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Published: February 22nd 2010
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I spent the next day roaming the streets of Vientiane. The temples were reminiscent of those in Thailand. The cultural influence was obvious in the style of the temples. A local bakery/internet cafe/book store across the street from my Hotel provide much of the night 'entertainment' for me. Calls were made to friends on Skype, emails were sent to my loved ones. I had a wonderfully made lemon tart which was hair-free unlike the one a friend made for me back home which almost had a strand of his hair in every other bite. I chuckled to myself as i ate the lemon tart remembering how much 'fun' we had eating the hairy tart.
I'm still pretty much in my nocturnal mode and decided not to sleep before my flight into China, Kunming, at 6am. I arrived at the airport pretty early and sat around waiting for for counters to open. I forgot to pack my Swiss knife into my check-in and thus dropped it into the box with sharp objects from other travelers at the Vientiane Airport. The flight was alright, probably because I pretty much slept through the entire duration. When the plane landed, we were told to
stay in our seats as the China health department was to come and make sure that we were H1N1 free before letting us step off the plane. The immigration officer was surprise to see a traveler entering China from Laos. Most people tend to exit rather then enter while the other passengers were all transiting through Kunming. After picking up my backpack, i went to feed myself with some noodles at a little cafe. I grabbed a map of Kunming for 10CNY and took a cab to Camellia Youth Hostel.
There was a bit of confusion at check in; firstly they did not have my reservation and secondly, apprently I paid for the room at a much lower price through backpackers.com. It was a Saturday and the office was not open. I was to check back on Monday which is the day I was supposed to check out and meanwhile, they gave me the key to my 4bed dorm. I chose to stay in a 4bed dorm for my 1st stop in China in hope to meet some fellow travelers to buddy up for at least Kunming. The reception of Camellia Youth Hostel was actually that for Camellia Hotel and that looked just too posh for a hostel. Walking up the stairs into the hostel wing you would see the vast difference between the hostel and the hotel. The hostel wing had yellowish wall paper and the doors looked too flimsy to provide any sort prevention from anyone who is determined to knock the door down. I entered the dorm and looked around quickly. It was empty. 4 newly made beds lay side by side across the length of the room. No signs of anyone else staying there. My mind went 'errrrr.....'. The old environment added to the spook factor. I still have my bags on me as i looked around a little more. 2 minutes later I was out of the room with my 2 backpacks still slung on me. I paced the corridor a little contemplating to upgrade to a regular hotel room. As I stood there a housekeeper walked up to me and asked if everything was alright. I must have fear written all over my face when I said 'The room's empty.' She smiled warmly to me and told me that there were 2 girls who just checked out earlier and that there will be someone else along with me later. She also kept repeating 'bu pa, bu pa.' which means 'don't be afraid'.
Some how that helped me get over my childish fear and i went in to settle in the room. I picked the bed nearest to the door and a locker. Without unpacking much, i slipped between the sheets to take a short nap with the TV on. 2hrs later i woke up and set off for the train station to get my tickets for Chengdu. There was a bus in-front of the Hostel which would bring me to the station for 1CNY. I later realised that all short distance bus rides are 1CNY, wherever you go and however long the distance. I took in the sights of Kunming as the bus traveled, making a mental note of the street names when i see something interesting. All i saw was people, suitcases, more people and more suitcases as the bus arrived at the train station. It was slightly less than a month away from the Lunar New Year and the queues for the residents to buy tickets back to their respective home towns was crazy! There was even a special tented ticketing area set up with an additional 20 booths to help ease the wait time. 20 minutes later i walked away with a ticket on the K114 for a overnight ride to Chengdu on a lower hard sleeper at 257CNY.
As i left the train station, i realised that my goldfish memory has failed me once again as i could not recall a single street name that i made a mental note on. I smacked my head as if hoping that would somehow help me recall the street names. No luck. I pulled my backpack up, hugged it as i started walking in the general direction towards my hostel, hoping to catch some sights some how along the way. The cold weather in Kunming sure made me lethargic, it was not more then 200m later that i felt sluggish and sat down by some plants and started to people watch. I had confidently walked out of the hostel earlier in my t-shirt, jeans and a cashmere wrap. Seating by the side of the road i regretted my decision. It was about 17'C which isn't really bad except for the chills that the wind brings along every 5 minutes or so. A taxi came and i quickly flagged it down and headed back to the hostel.
Back in the warm reception area, i saw a small travel office and popped in to book myself for a tour at the Stone Forest the next day.
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Brenda Evans
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Liked your blog
Good article...enjoyed reading it. I was browsing the net for China Hotel Booking when I came across your blog. Your way of writing is quite interesting...I've bookmarked it so that I can quickly go through it whenever I get time.