Travelog

The bus arrived in Kunming early, but we sat in the bus for a long time – I guess allowing us to sleep a little longer. No complaints from me. At 6am, they roused us, and we grabbed our bags. Thankfully we were right by the train station, so Natalia and I booked our train ticket to Guilin (or Natalia booked it, as she can manage a few words in Chinese). We had said goodbye to the others, but as it turned out, we had a day to kill before our train, so we met with them at the Hump guesthouse.

Had a shower at the guesthouse, on the sly, then met up with a guy named Glen who had just arrived from America. He joined us for breakfast. At one point he asked if we wanted a beer, and we reminded him it was not quite 8am in the morning. He was still on U.S time, so it seemed perfectly normal to him, but he opted for a coke instead.

After breakfast, Glen, myself, and Natalia headed to the lake in Kunming, to relax and to check out the bird and flower market en route. Did some reading in the park, then headed to the University area, to meet up with Craig, Jonas, and Kathy at Salvador’s Cafe for lunch.

Shopped around the University area for a bit, after that. Some arty shops and the like, that were fun to check out. After shopping we figured we better get our bags, and head to the train. At the Hump, we ran into a friend of Natalia’s – Peter from Denmark, who was also going to Guilin, so we shared a cab to the train station.

Checked in at the train station, and then boarded the train. We find out it’s a 16 hour journey, not the 10 we were expecting, so we settle down for the long haul.

We were all up early, so we could get a head start on the last little bit of the trek.  The french fries we’d had for dinner were so good that we ordered two more for breakfast.  After everyone was finally up, we got underway.  More of the same on the trek, but with a few more goats and some waterfalls.  Waterfalls running right over the the trail.

Our destination was Tina’s guesthouse, so we stopped there for a drink.  A few people were planning on spending a night, but I was staying behind.  Sadly everyone in my group was heading on, so I said goodbye, and had to wait around Tina’s for Craig, Jonas, Kathy, Roriku, and the Kims.  They showed up about an hour later, and wanted to eat, so we did that, then made our way back to Jane’s guesthouse to collect some bags.

The bus back to Lijiang broke down a couple of times in the onset, but after the driver fiddled with a few things, we seemed good to go, and were able to eventually make it back to Mama Naxi’s guesthouse.  Wandered around downtown for a bit, and ran into some of the Koreans who hadn’t gone onto the gorge with us.  We said our goodbyes to them, then headed back to the guesthouse.  Kathy, Jonas, Craig and I booked our bus.  Mama Naxi gave us a bag with some bananas and exclaimed “Banana four people”, which we immediately decided ought to be “Banana For People”, which seemed like a good Communist propaganda slogan.  Natalia, a Russian girl living in Ghana, was also heading to Kunming on the bus, so the 5 of us headed to the bus station together.

Sleeping on the bus is pretty much second nature now – and I was lucky enough to have two beds, so it was pretty roomy too.

I order porridge for breakfast, but end up with muesli.  It’s pretty tasty, so I don’t complain.  There are about 15 of us heading to Tiger Leaping Gorge to do an overnight trek, so we take up 3 vans and make our way there.  The buses stop to make one stop, which has a pretty scenic view, so we take some photos, then continue to the gorge.

Several of us are leaving bags at the first guesthouse we come across, which is called Jane’s, and run by a ladyboy.  We decide to eat lunch there too – but it takes forever.  Finally, with everyone sorted, we head out towards the gorge.  In tow are Kim and Kim, from Korea; Ruriko from Japan; Anna and Anna from Holland; Aidan, Alan, and Wolfy from Ireland; Daniel, a fellow Canadian; Jonas from Finland; Kathy from England; and Craig from England, but living in China.  Not content to wait for lunch, the Dutch girls had set out before us, but eventually we run into them at the Naxi Family lounge – part way up the 900 metre ascent (we’ll eventually be at 2650 metre elevation).

We branch off into different groups, and I seem to be a part of all of them at some point.  The Korean, Japanese group is going a little slow, so I move up with Craig and Jonas, and then eventually we catch up with the others.  We stop several times along the way to relax and enjoy the view.  Our destination is Halfway House (which is really 3/4 of the way House) and we make it there eventually.  The guesthouse advertises scenic bathroom views, and they’re not kidding.  Quite nice.  We all shower, then grab some food and drinks and stare out at the gorge.  Quite a lovely view, and the price is good – with only Alan, Wolfy and myself in a dorm room for 20 yuan (less than $3).

Up early, and figure the others will be in bed for a while, so I go grab some breakfast and mess around on the internet.  When I finish, the women running the cafe suggests I check out the market.  She points it out on a map, but Lijiang is a mess of small narrow streets, so I’m not sure I’ll find it.  “Just follow the women with the baskets on their backs.” She tells me, so I figure I’ll give that a try.

I find the market eventually, but after going way out of my way at one point.  Had I made a left at one point, I’d have found it much easier.  When I do find it, it’s quite big and bustling with people, and I’m not sure how I managed to miss it.  Must have been a lull.

After the market, which I just walk around in, since it’s mostly fruit and vegetables, I follow a bunch of Chinese tourists, who seem to be heading towards something.  A lot of the young girls are dressed up, so I’m under the impression some sort of event is going on, but maybe people just dress up on Sundays.

The herd leads me to Black Dragon Pond park, which used to cost 80 yuan ($9) to enter (park/sight prices are outrageous in China – at least in comparison to a 30 yuan ($4) room).  Nice park, but nothing terribly outstanding.  I meet a Chinese girl who seems to work at the park, although I am not sure what exactly she does.  Her name is Fei, and she’s pretty depressing – but wants to practice her English (which isn’t too bad already), so I listen in.

After the park I try and find my way back to the guesthouse, running into a British woman, Kathy, at one point.  She’s at the same hostel, but a different building, so following her is useless.  I find my actual guesthouse soon after, and run into the Irish boys, and a few others who have arrived from Dali.  They’re all going biking, but the weather looks like it’ll turn to rain at any moment, so I pass.

After another great dinner, I help Stephanie with her hard drive, which doesn’t seem to be working anymore.  It’s a little difficult to accomplish much on the computers, which are all in Chinese.  I tell her everything should be okay, and to try another computer, so we’ll see what happens.  Alan, Wolfy and I head out to see if we can buy some pants (I still haven’t gotten a pair since I had mine stolen).  I don’t find anything worth buying, but the other two do.  We buy some snacks for the gorge trip in the morning, and since it is pouring rain, figure we may as well sleep so we’re rested for the trek in the morning.

Wake up and creep out of the room, so the Irish boys can sleep.  They didn’t get in until quite late.  I go to my usual place – it’s cold, so I have some porridge.  Quite tasty.  I wander around the old town for a bit, then head back to the guesthouse

The Irish guys (Alan, Wolfy and Aidan) are up, and heading to Lijiang this morning, so I find out where they booked their tickets, to see if I can tag along.  I head down to the ticket office, and manage to get the last ticket on the bus.  I have just enough time to head back to the hostel, grab my bag, and get back to the ticket office to catch the bus.

Bus ride isn’t too bad for me, despite the Chinese guy that spends most of his time sleeping on me.  The Irish guys, along with Stephanie from Germany, are in the back row – and tell me later that they were pretty cramped.  The driver is terrible, and goes way too fast, and takes too many risks, but we manage to make it  alive.  In Lijiang, we phone Mama Naxi, to pick us up and bring us to her guesthouse.  The van can’t go into the old town, so we have to walk a bit, but it’s not too outrageous.

We check in to a 6 bed dorm at Mama Naxi (along with Bill, an American guy we met at the bus station), then head down to the common area for her dinner.  Word of mouth is pretty important when you’re travelling, and the dinner at Mama Naxi’s had been recommended to me a few times – most recently by the Dutch couple in Kunming.

Dinner was quite good – a buffet style Chinese spread.  Quite nice, and plenty of it, for less than $2.  After dinner we walk around old town, then Bill, the Irish guys, and myself check out an Irish pub.  It’s not too great, but has a nice view of the city, and plays some decent music, so it might be worth coming back to.  The sun sets, and I wish I had a tripod to get a nice photo of the lit up hill in Lijiang at night.

Got up quite early.  The Irish boys in my room were off to visit some villages, so they were up early too.  I told Aidan I planned on chilling most of the day and he joked that it was a good thing I was up early so I’d have the whole day to chill, not just part of the day.

I grabbed my cds (not really sure why), and headed to Lost Angel.  Jessie, the owner, was playing some good music, so I asked who the artist was.  She wasn’t sure, but went on to say I could download any of her music if I wanted to.  I pulled out my cds and said she could take any of mine, too.  She was interested in a few, so I copied them over to her computer.

Wandered around Dali, then headed to the guesthouse and moved some music over to my ipod.  In the evening I went and grabbed a book, then headed back to Lost Angel to put some more music on Jessie’s computer, and get some dinner.

After dinner I headed back to an unusually quiet guesthouse.  The tv/dvd was free, so I threw in Jumper.  I’d read the book before, but the movie was pretty different.  Not entirely bad, but not too good either.

The  guesthouse seems overrun with Koreans, so I spent some time talking to them.  Nice group of people, and they all seem to be heading towards Lijiang as well, so I might be seeing them around for a few days, at least.

Got up and headed to the Lost Angel cafe for breakfast.  Dave, the owner of the guesthouse had recommended it, so I figured I’d give it a shot.  Breakfast was pretty tasty, and every table had a laptop, so I managed to get a bit of internet stuff in as well.

I’d rented a bike from the guesthouse, so from the cafe, I headed north on the main road.  Dave suggested I check out the north of the island, so I figured I’d give it a go.   The ride there was pretty good – with some nice scenery, as Dali is wedged between Erhai Lake and a mountain (which also has a name, I am sure).  There were plenty of kids on the road, and a lot of them were pretty excited to see a foreigner, it seemed.  I exchanged hellos, but the language barrier was pretty tough to break after that.

I was pretty beat on the way back, a combination of a lack of fitness and a lack of food, I think.  Had a shower in the guesthouse, and then did a bit of reading in the common area.

Wanted to stay up later, but sleep grabbed me at about 10pm, and I didn’t put up much of a fight.

After an uneventful bus ride, I arrive in Dali.  In Kunming, I’d asked a girl at the hostel to write down the Chinese directions to my next destination, Jade Emu Guesthouse – so I showed that to a taxi driver, and was on my way.

It was too early to check in, so I grabbed a coffee, and jumped on the internet for a little while.  The place is brand new, and run by an Australian guy – the best thing had to be the power chargers in the security lockers – perfect if you want to charge an ipod, or phone, and not watch it all the time.

I wandered around old town – it’s quite touristy, but doesn’t seem so bad, because 99% of them are Chinese.  China has made acquiring Visas a little tougher of late, because of Tibet and the olympics, so I think a lot of people have decided to skip it as a destination.  But the Chinese are in full force.

Had dinner downtown, then headed back to the hostel to relax, read, and chat a little.

Gabriella’s Birthday! Andrew’s too. Got up and got ready to visit the Stone Forest. By the time I made it to the bus stop, it was 11:15am, and the next bus would be at 11:30. I contemplated for a bit, and decided against going to the Stone Forest, as it was 2.5 hours away, and the last return bus to Kunming would be at 4. It was also expensive, so I might save it for a return trip to Kunming – as I most likely have to head back this way on my way to Hong Kong.

Decided to head north through Kunming (I was at the Southern Bus terminal), making a few stops on my way to the lake. Had some Across The Bridge Noodles, a Yunnan province specialty. I was given about 10 plates with different things on them, then a bowl of noodles and a giant bowl of broth. I assumed the idea was to add everything to the bowl of broth, and did so.

Nice park by the lake, which I wandered through for a bit. Stopping to read on occasion. It seems very dry here compared to the humid south, so I headed to the Chinese Wal-mart, to get some lip balm. Pretty much the same as our Wal-Mart, although poorly organized. Wasn’t hit by any falling prices, thankfully. I managed to find the checkouts and pay for my balm, then made my way back to the hostel to work on this journal, and upload some pictures. “Into The Wild” was playing next to the computer lounge, so I watched a bit of that too.

Bed seemed like a good idea, so I tried that next.