Melting

My bus from Kunming to the Vietnam border town of Hekou left promptly at 7pm. The sun was setting quickly, and after only about 20 minutes, it was too dark to read and since there were no lights on the bus, I pulled out my handy but geeky headlamp and read some more. The bus seemed to be lurching and having some problems, and after another 15 minutes or so, we pulled over at a rest area, where we were suddenly stuck for about an hour while the driver and his helper, plus two men from this little repair shop took out the gear shift and messed around with some bus parts for a while. After going to get another part and installing it, we set off again, a little late but nothing to be concerned about. Or so I thought. [read on]

Dali is one of the more popular tourist destinations in China, especially for backpackers, known for a laid back vibe, beautiful scenery and the availability of certain herbal delights. I was more intent in getting out of the city of Kunming and seeing some nice countryside again, and booked an afternoon bus to Dali which would take about 5 hours. There was also the option of taking an overnight train, but seeing as that takes 10 hours, I didn’t see why anyone would do that. After eating some breakfast and packing up, I hopped in a taxi to the bus station. Kunming streets are clean and easy to navigate, but are a real pain in a car, as you have to drive very far out of your way and do a U turn instead of being able to just turn left at any given intersections. But after only a few minutes, I arrived at the bus station, ticket in hand, and made my way past all the hawkers to find my bus. Showing my ticket to a few people, I was finally directed to the back of the station, and shown a minibus that had the Dali characters on the front. My bags were thrown in the back, and I sat on the  minibus, by myself, and waited for it to leave. No other people got on, however, and a nagging feeling started at the pit of my stomach. Something didn’t feel right. [read on]

After buying my subway ticket to the stop nearest Shamian Island, I waited for the train for only a few minutes. Since there didn't seem to be any way to tell what stop we were approaching,  I had to count ... [Continue reading this entry]