Food For Thought

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The bus to Kunming was pretty uneventful. Met a Polish couple who actually live in Oregon. It’s always great to meet other English speaking people, I know I’ve said it before but I love chatting it up with them and hearing about their travel stories…especially in China. I think the consensus is the same among everyone. And we ALL have our stories…these two apparently had lost their last bit of understanding in Dali when they were taken advantage of. I’m glad I haven’t lost it yet with anyone, but I could easily see it happening.

I found the perfect place for me to end up, Camellia Hotel. I decided that since I am meeting up with Kirsty in Cambodia, that it would make sense to get my Laos visa ahead of time just in case she doesn’t want to go there and I want to enter from the south. You cannot get into Laos from the South (overland) unless you have a visa beforehand. At the airport and northern border crossings you can get a visa on arrival, but I’m not sure how I will enter and I’d rather keep options open. So this hotel actually has the Laos Consulate inside of it…perfect! And they also have a travel agency for me to figure out my trip to Yuanyang Rice Terraces! The hotel is a little pricier but for the convenience of all of this and that I can leave my luggage here while I go to Yuanyang, it was a no brainer. The bus system I took to get from bus station to hotel was pretty easy as well.

So on arrival I “checked in” for my one night here, which is two nights away…dropped off my luggage that I don’t need for my trip south…applied for my Laos visa, which I had to pay a little extra for to have it by Monday (it is now Friday and it usually takes 3 business days to get it back and well I leave Monday at 2pm). The guy ensured me that I would have it by 11AM Monday. I also bought my bus ticket to Yuanyang…a sleeper bus that leaves at 8PM and arrives at like 3AM. The travel agency guy, Mr. Chen, was most helpful…basically said all I need is one day there and it is much easier and cheaper to do it on my own…gave me some details about it and answered all of my questions. Very helpful! Finally… I had emailed some travel place I found online and for the trip I am doing for less than 100USD, this particular company wanted 788USD…I told them I thought they were ridiculous! I told them the price I would do it for and I never heard back…hahah! I also knew that I didn’t really need more than one night in Kunming when we were driving up to the city and I saw a Super 8 Motel! OYOYOY…

While I waited to leave for my bus, I got some food - pizza! And it was delicious…so much so I got another pie. Nice change from rice and noodles. Although I am still drinking my Yunnan black tea…yum…

I swear, and I’m not surprised, but I see the same people all over China…not even just around in the same city but in different cities all together…we are at the same hotels and the same places…it’s rather amusing. And there are a TON of German travelers. I think I have run into more of them than any other nationality.

Yuanyang is a small town and the places to sleep are across from the bus station, according to Mr. Chen in Kunming. I will also hire a ride to the terraces to see the sunrise and the villages in the area.

I wonder what the workplaces are like? Are there people hacking and spitting and snotting and smoking in that environment? Are we really doing business like this?

Sleeper bus is ok minus the smoking. I tried to chat it up with some of the local guys on the beds behind me. We have tried to communicate through the LP book English-Chinese dictionary and books that they have. So far we've gotten where we are from and I was told that I have good taste and to take care of myself. One guy keeps trying to write in Chinese to have me read it and I keep pointing to the “I don't understand”. I thought I made it pretty clear that I can't read but the kid insists on writing and he writes in big block characters like we would of the English alphabet to a child so they can easily read. In this case, that doesn't help.

One of them keeps coughing. I think he is hacking up a lung. Maybe he should stop CHAIN smoking!!

So the one kid still writing me in Chinese. He passed me a note which seemed like he took a long time to write. I thought, maybe it’s in English. Nope, Chinese. I tried opening it to read and he motioned for me to put it in my bag...I think for later. Maybe its a love letter - will you go out with me? Circle yes or no. Amazing. Can't wait to find someone to translate it…I’ll keep you posted.

My boyfriend just gave me an orange. He wouldn't accept my no thank you. He's sweet. But smokes a ton. It would never work out. It’s a gorgeous evening. A little chilly but it is fall. Lots of stars and nearly a full moon.

For a culture that seems so dirty, ashing wherever and spitting wherever, it’s strange to see them taking off their shoes and putting them in plastic bags to keep the beds clean on the bus... Bizarre.

So around 330AM we started stopping like every 100m along the road! I couldn’t understand and it was very detrimental to my sleep! And then again we stopped at like 430AM but I though maybe for a rest for the driver…nobody was moving but I thought it odd that we hadn’t arrived yet…I was told it would be anywhere from 5 to 7 hours…and I wasn’t really sure where I was. At about 630AM you could see that the sun was building and beautiful colors started to become the backdrop of the mountains. Once this happened, people started to stir and my boyfriend was like let’s go. Apparently, these sleeper buses allow you to continue to sleep on them until you feel like getting off, so I was in Yuanyang the whole time sleeping on the bus instead of a nice bed in the hotel! Guess I saved a few bucks but I think I would have rather had the bed!

I was driven up to the hotel, since the hotels are NOT across the street from the bus station but rather 800m above the bus station. The hotel I went to was the Yun Ti, the one that LP says “caters to foreigners”. Been here about an hour and haven’t found one person that speaks English! But I did see the sun rise so that was nice. Haven’t seen any rice paddies but I’m sure they are out there somewhere.

So I just hired a driver for the day. He doesn’t speak any English. I also ordered a bus ticket for tomorrow morning to go back to Kunming. If I can get there, it will be a miracle. Great adventure so far! Always a learning experience and I definitely have a few suggestions for LP.

The day with my driver was pretty good. He drove me to see the rice paddies all around the area. According to the guy I found at the hotel who does speak English, today was much better and I was very lucky sine it was raining all last week. However, it was very hazy. You could make out the terraces but it was definitely gray all over. I was kind of annoyed that I didn’t have my polarizer to cut through some of that. Oh well. So me and my driver, which cost 300RMB headed back out later in the day after lunch and a rest to catch the sunset (where my driver decided it would be a good time to smoke out of a bong…I’m not sure exactly what was in there but I really do believe he was just using his cigarette…I am back alright so whatever). Again, I think the weather hampered it a bit but still happy I took the ride back. You have to see these terraces in person. It’s really rather incredible…they have been around for like 2000 years and have never washed away. Entire mountainsides are landscaped with them and it is just beautiful. And I’m sure even more so when there is no haze and when they haven’t just finished harvesting the “ripe” rice. It was a little bland in colors, although I guess I did know that there would be no rice left. Still happy I made the trip down there.

We also stopped at a Hani village to walk around. It was actually pretty interesting to see and there was actually a museum on site. They pretty much stay out of your way…except the ones at the viewing points who will NOT leave you alone. They keep trying to sell you postcards and show you postcards of the view and tell you that you can get the same one from a certain area in their village, obviously for a fee. You would think that they have probably been doing this for years and would understand the word “NO” but they ignore you. They kept coming to me and I would say no thanks, then say NO and then shout NO and go away and I would leave that particular area and walk a few feet away and they would follow me. Again, non-stop trying to tell me to go take a picture from down below. They also kept poking me which put me over the edge….maybe used some explicits (amused that they couldn’t understand), which got the best of me but they were like little kids who would come up to you and point their finger in your face a hundred times saying “I’m not touching you”. You kind of want to smack them….should I not say that? Haha.

Met a number of people on this trip. The Spaniard who bought a bike in Japan and is riding his way to Laos. Elva and Clyde from Colorado. Oh these two were the cutest, sweetest little couple! They are 77 and 80 and traveling in China! We all agreed that the terraces were just magnificent and how the people, while may be uneducated by books are extremely intelligent to be able to manage and work in the fields for all this time…the harvesting and maintenance involved…etc. Their guide Judy has also been SUPER nice to me and very helpful when I’ve run into them to communicate for me.

I also witnessed both a wedding and a funeral yesterday. The funeral was first and they have a massive, I guess I would call it a parade for the deceased. White is actually the color of death here and the people paying their respects where white hats and throwing fire crackers into the street. Sometimes, at least the funeral procession that I saw in Dali, there was a big (fake) Swan, which kind of looked like a float. The bereaved woman was actually in black and was absolutely visibly distraught…it was heartbreaking to see. Two women were holding her up and helping her walk along. The wedding actually took place at my hotel. The reception and dinner was in the dining hall, which must have held about 400 people…and the mess! Oy…I think we would have been fined in the states for the mess they left. It was barely clean this morning when I went for breakfast.

I went to sleep pretty early last night…I was extremely nauseous and I think it may have just been exhaustion from the lack of sleep the night before.

I spent the morning about 20 minutes trying to get scrambled eggs. I ate with Clyde and Elva and Judy. They are so nice…she wrote down her address for me in Colorado in case I’m ever there and it was in perfect script. So old school…does anyone write in script anymore?? They brought out fried eggs or what we call over easy, I think. I dunno, they weren’t scrambled…I ate them yesterday morning just cuz I didn’t want to deal with it but today I wanted scrambled. I sent them back and 10 minutes later she came back and said no eggs (in Chinese) and I nodded yes you do. We found someone who spoke English and I showed them on their own menu that they spell out scrambled eggs…eventually got something more like an omelet…which was totally fine by me…just don’t do the runny eggs. I think they thought I was crazy that I wanted to eat my eggs like that. And I think that LP should revise their book because there are maybe, maybe 3 people that speak English at this hotel…so catering to foreigners…not so much. I will say though that the room at the hotel was lovely. Magnificent view. Comfy beds with heating pad. Back to the food, there is also on the menu, among the dog and frog and other things I didn’t understand, something called “mullet in clear soup”. Mullet? Don’t really think they meant that….

Speaking of food. I am starting to crave things from back home. Screw the chocolate and sweets, I don’t do that, but stuff like sushi, cafeteria mac & cheese, spinach artichoke dip, little meatballs from lil frankies, even Americanized Chinese food would do. Gatorade. Oooh….maybe a strawberry salad with spinach and raspberry vinaigrette with like parm or feta…

So I am on the bus now back to Kunming. Not sure what is happening…but we have stopped and a tool box has come out. Anyway, there is this poor child who keeps throwing up…I think the twisty turning roads have really gotten to him. First he threw up on himself and now in plastic bags which his mother and grandma keep chucking out the window. I have put my music on loudly so I cant hear the sound effects. But I’m fascinated by the fact that earlier I smiled at who I think is the grandma and she SNEARED at me. For no reason at all, at least any that I can imagine. And now she is just staring at me…maybe it’s the laptop, or the sunglasses or who the heck knows. I am also noticing that people doing construction are either barefoot or in sandals…its crazy, although I’m not surprised, that their isn’t some sort of code of conduct or whatever that is that needs to be in place for the “workplace”.

So back to the sides of the roads…on this strip, there are orange stands about every 20 feet. Again, how do you decide who you buy from…they are all the same, no? The driver is a little nuts…he is honking pretty liberally and passing cars along blind turns. I am in the first row and currently watching him smoke an entire pack of cigarettes…one after the other. I keep opening the window and he wants it closed since the A/C is on, I’m assuming. I tell him no and reopen it. I won in the end (obviously). What’s worse is the guy from Holland sitting next to me thinks its okay to smoke too. Seriously, you are adding to the problem.

Going to shanghai tomorrow to see Gilligan…woooo woooo!

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