The minority culture here rocks!

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I met Cameron, Paul, Ian and Lincoln (all from the Gold Coast of Australia) on the way over to the Kunming long-distance bus terminal. During the 3 minute ride, we decided to form a travel group for our stay in Lijiang. This came in handy within the hour. Upon arrival to our 'sleeper bus' our driver was intent on taking bags of rice and other cargo in the passenger compartment (under the bunks) while putting our bags below. Since there were going to be many stops during the 12 hour ride, none of us were keen on this and we had a few yelling matches before he relented and allowed us to have some bags with us. He didn't try to get any of the locals to put their stuff below, so we were not having any of it. But, 5 of us were enough to avoid any problems. We arrived in Lijaing without further drama, and got there at about 6:30 am. He checked in at the Dongba Guesthouse (highly recommended by lonely planet) and then went for a hike up the hill so we could have a view of the city. The view was fantastic, but it was overcast so it was impeded. But after the hike, we had a great culinary experience at the 'monkey bar'. A local Naxi minority family has opened their home to guests for dinner. They serve what they serve, and one is welcome to join them for 12 RMB ($1.50). They served a 12 dish meal of local specialties, and it was by far the best food of the trip. We were joined at this point by Nora, a Dutch traveler who joined our travelgoup for the duration of our stay in Lijiang. In addition, a TV crew from another province was at the table, and we were filmed as part of a documentary for a Chinese travel channel. We wondered about town for a while after dinner, but we were all smashed after the bus ride, and I had not slept in a normal bed for two days. The 22 hour train ride, all day walking in Kunming (between 18 and 20 miles by my calculation) and the 12 hour overnight bus ride got to me, I was ready for bed. The next day we were going to be venturing off to the largest gorge in the world, so I was jazzed about that.

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Photos

Dinner at the Monkey Bar
Dinner is served in the courtyard

Chinese TV Crew
Two reporters and the camera man

Comments

[Rax]

Chinese are so friendly. The driver wanted to put your bag under maybe because you are the last one to get off the bus. Chinese generally will not treat foreigners bad. Maybe there is miscommunication.