Maxposting

[gritty cargo]

https://youtu.be/PrJMgv2v2x4

[gritty cargo]

Stadsbussen Seoul

[gritty cargo]

Wie?

Dit zijn echt slechte tijden man

[warm basalt]

dit had jij kunnen zijn

[gritty cargo]

ik ben al vaker in Kanton geweest makker

[gritty cargo]

Ik ga het wel weer zijn binnenkort

[gritty cargo]

I'm on my way! Follow my Uber trip: https://trip.uber.com/dUuriFk3iX

[devout vault]

https://x.com/seatsixtyone/status/1925848241070911828?t=Fvjm_bWvU9qkMSTkA27CwQ&s=19

The Man in Seat 61 (@seatsixtyone)

Finally! The Hanoi - Nanning sleeper train linking Vietnam with China has been suspended since the pandemic, but is due to resume from 25 May. https://t.co/evpqkuWm5u

X · May 23, 2025, 9:36 AM

[gritty cargo]

Express metro’s in Seoul @warm basalt

[gritty cargo]

Dit gaat wel hard, ik heb ook net gehoord dat de Ulaanbataar - Beijing trein weer gaat rijden

[gritty cargo]

19:54 - 22:28 [Korail] [KTX 🇰🇷🇫🇷] [093] Seoul - Busan

[warm basalt]

🪿

[gritty cargo]

Busan is Goed

[gritty cargo]

Japan plan

@warm basalt where

o

[warm basalt]

What do you mean plan

Go wakkanai

[warm basalt]

I was limited by orga

[gritty cargo]

j

[warm basalt]

Thank you

[gritty cargo]

I'm on my way! Follow my Uber trip: https://trip.uber.com/TuP5Kunzl2K

[gritty cargo]

What I’d like to do at least

Taking slight inspiration from the @ocean urchin

[ocean urchin]

Ey dat is mijn kaart

[gritty cargo]

Mijn naam staat er toch bij?

[ocean urchin]

Lol sinmax128

[gritty cargo]

Rough July plans added to the Polarsteps

[gritty cargo]

taking the L

[gritty cargo]

I'm on my way! Follow my Uber trip: https://trip.uber.com/cjHnasKEb

[devout vault]

https://x.com/doc7austin/status/1928472422308630755?t=nF4_e1CEYd4v1gHYqCz3CA&s=19

doc7austin (@doc7austin)

Huge News:
Beijing - Ulaanbaatar direct night train resumes operations in June 2025 !
@seatsixtyone

X · May 30, 2025, 3:23 PM

[gritty cargo]

I already knew this on the 12th

Their Instagram goes kinda hard for a company whose website you can’t even open outside of Mongolia

https://www.kkinstagram.com/p/DJ0PV6dSAIp/?igsh=bHR0Y245ODd3OWo1c @ocean urchin

[warm basalt]

Max wagons

Ik ga je polarsteps om 17:30 Nederlandse tijd lezen

[gritty cargo]

Wat goed

[warm basalt]

Double polarsteps even

[gritty cargo]

J

Many underwater videos in the first one

Second one has trains

More train content coming, plus I stopped in a national park so some epic pics too

[gritty cargo]

enfin?

[gritty cargo]

pain

[gritty cargo]

I'm on my way! Follow my Uber trip: https://trip.uber.com/ZC35btPYzOZbH9

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt we should beer

[warm basalt]

Dit is over 6 maanden kerel

[gritty cargo]

ja gast wil je dat ik terugkom of nie

[warm basalt]

Jawel

[gritty cargo]

Goedzo

Zet het bier maar koud

zal wel op de goede temperatuur zijn tegen die tijd

[gritty cargo]

time to make Chris angry with a t-shirt

[warm basalt]

Max ritten 😜 😋 🤪

[rough burrow]

lol you coming home 3 weeks inly to fuvkoff to aisa again

when will you become ingezetene in thailand and tax evade?

vielleicht ltd

[gritty cargo]

Op zich

[rough burrow]

opzich bvba

[gritty cargo]

https://opzi.ch

[static quarry]

Peak web design

[rough burrow]

would you hire him

[warm basalt]

how are you gonan do ulaanbaataaar to busan

[devout vault]

Please do boat china korea

[gritty cargo]

cool this is near Sainshand, which is exactly where I will be staying for one and a half night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulaanbataar_Railway#/media/File:UBTZ_2TE25KM-0455_Tyshljeg_-_Sainshand.jpg

[gritty cargo]

consider the following https://trainlog.me/public/tag/78639dfe-ea1d-4878-86a9-08345ec501dc

Hohhot -> Urumqi ⚠️ -> Chongqing -> Fenghuang -> Wuhan Schwebebahn -> Hong Kong -> Busan

[devout vault]

no china korea boat, bad

[warm basalt]

man 1-6 hour flights in asia are so nice

broer wat zijn deze tijden

het is moelijk om tijden te kiezen die nog kutter zijn dan dit

[rough burrow]

hahaha

in een nergens

enjoy nowhere

rico marrokaan... broer.

[devout vault]

broski

[gritty cargo]

nou die trein gaat normaalgesproken door naar China

maar ik wil een tussenstop maken

en Sainshand schijnt wel vet te zijn

Sovjetdorp middenin de woestijn

[rough burrow]

max anderhalve dag in een dood nergens met alleen een vies soviet hotel...

[warm basalt]

mongolen

[gritty cargo]

grappig toch

[rough burrow]

enjoy getting soviet ziektes dlc

[warm basalt]

yurt??

[rough burrow]

bed bugs

[gritty cargo]

kan zeggen wat je wil maar t is wel authentiek..

[rough burrow]

and ander jeukend ongedierte

[warm basalt]

I dont think mongolie is ziekte land

this isnt tropen after all

[rough burrow]

didnt get bald man sick in a rural mongolian soviet hotel

[gritty cargo]

Rico you should be excited

[rough burrow]

and his mate too

[gritty cargo]

Yes these times suck but this allows me to see more of Mongolia from the train during the day

[warm basalt]

im pretty excited about this

[rough burrow]

gras... er is alleen gras

[gritty cargo]

Because the 4am train to China leaves from UB at like 8pm

[devout vault]

gras en zand

[rough burrow]

mongolian gras

[gritty cargo]

So me taking a regular daytime train to Sainshand first will allow me to post more Mongolia window hanging daytime pics for @ocean urchin

[warm basalt]

mongolia is just empty fields and horse

genghis khan

[gritty cargo]

And eagle hunting

[devout vault]

you should go trainspotting in the nothingness in the time you are there

[warm basalt]

in places like this the only train there is might be the one max is taking

no spotting

[devout vault]

very bad

should stay a day longer then

[warm basalt]

this is like north australia already

treinen om de dag

maybe they have cargo

[rough burrow]

could be quite some freight. idk id the russia-china freight passes via mongolia?

[gritty cargo]

I’m staying for a day

So maybe?

[ocean urchin]

very good

[rough burrow]

idk why the fuck are you going here lol. google afbeeldingen basicly it looks like a vuilnisbelt with few hurs and onverharde wegen. This is the main wikipedia image for sainshand

[devout vault]

max will contact his secret russian family link here

[rough burrow]

max spy.

[devout vault]

yes

[rough burrow]

this basicly looks like a african slum dropped in mongolian steppe

[devout vault]

I think this is average mongolian place that is not ulaanbaatar

[rough burrow]

even ulaanbaatat

that last photo just has no trees

only bush and mongolian grass

[warm basalt]

mongolia isnt that developed

its like egypte or indonesia levels

[gritty cargo]

Isn’t that amazing

You guys want something different from all the rugzakhoertjes [sic] bestemmingen

[rough burrow]

i will laugh if you deeboard with kuub and looking like some tourist and all locals just staring wtf is he doing here and then get robbed and kuub stolen

I can just perfectly imagine this happen for some reason

[gritty cargo]

Like 7 people and a camel live there

I think it’ll be fine

[rough burrow]

somthing like this.

[gritty cargo]

Exactly

[rough burrow]

vliegen

plat

[gritty cargo]

Weeb map

[rough burrow]

whats this?

ai?

[gritty cargo]

J

[gritty cargo]

Man the layout of this station is really weird

[rough burrow]

I dont like this map projectie. border is scheef

[warm basalt]

The curvature of earth

[gritty cargo]

Esparanto

[rough burrow]

just use mercator

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt @rain swan @crimson juniper ⚠️ new Polarsteps step dropped

Available on your local Polarsteps app now

With a medium sized short story to go along with it

[warm basalt]

Crazy

[gritty cargo]

Lezen

[warm basalt]

Just checked the pics it looks very cool

[gritty cargo]

Good thank you

I recommend you read the story later when you're on a train or something, if you're busy now

[warm basalt]

Hmm

[gritty cargo]

it's cool how the train that I took in the beginning of that step cost me €0,54

[rain swan]

Please dont tag me for this

[gritty cargo]

Rude

[rain swan]

sorry

but it was a bit random as you never asked me to read your polarsteps before and I never indicated interest in it

[gritty cargo]

yes

you will receive the link to it at a random point in the future

then you may choose to read it

(respectfully)

[static quarry]

This is how maxposting works
Max will yap about some shit you never wanted to hear

[gritty cargo]

You too will undergo the yappings in Melbourne

I think you’ll enjoy it

(I’ll buy you a beer)

[static quarry]

I hate beer but you can buy me a whisky & coke or a cider instead
I do love a good yap when it's something I'm interested in
Train infodumping

[gritty cargo]

Cider sounds good

Yeah there’s trains

[static quarry]

Fuck yeah
You can yap about trains on a train
While I yap about the train we're taking

[gritty cargo]

Based

I’m down

[rough burrow]

max cant

he wont yap abaout trains

[gritty cargo]

I should send Jordi my Polarsteps

[static quarry]

I might be able to see if my friend is available
She knows basically everything about Melbourne's railways (the level of autism where she keeps every line's paper timetables on her 24/7)

[frozen oar]

based

[gritty cargo]

lol

[static quarry]

She basically enabled my train autism in control panel

[gritty cargo]

Yes she sounds like a good asset

I’ll buy her a cider too

[static quarry]

I went with her on a train trip once and she had a binder with the entire route's signalling diagrams

[gritty cargo]

🤣

[gritty cargo]

You’re this close to receiving my Polarsteps too

(It has trains if you want)

[rough burrow]

i will not look at it

[rough burrow]

true train fapping

[gritty cargo]

@stiff niche opinion on this shirt now that you’re a weeb

[stiff niche]

Kinda hot

[gritty cargo]

Rate my branding @warm basalt, I got a little flag to let people think I’m Korean

[devout vault]

Nobody thinks you're korean because of this

[gritty cargo]

don’t be so naive of course they will

it’s literally a Korean flag

[gritty cargo]

With @Amaury

[gritty cargo]

Hmm 2600 for the Mugunghwa or 8400 for the KTX, struggles

[warm basalt]

Try to take a bus option if available

[gritty cargo]

09:46 - 10:12 [Korail] [Mugunghwa] Busan - Mulgeum

[gritty cargo]

https://www.mercierzeng.com/drone-photography-in-china good to know

[gritty cargo]

Insane distances

On the map this makes sense

But I need to check the actual railway map to see if this makes sense

Especially towards the west the lines become more sparse

[gritty cargo]

https://x.com/khaosodenglish/status/1937494404106985677?s=46 interesting

Khaosod English (@KhaosodEnglish)

BREAKING: Minister of Public Health Somsak Thepsuthin has signed an order to control cannabis, effectively ending its "free" or recreational use. Cannabis will now be restricted to medical purposes only.
Key points include:
* No sales without a license: It is prohibited to sell

X · Jun 24, 2025, 12:53 PM

[gritty cargo]

Miat - Mongolian 312 on 28/6/2025

Busan to Ulaanbaatar
↗ 17:00 GMT+9 PUS (On time)
↘ 20:05 GMT+8 UBN (On time)

Flight length 4 hrs, 5 min

Arriving at Terminal -- • Gate -- at 20:05 GMT+8

Updates: https://live.flighty.app/9f4e37b8-8949-4281-bae2-db804a556355

[warm basalt]

It's happening

[rough burrow]

max going to nirgendwo

[warm basalt]

Pretty nice direct flights from Busan to ulaanbatar exist

Hmm 13 flights per week even

[rough burrow]

Maybe lots of mongolen working in korea

[warm basalt]

Max yantai

[warm basalt]

Max binnen Mongolië

[rough burrow]

Hope he wil ride a mongolen busje and lick the windows

[gritty cargo]

I will ride Mongolen bus

I don’t think I’ll lick the windows

[warm basalt]

Enjoy max

[gritty cargo]

Dank

I already saw yurts

🛖

[warm basalt]

It's so nice you get kebab in the most random places in the world

[gritty cargo]

I mean this is basically just very far east Turkey

[warm basalt]

Mongolië is kind of Turkije yes

[gritty cargo]

I just had a Mongolian snack

Some kind of very hard milk sweet

[warm basalt]

Visit Sumatra Sulawesi Borneo and Papua

Ambon

Timor

The rarer islands

[rough burrow]

vanatu

tokelau

and northernarianan islands

Leave tahiti for me thoigh

[gritty cargo]

I think my grandparents have visited one of these places

[storm iris]

How is it to be surrounded by mongolen?

[gritty cargo]

I’m the biggest one of them all

I left the water on

Stupid mobile shower

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt

Mongolenbusje speciaal voor Jordi

[gritty cargo]

Google maps is useless

[rough burrow]

if the pica are from that bus it isn't a mongolenbusje

[warm basalt]

Very good

[gritty cargo]

@stiff niche keep up brother

[ocean urchin]

You parked near here

[gritty cargo]

quite far from there

traffic sucks in UB man

[crimson juniper]

I disagree with calling this ub

[devout vault]

Will you go to the statue

The horse one

[gritty cargo]

everyone does

[gritty cargo]

that's literally every statue

[devout vault]

the big one

[warm basalt]

intercity 658 naar den haag heeft afwijkend materieel

[stiff niche]

Yawowayaow

[gritty cargo]

Saturday

I’ll try to fly my drone there

[gritty cargo]

Abnormaal

[grim dust]

Max why doesn’t it surprise me you own a drone

[gritty cargo]

Only since like a week 😳

[hushed prairie]

One way traffic road I presume this is

[gritty cargo]

Single track

The road is both ways

[hushed prairie]

ah wait. traffic is on the right hand side, but cars are predominantly built for left hand traffic as they're imported from japan

cheapo

I was confused for a moment when I saw this

[gritty cargo]

Yes lol

All Toyota

All right hand drive

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt

[rough burrow]

kuub pranked

3$ 🤣

[hushed prairie]

interesting how these cars have cyrillic characters that do not match with our alphabet - clearly not meant to drive here in Europe

in contrary to ukraine for example where they only use the letters that visually match letters in our alphabet

[rough burrow]

ofcially it doesnt matter though

i doubt translated international plates for mongila exist like some arabic states have

every car in Ulanbatar is a japanes eimport prius?

having a useless infotainment if kinda funny

Malta and cyprus also import shitton of cars from japan

[gritty cargo]

Yes lol

Some of them have Japanese TV buttons

Literally no one changes the language of the car settings

[rough burrow]

probably becaus eyou cant

[gritty cargo]

Yeah that seems Japanese lol

[gritty cargo]

Goederen Mongolië @ocean urchin

Look at these curves man @warm basalt

[devout vault]

Nice

The curves are good yes

Good for trainfapping

[gritty cargo]

Yeah this is gonna be good

Really hoping for good weather

It’s so unpredictable here

[gritty cargo]

Bus terminals Mongolia

[gritty cargo]

08:00+19 - 16:00+72 [National Road Transport Center (Автотээврийн Үндэсний Төв)] [91-88 ӨВЕ] Ulaanbaatar, Зорчигч Тээврийн Төв Bus Terminal - Tsetserleg - Авто вокзал

[warm basalt]

Wat goed

[gritty cargo]

Okay made it

Took an hour longer than I thought

9 damn hours

[hushed prairie]

poah, is dat het summum van muziek in Mongolië waarvan ik denk dat het is

[rough burrow]

selecteer alle fotos met stoplichten

[warm basalt]

15 nieuwe steps ouwe

[gritty cargo]

mogelijkerwijs

[gritty cargo]

er is hard gewerkt

[gritty cargo]

http://www.drben.net/Mongolia_Report/Aimag/Arkhangai/Tsetserleg/Tsetserleg-Main.html good site

http://www.drben.net/Mongolia_Report/Aimag/Dornogovi/Sainshand/Sainshand-Main.html cool that I'm going here

@devout vault opinion on a hotel that I can only find on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/crystalhousehotel/

there's like no hotels available on booking or agoda in Sainshand

[devout vault]

good

[warm basalt]

Ik try to read polarsteps at work

[gritty cargo]

Good

[gritty cargo]

Gast it’s 178k Tugrik per night

This is way too expensive lmao

[rough burrow]

max Naran hotel when

sounds like a vibe

[gritty cargo]

In Pakistan??

[rough burrow]

this

[gritty cargo]

Oh hahah

Yes

I totally missed that

I should check out the third floor, see if it’s still a thing

I should bring a pak fruitsap too

[gritty cargo]

Hohhot - ?? - Xi'an - Urumqi (daytime EMU) - Kashgar (Kashi, deluxe sleeper) - Turpan (tulufanbei) - Zhongwei (deluxe sleeper) - Lanzhou or Xi’an - Chengdu

[brittle forge]

Ooh

going to Far Western China

nice

[gritty cargo]

Yes!

https://trainlog.me/public/tag/78639dfe-ea1d-4878-86a9-08345ec501dc very exciting. Trains from the 28th onwards have not been booked yet but this is the plan cc @warm basalt

Also @errant frigate hype for Muslim-Chinese foods, I heard the food is amazing in West-China, this close to the Afghanistan border

[errant frigate]

yoooooOOOOOOOOOO

yeah hype

[gritty cargo]

This route looks very inefficient as there is quite some backtracking but the luxury sleeper train from Urumqi weirdly does not stop at Xi’an, a major city and hub?? So I’m continuing to the earliest station where there are direct HSR connections to Chengdu, pretty insane, but this is the most comfortable/efficient

To get to Urumqi in the first place I will be going from Xi’an as there were spots left on the daytime EMU sleeper train - 15 hours on the train. As this is on the 22nd already, ticket sales have long opened and all tickets for the luxury sleeper from Beijing (stopping at Taiyuan) have all been sold out, so that’s why I’ll only take it on the way back (hopefully)

[errant frigate]

xi'an yesss

[gritty cargo]

Damn

This is cheaper than Korea - Japan lol

Thinking some more days might be nice though

Need to see how many nights I want to spend in these places

The longer I stay there, the more expensive the flights will be. Cheapest would be to fly on the 11th or 12th of August

[grim dust]

Wild that Max is just terminally on holiday

[gritty cargo]

Working*

[errant frigate]

max's work is like

better than any holiday ive had in my life

[gritty cargo]

Eating succulent Chinese food

Fulltime job

Nothing in life comes for free sadly

[gritty cargo]

You’re free to join anytime

Foodliker on food tour

[errant frigate]

if only lmao

mind i mean i suppose the reasons I can't just piss off round the world indefinitely are decent reasons but man i wish i got paid properly

[gritty cargo]

Yeah fair, rooting for foodwages to increase

[errant frigate]

if i get this job i want ill have like 42 days off a year equivalent which is good

[gritty cargo]

wtf that's really good

[errant frigate]

academic job innit

in research support

id rather be on 32k and have 42 days off a year than be on 38k ans have normal holidays tbh

[frozen oar]

based

[gritty cargo]

based, time off is worth so much

[errant frigate]

choosing more money over time off and perfectly acceptable wages is for terminally classcucked americans who think their boss will notice or care if they work more

[gritty cargo]

https://www.chinaairlinetravel.com/trains/chengdu-to-jiuzhaigou-huanglong/ I should try to get here from Chengdu, it looks very pretty if these pictures are real

[errant frigate]

oh yeah thats super pretty

[gritty cargo]

Europoor mindset ✊🏻

[errant frigate]

staying winning 🫡

i will not die thinking "man i wish id spent more time filling out spreadsheets"

[gritty cargo]

I reckon I should overnight there, it's a few hours from Chengdu but seemingly big enough

[gritty cargo]

Begging for tips while you're at it

[errant frigate]

iirc the sichuan higher institute of cuisine is in chengdu right

[gritty cargo]

could very well be, the whole reason I'm going to Chengdu is because it's the capital of Sichuan, not for the pandas

so basically to try some food

haha

https://www.huanglong.com/en I have to remember this, might be nice to book tickets beforehand

[devout vault]

Not even completing the loop?

Bad

[errant frigate]

enjoy the weather

which i have heard is brutally humid lmao

[gritty cargo]

Looked into it

Kashgar to some other town on the loop

Fastest is like 24h on a regular train

lmao

figured this might get really tight if I want to visit other places

so I'll be doing half a loop

still 24h on a night train so that's cool

http://cnrail.geogv.org/enus/station/17160059

[devout vault]

But think about the map

[gritty cargo]

remember these distances are huge so to get out of a place like Golmud and get to Chengdu somehow will take literal days

if it's not HSR

[gritty cargo]

the map will get some epic extensions

it's already insane I'm going to Kashgar

[devout vault]

I would've done the full loop anyways

More new places to see

[gritty cargo]

and for a more luxurious trip I'm taking the night train back from Kashgar to Urumqi only to transfer to Turpan right after, but if you look on the map you can see that all trains from Urumqi to Kashgar go via Turpan???

just not all of them seem to stop there? so to go directly from Kashgar to Turpan would only have normal sleepers available, minimum 4 beds per room

I'm getting one with 2 beds + ensuite bathroom

[gritty cargo]

yeah but you'd then focus on the west more while I really want to see some other places too + I have to get back to Busan

check my Polarsteps and you can see I have a pretty tight planning already

I do agree it would be nice to finish the loop

might do that some other day

you can join me lmao

I hope they extend the visa exemption to next year but no guarantees

[warm basalt]

This is very good

Thank you

Max Oeigoeren

[gritty cargo]

No problem Rico

Glad to be of service

[gritty cargo]

What should I ask them

@stiff niche opinion? got some ritten planned

[stiff niche]

Where is this?

[gritty cargo]

https://tenor.com/view/bing-chi-ling-alex-mei-bing-chi-ling-alex-gif-21908053

please consult the trainlog link for a better overview

[gritty cargo]

@ocean urchin more China lore/tips: I’ve kept googling but nowhere can I find any information on why the booking for new days is only available later than when the system opens at 5am. The time that trip indicated seems to be correct, but today it’s 8:30 instead of 9. I suspect this might be temporary and someone Railway12306 has informed Trip of it. It could be that this info is available in the Chinese version of the app.

[gritty cargo]

wtf trip could not secure my ticket and all first class seats for basically all trains were immediately sold out at 8.30, crazy

I better get my night train ticket this Thursday otherwise I’ll be stuck in Urumqi and I want to take the luxury sleeper out of west china

[gritty cargo]

Volcano

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt lounge bus station Tsetserleg

[warm basalt]

This is some great stuff thanks

[gritty cargo]

@rain swan

Univers @crimson juniper

This bus doesn’t even have WiFi

[gritty cargo]

08:00+8 - 16:00 [National Road Transport Center (Автотээврийн Үндэсний Төв)] [94-88 ӨВЕ] Tsetserleg - Авто вокзал - Ulaanbaatar, Зорчигч Тээврийн Төв Bus Terminal

[rain swan]

Lol

[gritty cargo]

@ocean urchin pro tip for popular trains: the Chinese railways will release tickets for longer segments or for journeys starting closer to the origin station earlier than the rest

Their official guidance states that you are allowed to board at any station along your booked route

In this case I intend on boarding at Tulufanbei, but I’ll be trying to score a ticket from the origin station Urumqi as ticket sales open half an hour earlier for that segment

Worth the extra €9 because it’s just going to be damn near impossible to get these tickets

I even considered booking the entire trip all the way to Beijing, which is Really Far, but sales don’t open earlier for that it seems

[gritty cargo]

Holy shit I got it, there were only 5 left when I refreshed at 8:30 on the dot so you really need to set an alarm for this, I even beat Trip.com to it

Ah shit I bought it for the wrong destination shit

[warm basalt]

Max leven

[gritty cargo]

Wait no I’m good though

It’s the same train

Instead of 24h on that train it’s 18h now which is fine, I can get breakfast at the station, I just have to transfer twice to get to Chengdu but I think I’ll get there even faster now?

Until when is your shift @warm basalt I need to explain this before you go to bed

[warm basalt]

6am

[gritty cargo]

Ok good

[warm basalt]

3 more hours or so

[gritty cargo]

So you’ve seen the original plan on trainlog

Which was to stay on that night train for many hours more until Taiyuan, from where there’s a direct HSR to Chengdu

However with me booking until Zhongwei, and transferring to Zhongwei South, having some hours for breakfast, going to Xi’an and transferring again to Chengdu would bring me in Chengdu before 8pm, even with business class if I want

Also because I save €37 on the night train, I can now spend that on my two trains. The other direct train I would’ve had costs €85, my two new trains will cost €56 and either €51 or €94

Original cost and arrival time: €171 + €85 =€256,00 and 23:06
new cost and arrival time: €133 + €56 + €50 =€239,00 and 19:55

And if I want to go business class then it’d be €133 + €56 + €95 =€284,00 so more expensive, but still earlier arrival and the original route did not have business class at all

@warm basalt opinion

[warm basalt]

Doen wat je niet laten kan

[gritty cargo]

Nee hier heb ik niks aan

[devout vault]

This sounds good

[gritty cargo]

Dank

[gritty cargo]

this is going to be me in a few hours ⚠️

[gritty cargo]

http://cnrail.geogv.org/enus/route/CN~Z0070

added the new trains to the map

https://trainlog.me/public/tag/78639dfe-ea1d-4878-86a9-08345ec501dc

[gritty cargo]

16:40 - 01:43 [Ulaanbataar Railway] [276] Ulaanbaatar - Sainshand

@devout vault @ocean urchin

[rough burrow]

long train

why do all thes epeople go sainshand

[ocean urchin]

Ja vet

[gritty cargo]

Kijk de route gast

Zoveel bochten

[rough burrow]

25 rijtuigen?

[devout vault]

Vgm 27

[gritty cargo]

Veel

They have quite a lot of cargo trains wtf

[gritty cargo]

Tsjojr is een stad in Mongolië, 250 km ten zuidoosten van de hoofdstad Ulaanbaatar. De stad telt 10.400 inwoners en is bestuurlijk centrum van de ajmag Govĭsümber. Tsjojr bestaat uit Sümber, Chonchor en een wijk met joerten. Tsjojr ligt in het Tsjojrdal, een strook land van ca. 150 km lang en 10–20 km breed.

[warm basalt]

Max tsjordal

[crimson juniper]

joerten

[gritty cargo]

We’ll stop in Choir / Tsjosjr for 15 minutes, so we might be able to grab some food at the station

Behind the station is also a statue of the first Mongolian cosmonaut

Would be cool to see if I can run there, take a photo and not miss my damn train with all my belongings

[errant frigate]

hell yeah

[gritty cargo]

Got his ass

[errant frigate]

fuck yeah

look at him go

[gritty cargo]

⚠️ Tracks flooded between Erliang (Chinese border town) and Hohhot - Impact on my trip on Friday not clear yet, but it seems that I will miss a huge chunk of track from the Chinese border to Hohhot sadly. The original trip leaves at 4:50am from Sainshand and was supposed to arrive at 10pm in Hohhot, including time for passport control and even changing the gauge from Russian gauge to standard gauge at the border. I’m afraid they won’t do that anymore as the train will not be able to continue further into China than the border town. My next train is from Hohhot to Xi’an on Monday so I don’t think I will miss that, but what my travels will look like on Friday is currently unknown

Sad that I might not get to witness the change of wheels

[errant frigate]

f

[gritty cargo]

I can see the stars in the sky from the train, nice. There’s literally nothing else to see outside, there’s just nothing out here

[rough burrow]

mongolia grass though

[gritty cargo]

@lime echo @shut fulcrum

[gritty cargo]

@shut fulcrum @lime echo

[gritty cargo]

04:54+8 - 10:25 [Ulaanbaatar Railway] [34] Sainshand 🇲🇳- Hohhot ⚠️ Erlian 🇨🇳

⚠️ because of track floodings the train will not continue past the Chinese border town Erlian. No alternative transport to Hohhot nor any guidance has been provided by the Mongolian railways.

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt everywhere on the train you can find schematics next to the parts they’re showing

[grim dust]

max shitting pov

hope you've having fun living in the 1970s

[warm basalt]

Geweldig

[gritty cargo]

Dankje

Ik heb tvv gefixt

Het is een trein

[rough burrow]

magnolian plaggenhut defended by heavily armed shrek.. wtf

[rough burrow]

why is the ceiling hatches open? smuggling?

[gritty cargo]

Military inspecting the whole train

[rough burrow]

hmm @warm basalt oppinion on grid town

wonder how scenic a scenic area in a place nowhere is.

[gritty cargo]

This scenic area is mostly about watching trains come into China I think lol

Because we drove right past it

[gritty cargo]

Nice dystopian church bells

[gritty cargo]

23:13 - 05:52 [China Railway] [K7934] Erenhot (Erliang) - Hohhot

[rough burrow]

arriving 05:50.. 💀

de west chinese niks vlaktes, enjoy

[gritty cargo]

Dit is noord China lol

En ja m’n slaapritme is niet ideaal de afgelopen dagen

[gritty cargo]

Spoorlaar

[brittle forge]

Have you gone to Harbin yet?

and Jellonjiang?

[gritty cargo]

Koplopercore

[gritty cargo]

No, might go there from Korea this winter

[gritty cargo]

Haven’t heard of this yet 👀

[brittle forge]

It's Heilonjiang

my apologies

The Manchurian province as a whole

[gritty cargo]

Ah no I haven’t been further east than Beijing

You should be able to check where I’ve been on trainlog

Do you want a link?

[brittle forge]

Sure

Wait you can share that? I never knew that such a thing exists

[gritty cargo]

https://trainlog.me/Max

This should work I think

Select all years

Or at least the last and now

[gritty cargo]

it’s happening again

[rough burrow]

when vielleicht sokken

ow vielleicht mao pak like that random dude

[gritty cargo]

Already have them

[gritty cargo]

This is good

Room tour featuring AliExpress wallpaper??

[warm basalt]

Max Xinjiang

[gritty cargo]

Dit is binnen-Mongolië mongool

[rough burrow]

book it

[gritty cargo]

Overmorgen Xinjiang 😳 😳 😳

[gritty cargo]

lol

[rough burrow]

whats wrong with being at the window

[gritty cargo]

they don't want you to fall out I guess

even though there's some iron bars in front of it

[gritty cargo]

6% -> 7%

[rough burrow]

max 100% china when

[gritty cargo]

uhhh

2049

[rough burrow]

nice looking forward to it

only 24years

seems doable

stay nomading

[gritty cargo]

10:03 - 17:21 [China Railway] [D2794] Huhehaote (Hohhot) - Xi’anbei

[brittle forge]

Damn
100 years of PR China year

[gritty cargo]

We WILL be there to celebrate 🫡

[gritty cargo]

Someone walked past with a cart full with bag of this Inner-Mongolian solid yogurt snack? I think he’s trying to sell them, as he said a whole bunch of stuff in Chinese followed by “very good” in English

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt class?

[rough burrow]

staan en eigen stoel meenemen

see how the chinese react to gierige nederlander

[gritty cargo]

Good idea

I think people do that on the night trains

[gritty cargo]

Reminders set to book all my remaining trains

You can see all the upcoming locations on Polarsteps I believe (my mom said she couldn't see it on the app but it works on the website for sure)

I've also added all trains that I have booked to my trainlog, but not the planned trains just yet, because I need to make sure I have a ticket for them

@warm basalt volledige planning

[warm basalt]

!

[gritty cargo]

opinion

[warm basalt]

Good stuff

[warm basalt]

Max xingzhengzhongxin

[rough burrow]

platte vliegrn

[gritty cargo]

Jiangxi Air 8939 on 22/7/2025

Xi'an to Urumqi
↗ 11:55 GMT+8 XIY (On time)
↘ 15:09 GMT+8 URC (21 min)

Flight length 3 hrs, 14 min

Arriving at Terminal -- • Gate -- at 15:09 GMT+8

Updates: https://live.flighty.app/13aaa783-b4af-42d3-978a-3b5e96627f64

[rough burrow]

gvd no train. bad for map

[gritty cargo]

Return trip is by train

Map will be filled

[rough burrow]

could have used different track heen and terug. >:[

[gritty cargo]

The southern part of the loop, which is enormous, only consists of slow tracks

I considered it, but it would take literal days

Now I’ll go to some more cool places instead! Also good for the map

[rough burrow]

and? you have time

[gritty cargo]

actually no because I need to be back in Busan for a concert

My planning is pretty tight now

You can see all planned stops on my Polarsteps

Like 1-3 nights for most places

[devout vault]

Max binnenlandse vluchten vasteland China

[gritty cargo]

https://ur.alipay.com/_1AgjKEBdlq1fM9sHUo48J8

[gritty cargo]

https://ur.alipay.com/_1BqKfZqsv8NpuUWeYdHiyZ

[gritty cargo]

The bus driver just showed me his phone that had the text “Tianshan Tianchi Scenic Area” and “20 Yuan” on it. I paid him 20 Yuan and it looks like he’s just taking me to the scenic area I want to go to with the whole public bus, after dropping everyone off at the bus terminal in Fukang? Another passenger got on, who’s now smoking a cigarette from the seat in the front. I am very confused, but we’re getting closer to my destination!

[gritty cargo]

Bus in het park

[gritty cargo]

@errant frigate @dull wedge @crystal pier

[errant frigate]

hello max's new family

[rough burrow]

which one of the 3 is yours tonight?

[grim dust]

5*

[gritty cargo]

Please guess their ages

[rough burrow]

you just said they are all 18

[rough burrow]

is rainbow flag allowed in chinamanland?

[grim dust]

It’s not gay if the balls don’t touch

[gritty cargo]

Oh yeah true

18, 18, 18, 16 (??!!!) and 40 (uncle!)

[dull wedge]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[gritty cargo]

Jesus Chris t

It’s so much beer

[ocean urchin]

Met wie ga je trouwen?

[gritty cargo]

Gast

What the fuck

Is happening here

Every time the uncle toasts

I have to down a full glass of beer

Guess what

Another uncle has spawned in

@errant frigate please you’re my last connection to the western (even if the English fucked up) world, what the fuck is happening, every time the uncle toasts I have to down it I have so much free beer wat the fuck

[errant frigate]

oh yeah chinese drinking culture sounds hardcore

[tawdry adder]

Max beroofd arc

[gritty cargo]

https://tenor.com/view/i-survived-micah-shera-and-the-princesses-of-power-i-lived-im-still-alive-gif-18725558

[gritty cargo]

Fuckin he’ll

I don’t know how many drinks I had to down

What the e fuck was this

[errant frigate]

unclecore

[gritty cargo]

They put me in a taxi

Very nice of them but

Now I had to explain

Where to go

[tawdry adder]

home

[gritty cargo]

And if I just used Didi on my phone

I wouldn’t have to explain. Anrhjjfg

So I hope we’re going the right way

Jesus Christ

What an insane evening

[shut fulcrum]

Ah no! the honey is sweet and the weather is nice!

[gritty cargo]

@dull wedge I have now switched to a different room because the father and daughter were separately placed from the mother

I hope the 100 Yuan is worth the difference haha

[gritty cargo]

@dull wedge @crystal pier @storm hound as promised, some photos from yesterday!

[gritty cargo]

20:40+10 - 08:10 [China Railway] [Z6515] [Deluxe soft sleeper] Wulumqi (Urumqi) - Kashi (Kashgar)

[warm basalt]

Z trein

[gritty cargo]

Z

[grim dust]

where are you going after this?

[gritty cargo]

The photos for my Chinese friends

[warm basalt]

Max Chinezen

[gritty cargo]

https://trainlog.me/public/tag/78639dfe-ea1d-4878-86a9-08345ec501dc

[warm basalt]

Bedankt voor het nemen van bussen

[gritty cargo]

Oh ja moet m’n bus naar dat meer nog loggen

Kan jij dat niet voor me doen

[grim dust]

https://tenor.com/view/panda-cute-funny-tongue-lick-gif-14080887

[gritty cargo]

Minecraft

[dusty portal]

Mending

[dull wedge]

Thank you Max!

[gritty cargo]

🫡

[dull wedge]

🫡

[dull wedge]

Max, you are a good photographer👍🏻

[rough burrow]

place kinda lacks soepjurken

[gritty cargo]

Thank you

[errant frigate]

google translate says soup dresses enlighten me

[gritty cargo]

Google translate is not advanced enough for Jordi’s mixed language racism

He says that the place lacks soup dresses

Aka Arabic men wearing white dresses

[frozen oar]

soup dresses

[errant frigate]

ah right i had a feeling it was something like that after the "patient zero" comment

[rough burrow]

soepjurk

this is the name of the white thing sheiks wear

[gritty cargo]

🤣 I never heard anyone say that except for you Jordi

What’s even soup about it

[errant frigate]

considering less than 50% of dutch said they wash their hands after going to the toilet in that big poll i know which country id rather eat food in

[gritty cargo]

I hate the outcome of that map

[rough burrow]

idk I've heard lots of people copy me after I said soepjurk once.

[errant frigate]

compared to like 90+ percent of turks

even 76% english

and we're barbarians too

[rough burrow]

pretty sure its pretty truem

I even expect the real figure to be lower because people lying about the bad habit of not washing their hand s

[errant frigate]

definitely never eating in nl again

[gritty cargo]

what were you going to eat in the first place? We’ll kick you out when it’s dinner time

Interesting

We have lots of food posting in #ricos-late-night-doner-share too!

[dull wedge]

OK

👌

[static quarry]

Looking at Jordi's meals makes baked beans on toast look appetising

[errant frigate]

lmao

[gritty cargo]

Lmao

[crimson juniper]

baked beans on toast is pretty nice

[errant frigate]

thank you for defending my culture teun

[gritty cargo]

I like them but I want the beans to be warm

[errant frigate]

ive always known it to be hot food tbh

[gritty cargo]

OK good maybe I’m just making it up then

[errant frigate]

cold baked beans is like

proof of a desperate struggle lmao

life is not going well

[gritty cargo]

The last thing keeping the UK together

[crimson juniper]

ai being useless moment

[gritty cargo]

Sometimes it works really well on long summaries and long WhatsApp conversations

[warm basalt]

Max features

[ocean urchin]

Max features

[errant frigate]

✌️

[ocean urchin]

JD Vance looking ass

[static quarry]

He looks fine but the top makes him look like the world's biggest twat

[gritty cargo]

I need customers bro

Besides the Chinese all wear stuff like versaaec and Louisiana Vouuaittiuon

[static quarry]

If I am looking for someone to do webdev, why the fuck would I pick you because you got a picture with 3 asian women

[gritty cargo]

Because you think they’re cute? No one’s going to pick me, I need all the help I can get

[rough burrow]

this is just tax reasons.. if the logo size is X percent he can put it as company/work clothing.

[gritty cargo]

This isn’t true for my other clothes but I write those off as advertising instead 🤣

[static quarry]

Vielleicht tax fraud #393939

[rough burrow]

because they asume you are not wearing company clothes with large enough logo's in your time. (if clothing supplied withiut logo's it can be seen as wage in natura)

[gritty cargo]

Good

[grim dust]

https://tenor.com/view/mrbeast-ytpmv-rap-battle-squid-game-squid-game-vs-mrbeast-gif-25491394

Woman on the left looks nearly European

[gritty cargo]

😳

[warm basalt]

This looks epic

Enjoy man

[gritty cargo]

Oeigoeren

Dank

[gritty cargo]

I booked buses in China

[warm basalt]

🔥 🔥

Please give detailed reviews of these buses

[gritty cargo]

21:30 - 09:00 [China Railway] [Z6518] [Deluxe soft sleeper] Kashi (Kashgar) - Wulumqi (Urumqi)

[crimson juniper]

hoe is het slaapcomfort

[warm basalt]

Wauw

[ocean urchin]

Heftig max

[warm basalt]

Stuur fotos

[gritty cargo]

Best prima vooral gezien ik de kamer voor mezelf heb, met eigen badkamer

[gritty cargo]

Ok

[gritty cargo]

Moest wel aan de conductrice vragen of ze de tussendeur van het slot kon halen zodat hij automatisch sluit, want de rookgeur vanuit het balkon stinkt wel

[warm basalt]

Cuck chair?

[gritty cargo]

I reserved it for you

[warm basalt]

Thanks

[rough burrow]

wanneer ga jij nou eens rooooken

[gritty cargo]

09:30 - 10:27 [China Railway] [D8802] Wulumqi (Urumqi) - Tulufanbei (Turpan North)

[errant frigate]

maxmaxxing

[warm basalt]

Enjoy

[gritty cargo]

Sinkiang

I’m on a bus now

Cool I paid a guy 23 yuan and now I can use the local shuttle buses

[dull wedge]

When you get on the train Z70, buy something for eat before travel.

[gritty cargo]

Good tip

[gritty cargo]

My meeting was interrupted by these dudes

[warm basalt]

So cool

[ocean urchin]

Max situaties

[dense arrow]

When are you going to on a costume

[gritty cargo]

I want to do a proper remake of John Xina

https://tenor.com/view/bing-chi-ling-alex-mei-bing-chi-ling-alex-gif-21908053

@warm basalt

[errant frigate]

imagine being recorded in history because you did a hit and run on some kids 1250 years ago

[gritty cargo]

Cool there’s no one here, do I drive myself or what

[errant frigate]

lmao

[gritty cargo]

alright someone came out after I waved at the camera

[errant frigate]

lmao

[warm basalt]

Bussen?

[gritty cargo]

Please consult the schematic diagram of Shuttle Bus Routes

[warm basalt]

So nice

[errant frigate]

nice

[gritty cargo]

I’m basically getting a private tour lol, only two staff on this shuttle bus and it just stopped so I can take a look at this ancient Buddhist temple, literally no one else around

My phone and camera are at the verge of overheating anytime now

[errant frigate]

yooooooooooooooo

max ancient temple

[gritty cargo]

45 degrees now

I don’t think I’ve ever been in an environment that I’d classify more like a desert than this

This is probably what it feels like when you discover your first village in a Minecraft desert but it’s been raided and destroyed by Rico

[errant frigate]

lmao

rico khan the destroyer

[gritty cargo]

Funny you say that because

[errant frigate]

rico khan minecraft fortress

[gritty cargo]

My camera is becoming almost too hot to hold

Why don’t you make them white Sony

I’m in the Domed Building Remains

I don’t even know why I have two staff with me

The woman is driving and the dude just exists

Is this for safety? Or

This looks cool but it’s a bit far

Think I’ll head back unless @errant frigate has any suggestions

Waterfall dripping down my back

[errant frigate]

yeah i think thats probably

enough desert ruins lmao

[grim dust]

Max Indiana Jones arc

[gritty cargo]

Girl recommended https://maps.apple.com/place?address=Gaochang Huoyanshan Jingquxiang North Side 5 Kilometre, Gaochang, Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu China&coordinate=42.957308,89.542139&name=Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves&place-id=H2710I3F84AD86999F1&map=explore

Another half hour drive

[errant frigate]

nice

[gritty cargo]

Well rip

[gritty cargo]

@errant frigate ok yeah it’s pretty cool

Also inside the caves are signs stating that some of the original wall paintings and art are in the Asian art museum in.. Berlin lol

[warm basalt]

Max problems in the binnenlanden van China

One of the cooler areas of the world to have problems in

[errant frigate]

F

that is super cool tho

[gritty cargo]

Literally every cave has this message in some form lmao

[errant frigate]

fine british behaviour

[gritty cargo]

The so-called exploration team, damn the Chinese are throwing shade

old Uyghur man starts playing his traditional string instrument
bella ciao

[frozen oar]

nice

[errant frigate]

oh yeah lmao

[gritty cargo]

Found a visitor rest area

It’s empty

There’s a water cooler but the water feels very warm

I wouldn’t drink that

[gritty cargo]

Once again I can’t find a taxi so I’ve asked the girl working here for help

She gave me some watermelon

[warm basalt]

Max girls

Have fun

[gritty cargo]

I’m now in a car with her and her friend or family

I asked if she could take me to a place with food

[warm basalt]

Max about to get uitgehuwelijkt binnenlanden China

[gritty cargo]

She brought me to a local food court

wtf

So cool

Not even in the city

[gritty cargo]

They bought me some grapes too

[gritty cargo]

@errant frigate saw this https://www.reddit.com/r/travelchina/s/qaxGmuaLku

[gritty cargo]

15:32+2 - 08:14 [China Railway] [Z70] Tulufanbei (Turpan North) - Zhongwei

[gritty cargo]

11:28 - 15:38 [China Railway] [D2646] Zhongweinan - Xi’anbei

[gritty cargo]

16:06 - 19:55 [China Railway] [G3289] Xi’anbei - Chengdudong

[gritty cargo]

@errant frigate I am on my way to SICHUAN

[errant frigate]

SICHUAN

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt Dutch name?

[warm basalt]

?

[gritty cargo]

for SICHUAN

[warm basalt]

I don't know if

It

[gritty cargo]

has

[warm basalt]

Maybe sisjoean

[gritty cargo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crYPWoUzszw

https://www.chinahighlights.com/giant-panda/

[gritty cargo]

De naam Sichuan betekent "Vier Rivieren"

Hm

My full trip from yesterday to today is from SINKIANG to SICHUAN

[gritty cargo]

I’m Fuxing EMU @dull wedge 🥰

[rough burrow]

why did you leave westelijk china.. 😢

max not kazachstan

[gritty cargo]

Another day

Very crowded

[devout vault]

Oost tsjengdoe

[gritty cargo]

TsjengdoeDONG

Airport departure sign in the railway station arrival hall with a strange font @rain swan

[devout vault]

Max groot Brittannië

[gritty cargo]

You love to see interconnected transport hubs

[rain swan]

cool

feels minecrafty

[gritty cargo]

It shows you the amount of minutes left until your station

[gritty cargo]

Roomposting

[gritty cargo]

Proof that the weird Chinese soda drinking contest happened

[devout vault]

I count 1 Asian in the 4

[gritty cargo]

Yeah so the first Dutch guy I met through WhatsApp and we went to this market together

The second one just spawned in at this contest? We never met him before, but apparently I had texted him on WhatsApp earlier in China lol

[gritty cargo]

@warm basalt kaart

[warm basalt]

Enjoy

[gritty cargo]

11:46 - 13:37 [China Railway] [C5752] Chengdudong - Huanglongjiuzhai

[gritty cargo]

14:00+3 (I had to pee) - 14:40 [Jiulv Yuexing] Huanglongjiuzhai High Speed Rail Station - Huanglong Scenic Area

Please note that this is a bus trip

[gritty cargo]

Chris en Cassie

[gritty cargo]

(Not pictured)

[gritty cargo]

19:00-2 - 19:40 [Jiulv Yuexing] Se’ercuo International Hotel - Huanglongjiuzhai High Speed Rail Station

[warm basalt]

Kloppen deze tijden

Nachtbus??

[gritty cargo]

Nu hopelijk wel

De heenweg totaal niet

Nou dat wordt het bijna wel

Stap dadelijk over namelijk

En de opties waren

[warm basalt]

Dit is 19 uur bus

[gritty cargo]

19:40 vertrek of 21:10 vertrek

Gefixt excuus

Maar de opties waren dus

[warm basalt]

Oke beter

[gritty cargo]

Tweede bus

Om 19:40 of 21:10

Dus ik denk dat sluit vast mooi aan

Ik vraag een Chinees om dat bedrijf ff te bellen op de heenweg

Zeggen ze nee red je niet

Want je bus doet er 40 minuten over, je vertrekt om 19:00 dus je komt vast net te laat

Lekker dan

Ze wachten dus niet eens op elkaar

[warm basalt]

Heel nice

[gritty cargo]

Dus moet fucking lang wachten op de volgende

En dan duurt het nog 2,5 uur ofzo voordat ik er ben

[warm basalt]

De binnenlanden

[gritty cargo]

Chris girl

[gritty cargo]

Ik heb ze overtuigd

Ben direct naar de bussen gelopen