...

Imagine driving just TEN minutes from Munich Central Station to all the major metropolises of the world, like London or umm, Thing! - Just like before, former Bavarian governor Eddi accurately describes our first vacation stop today. But first, let's start from the beginning...

We are finally on vacation, yeah!!! Anna and I have had a maximum of exhausting months and major milestones behind us. Now we treat ourselves to a few fine drinks *green tea bottles popping* and a grand tour. The stops are as follows:

1. Longmen Caves, Henan Province
2. Taoist sacred Huashan Mountains, Shaanxi Province
3. Xian, Shaanxi Province
4. Chongqing, municipality
5. Shangri-La, Yunnan Province

Start Friday night, 23:36: The sleeper train takes us overnight to the Longmen Caves, which are 1000km away. Arrival on Saturday shortly after 8 in the morning. Not exactly 10 minutes, but the 8 hours should pass like a breeze...

For both of us, it's our first sleeper train, we're excited. The high-speed sleeper train (up to 230km/h) is high-quality and well-equipped with 4 beds/cabin, a small table, an electric kettle, and many power outlets. Definitely a great alternative to short-haul flights, you can comfortably and conveniently cover 1500km in a rolling hotel room without losing much usable daytime.

Unfortunately, there were 2 downsides for us: the snoring cabin mates and Chinese beds. The former could only be silenced temporarily and only allowed Anna to sleep for 3 hours, and the latter made me toss from side to side all night. For next time, Anna will memorize "你鼾声如雷, 趴在肚子上吧" - "You snore like thunder, lie on your stomach!" and I'll try using a camping mat underneath.

Tired and covered in pressure marks like overripe bananas, we leave the train. It was still pretty cool, but we're looking forward to English-speaking roommates and soft beds in Europe.

We arrive early at the Longmen Caves, one of China's many World Heritage Sites. Here, in the 5th century, the first Buddha was carved into the rock. And because they were on good terms with the lovely guy, they added another one. And another one. And apparently, while the creative juices were flowing, they added over 100,000 more.

From the rock wall, countless cm-tall and up to 17m-tall Buddhas in all their various forms look down on us.

Well, almost, because it was noticeable that many of the statues, which are usually well-preserved, were missing their faces and ended abruptly at the neck. Very sad, we don't know why this is. Perhaps weathered, lost in the souvenir trade, or fallen victim to religious warfare during the Cultural Revolution. Nevertheless, an impressive overall work.

After a comprehensive walk in Longmen, we take a high-speed train in the afternoon to the second stop, the Holy Huashan Mountains. In the village below, we rest up, tomorrow comes the ascent.