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Published: August 28th 2009
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It took me 12 long days and a question crept into my mind (as well as it being asked by travellers on the road) nearly every one of those days: why the hell didn't I just fly to Shangri-La? It was hard work, I got frustrated, pissed off, freaked out, exhausted, ripped off, robbed of my shoes, robbed of my sanity all in the hope of becoming some form of off-the-beaten-track traveller (says me with my 3 bags, hair straighteners and Mac Laptop!)
And was it worth it? HECK YES IT WAS!
Despite the drama it was an awesome experience, I met some amazing people, saw some incredible sights, took some random and super dodgy forms of transport and ate some bizarre local snacks. I've been invited into locals homes to drink warm butter tea, danced with Tibetans to traditional music at the local square, eaten yak hamburgers with a side of sunflower seeds and shared scorpion whiskey with Laotion villagers! I spent 5 hours with 18 villagers, 1 pig, 3 chickens and 6 bags of rice in a tuk tuk built for 8 people on my first leg of my journey to Shangri-La! After 3 days chilling and
sight-seeing in Luang Prabang, I headed to the bus station to take the bus to Nong Khiaw, a village in Northern Laos, and was pointed in the direction of an extremely over-crowded tuktuk which was to serve as my 'bus' to the village. I threw my backpack on the roof and squeezed myself between two village elders and attempted to communicate with them through random hand signals and a rough game of Pictionary. They laughed most of the way to Nong Khiaw, not sure if they were laughing with me or at me but it was good fun! Nong Khiaw is a tiny village and I appeared to be the only foreigner in town, that was until around dusk when a boatful of travellers arrived from Luang Prabang. Which explained why I was the only foreigner on the tuktuk and at the bus station, apparently the boat trip is the way to go! Oh well.
The following day I took a fabulously spacious minivan to Oudomxay, my last stop in South East Asia! The town has nothing going for it, I was the only one in the minivan getting off at Oudomxay as everyone else was headed for the
picturesque town of Luang Nga Tha. After getting off the bus I wondered if I should have gone with them, but the bus station had signs in Mandarin and buses leaving for the border so I stayed. My 'bus' ended up being the dodgiest minivan I have ever seen, the seats were all torn up, the backseat had sunken to the floor and we dodged chickens, children, potholes and landslides at 5 times the speed limit driven by a masochistic and possibly homicidal driver. I'm amazed I survived to tell the tale! At the Laos/Chinese border of Boten I befriended a Chinese girl who spoke English and was heading to Jinghong, the same place I was going to. She helped me across the border and noticing there was no money exchange available at the border, and knowing that no country wants my Laotian Kip (and I had a LOT of it) I started to freak out that I would have a huge wad of unusable money. At the exit of the immigration office, 3 ladies with bum bags started shouting at me asking if I wanted to exchange Kip to Yuan. I knew they were dodgy, and I knew that
I would be ridiculously ripped off, but I had little choice! So they scored a massive profit from me as I left my kip with them and entered China with a much smaller bundle of Yuan.
We took a tuk tuk, 2 minivans and a private car to take us the 3 or so hours to Jinghong. I was so happy to find an internet cafe as it had been a while since I checked facebook (my main portal of communication with friends back home and those I have met travelling) to discover that the heavy hand of the Chinese government had blocked facebook, twitter, youtube and countless other sights due to clashes in the Xinjiang Province. The thought of no facebook for 6 whole weeks is devastating! (sad, but true.)
After 2 days wandering aimlessly around Jinghong I took a 10 hour bus ride to Kunming, the biggest city I've been to since Bangkok (nearly 2 months ago). I haven't needed to pre-book any accommodation so far on my trip, so I figured Kunming wouldn't be any different, and boy was I wrong. After 10 hours on the bus I spent a further 2 hours walking
aroud the city with my ridiculously heavy backpack going from one hostel to the next to find everything was completely booked out. I was told to try the hotel in the middle of the city, and it should cost around 250 Yuan (my daily budget is 160 Yuan). I was so over it I didn't care, so I went and checked in, and she handed me the bill for 750 Yuan. After her telling me over and over that no it's not a printing error, it really is 750 Yuan, I handed over my Mastercard and burst into tears. It was only the second time in nearly 4 months of travelling that I've broken down (the first was on my third day of travel, being extremely sick in India and wanting to go home) and I think I needed it! So I tried to make the most of my 4 star experience, used every single freebie toiletry, watched free movies until I fell asleep, and piled the plush soft pillows all over my bed for extreme softness! In the morning I had a free buffet breakfast and made myself nearly sick trying to make the most of money by eating
everything that was on offer! I ate omelettes, coco pops, spring rolls, black forest cake, glazed danishes, bacon, potatoes, croissants with New Zealand butter, fresh pineapple and watermelon..... no wonder I felt sick after! I know there is heaps to see in and around Kunming, but after spending my weeks budget on one night, I didn't want to give it a second chance, so I jumped on the bus to Dali!
Part 2 coming soon!!!
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Emma
non-member comment
poor thing
oh that sucks. i can't believe they charged you so much. don't let it get you down sweetie. I'm glad you took advantage of all the free things. i would have tried to put food in my bag for the reat of the day. and taken everything not bolted to the floor. grrr. i'm angry at them for you. And whats with the no facebook policy? how stupid is that.... well i hope you are having alot of fun. Miss you heaps. love ya!!!!