I'm in China these days, having crossed the border from Laos.

Yesterday was a long day to say the least. First, I got up early and caught a two hour truck to the border town. I then had to get stamped out by the Laos immigration who didn't know how to read their own stamps. The first official was convinced I had overstayed and waved me off when I showed him the extension. When he motioned to sit in some official's office I got annoyed and went to the boss and asked what the problem was. I showed him my extension stamp and he laughed at his friend and waved me through to the stamp dude.

Stamp guy informed me it was a 1k walk to the Chinese town of Mohan. 1k my ass! It felt like 3 in the blazing sun. I got there and realized that it was a national holiday (Water Splashing Festival)- hence no banks are open. I saw a couple who are biking from Yunnan to Shanghai (a suicidal route if you ask me) and they told me that some of the shops were changing cash. I got rid of my useless Lao kip and changed some US$ so I could get a lift.

I said goodbye to them and caught a ride with one of the bread buses. Bread buses are tiny minivans than when you look at them from the side or the front, look like loaves of white bread. Anyway, for 13 yuan ($1.50) I got all the way to Mengla (1.5 hrs). My luck was good because as we rolled into the bus terminal, a bus was leaving for Jinhong, the next major city. I knew if I wanted to get a flight to Kunming (and not brave the 14 hour sleeper/suicide bus) I'd have to get to Jinhong. My luck wasn't over because when I reached the bus terminal in Jinhong, I met three Americans who told me that there were a few guesthouses not far away. Whew...

I got a bed no problem, and proceeded to chat with two girls, Asina and Alessandra, who live and work in London. We grabbed some dinner at a local Chinese place (pointing to various dishes) and after I crawled into bed and slept like a LOG. I was so tired.

I got up early this morning and decided to see if I could get a flight to Kunming... and I did!! For the whopping price of 520 yuan ($65), I don't have to suffer on the bus. When I was last in China, getting tickets, be they bus, train, or flight, was such a painful procedure. Today, I walked in, filled out a form with my request and was told it was available. I quickly walked to the bank where a teller efficiently changed my money. I returned with cash in hand to the flight booking center and in less than ten minutes I had a ticket.

Am I in China? This is much too easy!!! Maybe my patience has increased...

Today I am going to relax, go to the gardens and try to find a Xinhua bookstore to buy some new books. Next stop, Kunming!