Dali Dali, We Like to Party
Wednesday, October 25th, 2006Dali 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]
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