Categories
Recent Entries

Archives

December 16, 2004

Its Chinese to Me!!

Wow. I seem to be developing a bad habit for putting a few weeks - or months between each blog entry. Sometimes it just can't be helped. The internet connections in Vietnam were abominable and just about all the pull down menus on computers in China are in - you guessed it - Chinese!! Who'd have thunk it?!

After Amanda and I tearfully parted ways until mid-January I found myself all alone on a train headed to the beauty of SaPa in northern Vietnam. After travelling with such an excellent person for the last few months it was overwhelmingly lonely and intimidating to be on my own. Somehow, little ol' Amanda made that big, bad world a little easier to deal with. The ride from the airport back to Hanoi was a blur of kleenex and honking - and curious stares at the red eyed foreigner.

When I got to actually got to SaPa the place was covered in a freezing fog. Those great views I'd heard about were not to be seen. I attempted to explore the town but only got as far as the church before spending the rest of the day freezing in my hotel room trying to warm my feet by the tiny hole of a fireplace. The heat of the last few months left me with few warm clothes. The fog lifted the next day to reveal grand vistas from my balcony and a wish that I had more time to spend here. The hill tribes in the area walk around town in their traditional garb and I tried to snag a few photos of them from the balcony at breakfast. I wasn't being as sly as I thought and was caught by a little Hmong girl named Zu who asked me to come read some of the English letters people have written her over the past few years. Her family puts up foreigners when they go on treks out of SaPa and she seems to have found some excellent penpals. I read some of the letters she'd been keeping though her own English was very good. We chatted for an hour or so until I had to catch the bus for the border to China. If you are ever in Vietnam be sure to go trekking in SaPa. If you're lucky you may just get to meet Zu and her friends. I bought some vibrant oranges from the local fruit market, caught this kid peeing, and was off!

From SaPa I travelled to the border and crossed into the China, a long hassle of a story cut short. With Mandarin phrasebook in hand I pressed on into a world where English words only exist on Coke cans and just barely at that. It was weird to go from a world of tourism where even the lowly moto driver knows enough English to help you find a bank to a world where foreigners pretty much don't exist. Getting enough Chinese Yuan for the bus ride to Kunming was in itself an epic journey in Chinese bueracracy. Lesson 4,345,351: Don't show up to China without cash!

Whoever thought of an overnight bus with beds instead of seats should be given a Nobel Prize! My first comfortable journey on a bus. It must be noted. What also must be noted is my introduction to the Chinese national past time of hocking up flem. And incessant smoking. Luckily I didn't have a top bunk and a majority of the smoke stayed up there! The bus pulled into Kunming when the city was still asleep. I stumbled off to the bathroom where I immediately decided to hold it after watching Chinese men in line watch other Chinese men take a crap! Wouldn't they just love to see a foreigner use a squatter!! Not this whitey! I stumbled through the city as it slowly came to life while trying to use my Lonely Planet map to find the hostel. Again LP proves how much they suck. The map was crap, a phrase I should copyright. I called a cab for a quick ride to the hostel and was in a gloriously hot shower in no time at all. This was followed by an amazing lunch of handmade noodles in a special soup that was my first introduction to the excellent food in China. Finally, Chinese food the way it was meant to be! With my belly full of food I was off yet again.

Heather and I made plans to meet in Kunming but had to wait for her China visa to come through in Hong Kong. To my great surprise her visa came through faster than usual and she booked a flight for that night!! I met her at the airport and watched in amazement as she told the cabbies that we weren't paying their rediculous prices - in mandarin!!! She was chatting with these guys like she was born speaking Chinese. And to a decent degree she can read it!! Next time you see her you'll have to drag her to your local Chinese restaurant. Then again, they'll probably speak Cantonese and it will all be for naught. Unless they have good spring rolls. Good spring rolls are a rarity.

The next day I took Heather back to the handmade noodle shop where she thouroughly enjoyed a bowl of her own! When Heather is full she speaks better Chinese. Its true. You ahve to feed that animal! We spent the day exploring little back alleys and markets that I never would have ventured on my own. Heather found a hole in the wall dumpling shop and ordered us up a killer dinner later that night.

Now that my personal Chinese interpreter had arrived we could make plans to leave Kunming and really explore China!!

Sorry this blog took so long to get posted. The blog is NOT dead! Read on!

Posted by Josh on December 16, 2004 03:18 PM
Category: Where are we?
Comments
Email this page
Email this entry to:


Your email address:


Message (optional):




Designed & Hosted by the BootsnAll Travel Network