Goodbye China, Hello Vietnam!!!

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After leaving Tibet I went through the Yunnan, the southern province of Chin, quite quickly. I felt I had stayed too long in Lhasa, and the cold weather was not to my liking. I arrived in Zhongdian (Shangri-la) by plane on Wednesday 14th November, and it was snowing. The city was empty, almost deserted, byt nearly everyone except a few daring tourists. November onwards is not the time to head for this part of the country. It was nice to have some peace and quiet, but it was very similar to Tibet. True enough, most people that go to Zhongdian are the ones that want to get a taster of Tibet without actually going there.

I spent the day exploring the town with a lovely Australian girl who was also Chinese. She had been there before and she had now returned to do some volonteer work at a school in a small village outside of town. I though she was brave, doing that at wontertime. But as she was Aussie, she said she did not get to see much snow, so she cherished it. How different one can be!
I convinced another lonesome traveller, a man from France called Antona, to share a twin room at the hostel with me. It was slightly more expensive than the dorm, but we got heating and a private bathroom with hot shower. It was well worth the money.

The next day I caught a bus to Lijang. It was a 4hr bus journey on a minibus and it was freezing. There were only men on the bus and they all smoked like good damn chimneys!!! (I haven't mentioned it yet, but they smoke everywhere, and I mean absolutely EVERYWHERE in China. And then they spit everywhere as well. It's not the nicest thing, I'll tell you that!) The snow had fallen heavy on the ground, and it was hard to see anything in front of you. As we went along it got warmer, and by the time we got to Lijang, there was no snow. It was still cold in Lijang, but warmer than Lhasa or Zhongdian. I knew it was going to be warmer the further down south I went, and as the altitude got lower.

Lijang is a lovely place, very picturesque and beautiful with it's old town and cobbled streets, old buildings and small streams flowing through it. There are girls on the street dressed in traditional outfits trying to sell you something or another or simply try to get you to come into their restaurant. The beauty of the place is dampened by the sometimes overwhelming amount of Chinese tourists trying to squeeze past you in the narrow streets. Or the heavy thumping of the techno in the background, coming from one of the many bars and pubs which Lijang is famous for. It get's to be too much, and the next day I decided to catch a bus to Dali.

Another 4hrs in a minibus, but this time much warmer and nicer than the last. I made it to my guesthouse okay, after a small tiff with the taxi driver over the fare charge. Dali is much nicer, and more spread out than Lijang. There is a New Dali and Old Dali, and it's in Old Dali where most people stay. I met a lovey guy staying in my room, Jonce, from England. Together we spent a few days exploring the two cities and the surrounding area. Dali is beautiful and the people are very friendly. We got to meet a few locals who showed us around and explained the culture to us. Dali is home to the Bai people, the indigenous people of south China. The language they speak is different from that of the Chinese, and they have different customs.

After a few days I headed over to Kunming to start my exit out of China. I got my visa sorted and caught a mild case of stomach bug before, which rendered me unable to leave my bed for two days. After that I was okay, and I caught the overnight bus to the Chinese border town of Hekou. Sleeper bus is a funny thing, and one experience I do not wish to have again. There are bunk beds on either side of the bus and one row in the middle. I ended up in the middle row, which have beds at a 90 degree angle. Now I am not a fussy sleeper, but how someone is supposed to sleep at such an angle is beyond me. Throughout the night different parts of my body would be asleep (numb) and I would keep sliding down until I was curled up at the base. It was just bizarre, but an experience nonetheless! =) Our bus left on time but was delayed as we had to help some people that were stranded from a broken down bus along the way. We were supposed to arrive at 7am but got there at 2pm. There were no toilets onboard, but the driver generally stops on request, mainly early evening or morning, but not much at night, so one has to be prepared. The border crossing was quick and painless and the people in Vietnam are a lot friendlier than I've been told, so that was a pleasant surprise. They are very persistant though, and they will pester you forever unless you're stern.

I'm in Sapa, northern Vietnam at the moment. It's very nice and well worth going to, but it would have been better if the weather had been good. It's fairly cold here, like Kunming, because it's so high up. I didn't expect to see so many tourists around, but almost every face you see seem to be that of a westerner. I am leaving tomorrow for Hanoi, you can see this town in a day, unless you want to spend time in the surrounding area, which at the moment I'm not to bothered about.

I've not attached any pictures as this computer is very slow, but I will try to do it soon! Take care my little ones!

x Eva

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