開往西方的列車 Train to the west
入境烏茲別克的第一晚並沒有在青年旅館住宿，而是直接搭上了一路向西的臥鋪夜車，直奔遠在烏國西部的絲路古鎮希瓦（Khiva）。烏茲別克在地圖上看起來不大，搭個火車從東到西卻也要15小時的車程，如此長距離的移動選擇臥鋪夜車再適合不過——既不浪費白天時間又省下一夜的住宿費。
一上車，時光彷彿倒回了50年，車內的木質裝潢已經顯得相當有年紀，油漆表面也已經有些斑駁，更神奇的是走道旁邊竟然還有著燒煤的熱水爐。三等車廂稍微有些擁擠，裡面的乘客多是老人和小孩，在沒有空調的悶熱空間裡等著火車開動送來涼風。我睡在下鋪，而上舖睡的正好是兩個年紀相仿的烏茲別克青年，其中一人英文還算流利，長輩緣也莫名的好，在他的幫助下我很快就和身邊的老人家們有了互動。
Instead of staying at a hostel, I slept on an overnight train on my first night in Uzbekistan. This country doesn't look big on the map, but a train ride from Tashkent to the ancient Silk Road city Khiva still takes 15 hours, and overnight train is the best option to save daytime and hotel expenses.
The train itself is like a world from 50 years ago. The wooden and painted interior look aged. More surprisingly, the hot water barrel in the car was fueled by coal! Most passengers were seniors or children, waiting in the hot and stuffy car for the train to move and bring in breezes. My up-berth neighbor happened to be two Uzbek young men, and one of them spoke decent English. With his help I was able to interact with other people on the train.
原本以為火車開動之後，大家會早早鋪好床然後馬上就寢，沒想到真正的「夜生活」才剛要開始。首先是對面的老奶奶，開始從身上的大包小包裡拿出了囊餅、水煮蛋、小黃瓜與番茄，接著上舖的年輕人隨即掏出了兩大盒烤牛肉，並且從那個燒煤的熱水爐那邊拿來了熱水泡茶，我也拿出了上車前在超市買的麵包。這些食物擺滿了整個桌子，臥鋪瞬間變成了一場筵席。
車裡的對話當然都是烏茲別克語，我大部分時間也就是和大家分享著食物，努力從這個第一次接觸的語言裡抓出一些規則或韻律，偶爾通過懂英文的年輕人和其他老人有點互動。他們問我，你一個人旅行嗎？我說是的；接著他們又問，沒有人幫你翻譯？我說沒有，他們露出欽佩的眼神。
接著他們又開始說要來交換護照（烏茲別克似乎有規定即使本國人使搭國內火車也要帶著護照）。他們看著我護照上蓋著世界各國的入境章覺得新奇，我則看著對面老奶奶的烏茲別克護照，想像當年她的護照從蘇聯被換成烏茲別克時的光景。
What happened afterward was totally unexpected - instead of quickly falling asleep, people started taking food out and share with others. The old lady in the opposite berth took out bread, eggs, cucumbers and tomatoes, and the young men up-berth brought out two boxes full of grilled steak. They also brought hot water from the coal-fueled barrel mentioned earlier to make tea. I shared the bread I bought before broading as well. Suddenly the sleeper car was returned into a feast!
All the conversation was in Uzbek, which I didn't understand, but I tried to listen carefully and see if I can catch some patterns from this unfamiliar language. They occasionally brought me into the conversation with the help of the English speaking young man. They asked me, are you traveling alone? I said yes, and they followed, no translator with you? I answered no. They were amazed.
Afterward they exchanged their passport with me. (It seems like even Uzbek citizens have to travel with their passport in hand.) They were fascinated by the number of countries I've been to, and I stared at an old lady's Uzbek passport, imaging the day when it replaced her Soviet Union passport.
素未謀面的幾個人，在火車上透過食物很快就打成一片，兩位年輕人還拿出了事先早就準備好了的伏特加，似乎一直在等待氣氛對的時候拿出來。他們用力的向我推銷，我自知酒量不好，堅持只喝一兩口，他們也很貼心的先幫我倒好了一杯可樂，讓我喝完伏特加之後解解辣。
或許是因為時差和酒精的雙重作用，還不到十點，雖然我仍在努力地從烏茲別克與的對話中尋找規律，眼皮卻幾乎已經闔上；他們大概也看出我是真的累了，很體貼的讓我先睡了。火車相當平穩，規律的搖晃彷彿像搖籃一般有助於入眠，我在烏茲別克的第一個晚上竟然就這樣睡好睡滿了八個小時。
隔天早上醒來，火車在一望無際的不毛之地繼續奔馳著；昨天一起開趴的鄰居們也一一起來，昨夜的剩菜便順理成章的成了早餐；此時的車上除了乘客，還多了來回穿梭的小販，賣的東西無奇不有，從食物、衣服、玩具到飾品無所不包。
這趟意外豐盛（無論是就食物或是人際互動而言）的火車旅程，挽回了我前一天在塔什干留下不太好的印象——原來火車可以不只是交通工具或住宿場所，還可以是和當地人交流認識的地方；我心裡也默默決定，接下來旅程中還有16個要睡火車的晚上，我一定會在上車前準備好食物，用它們還和身邊的鄰居們搏感情。
Strangers got along quickly on the train. The two young men then brought out one bottle of vodka - I guess they'd been waiting for a right timing to do that. Although not a alcohol person, I compromised and agreed to take a little. They seemed to understand that, and were kind enough to prepare a full cup of coke on the side, to let me alleviate the spiciness after taking the vodka.
While still striving to learn something from their Uzbek conversation, jet lag in combination with the alcohol made me really sleepy prior to 10pm. They understood that and let me sleep while everyone else was still having fun. The train was very smooth, and its slight movements helped my sleep. I got a wonderful 8-hour uninterrupted sleep on the train!
The feast continued next morning with the leftover from the previous night. The train was still running in an uninhabited desert. What's different during the daytime is, many vendors went back and forth between cars, selling various items from food, clothes, toys to apparels.
This train trip made my time in Uzbekistan (even before getting to any destination) - train here is more than a vehicle or a lodge. It's a good place to build friendships with locals. There are still another 16 overnight train rides on my trip, and I now know what to do: I will always get food before boarding, and make friends with the food.
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