ReidaBlog

Back in the USA but still have a couple of more updates to finish.

When I left off I was just wrapping up a visit to Ruili on the Chinese-Burma* border so we’ll pick up the story just after I left Ruili on my way to Dali**. It takes about 10 hours by bus to get from Ruili to Dali. Of course about 8 of these hours consist of the “Typical 3rd World Mountain Bus Ride” which is a story in itself. Those of you who have been on one of these rides know what I’m talking about when I mention: a crazy bus driver, crazy drivers in other vehicles, driving along a cliff edge at excessive speed, strange passengers offering you even stranger food, slightly sketchy rest stops, and knowing you are about to die in a fiery bus accident. For those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure…it’s a lot of fun, you should give it a try.

A two lane highway, mountain switchbacks, cliffs, and a long way down.

About halfway through we get a pit stop to eat and use the restroom. I got a chance to wander around and take some pictures of the area. The weather is hot and tropical but also not quite as lush as I thought it would be. Of course at this point we were pretty well up into the mountains.

Pretty much the whole way from Ruili to Dali we passed what looked like construction on a planned multi-lane highway. In this picture you can see the bridge supports several hundred feet high. I’m guessing that my 10 hour odyssey will be much shorter in a couple of years.

Yep, this is supposed to be a 2 lane road. And we’re supposedly on the right-hand side. Let’s just say I got quite the knuckle workout.

Now like the rest of my South China Trip there was more to this ride than I’ve detailed here. To hear about the: 3 army checkpoints, 2 passengers held at gunpoint, 1 additional busload of passengers joining our bus, 1 movie with no sound, and a Chinese guy who bargains better than Eric you’ll need to buy me a beer. Overall it was a good trip.

And I actually made it to Dali.

Dali is a pleasant little town. It still has some of its walls intact although they aren’t anywhere as impressive as Xian or Beijing. But the food was great, the weather was still warm but with a nice breeze. In fact both the weather and scenery reminded me of Western Montana. Beautiful.

One the west side of town are mountains that you can hike or ride a cable car. At the top there are a couple of pagodas and a pretty lake.

View from the city wall. Did I mention I had some pretty nice weather on my trip?

Looking north over the old city.

Finally looking east you can see the lake about a 5 minute downhill bike ride away.

The city itself is beautiful with several streams running through the middle of town.

So I asked some other tourists to take a picture of me with the mountains in the background. I must have had an accent because the family’s father decided he was going to join me in the picture. I’m sure there is a family in China telling their friends how this strange white guy wanted to have his picture taken with Dad.

Self-portrait 1. Don’t worry it won’t be the last.

One of the streams as it enters the city.

The whole city has a park-like feel. Although this was a side street and since there was festival in town not every part of town was this peaceful.

Not a gutter you want to end up in after a night of drinking.

Meg, looks like China has cows in the street too. Although this cow doesn’t look as happy as those in your photos.

Notice the lack of nails. Apparently the local building practices hold up to earthquakes very well while the modern buildings just fall down. Or so the lonely planet would have us believe. I’m betting that nails just cost more.

Wondering about the earlier Ebcot Center comment? Don’t be mislead by the earlier pictures. Most of Dali looked like this. However to be fair it also had the best food I ate in China. Kind of ironic that a top backpacker destination would have some of the best western food in the country. Well ok, not so ironic but now’s not the time for big lonely planet/backpacker rant.

Self portrait 2.

Heading toward the festival.

This part of China is horse country. Notice the cowboy hat, chain, and wife beater? Could be Texas. Well except for the billion Chinese people of course.

I forgot the name of the minority in this part of China but apparently the ‘v’ sign crosses cultural boundaries. These two girls were with their boyfriends. When I agreed to take pictures they pulled out their cell phones and dialed their friends. So if you guys have any questions about being famous feel free to ask me. I should also note that the one on the left is kind of cute.

My first Chinese graveyard. What is weird is that they seemed to be everywhere in south China but I never saw a single one in the north.

Up-close you can see the incense sticks and fake paper money. Can’t you just see the line of folks trying to get into Buddhist heaven all being turned away because their cash is counterfeit? I’d be pretty pissed.

At the festival there were a lot of “games” being played. From what I could tell the object of this one was to swing high and hard enough to knock that stick down. I stayed for about 15 minutes but these guys just couldn’t get it.

One of the other events. Pretty self explanatory…and a load of laughs. Let’s just say the Mongol bloodlines run pretty thin.

I figured the easiest way to make your way through the crowd is just follow right behind the dragon. It works. Remember, chase the dragon. Ok bad pun, please no emails.

One of my favorite China stories: this is the thief I busted stealing all my stuff. After about 15 minutes of nervously sitting on his bunk and smoking cigarettes he got up, asked the driver to stop the bus in the middle of nowhere, and hopped out. The rest of the story is best told in person.

So after the night bus back to Kunming (this is thief story) I took a flight to Guilin and then another bus to Yangshuo. I got there about 10pm on a Saturday night with no reservation. Finally with the help of 4 Chinese girls from Guangzhou I ended up with a room for $2.50. Want to know what $2.50 buys you in a touristy part of China?

I moved the next morning but at least no one tried to steal my stuff. That is one of the best things about traveling in China. For the rest of my life I can say: “Well at least “.

You know those pictures you see where the guy poles a bamboo raft on a beautiful river surrounded by unreal limestone peaks?

Well that’s Yangshuo. Probably the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever scene.

So of course I decided what better way to appreciate it than to get lost in the mountains
.

My starting point on a 12 hour bike ride/hike adventure. Let’s just say when the locals tell you there isn’t a way back to town through the mountains they probably know what they are talking about.

It was rice planting season. I saw of lot of water buffalo but every once in a while you’d see these weird contraptions doing the plowing.

It looks depressed because it just got downsized.

Let me just say that rice farming looks like really hard work (my taxi driver back to Guilin confirmed this, he got his driver’s license as a way to get out of the farming business and was pretty firm about his kids not returning to his village). One of the most impressive things I found on my ride through the villages was that there were NO kids working in the fields. Here I am in a rural farming community during one of the most labor intensive seasons and ALL of the kids are in school.

Bird flu central.

Did I mention the scenery?

Is it just me or are all the mountains leaning slightly to the left?

This is a good story.

Part two of the same story.

This is where I should have turned around. But the ferry to the other side of the river was only 10 cents.

My faithful traveling companion. You can see where I left the beaten path directly across the river. Did I mention that the blank section of the map is often blank for a reason? It was at this point where I bought some fruit and for the first time in my life (that I remember anyway) had to ask someone “how” to eat it. It was good though. Whatever it was.

Fisherman, bamboo raft. Just like the postcards.

Picture taken from the ferry. I was later told they weren’t supposed to give me a ride to the other side because the government doesn’t think the ferries are safe enough for tourists.

The next several hours trying to find my way back to town were exhausting. I was often carrying my bike up and down mountain paths through really small villages where the old people would stare and the kids you come running, then stand by the side of the road until the first one yelled “Hello!”. After that all the kids would start yelling “Hello” and the old people would smile. In fact I’m pretty sure the most common word in the world must be “Hello”.

I also noticed that the only people who would smile, laugh and waver are men between the ages of 18 and 49. Not sure why.

I’m also pretty sure you are off the beaten path when the little kid points at you and then asks his mother: “Mom is that a foreigner?”

The legendary snail graveyard.

Self portrait 3. Sunburned and too tired to smile.

These girls followed me for about a mile. When we got to their village they ran ahead shouting and laughing. By the time I got halfway through I had a crowd of kids all wanting to ride my bike.

Eventually I made it back to town. Figured I’d give you one more scenery picture.

This entry was pretty long so for those of you who made all the way to the end I figure I owe you a couple of Chinese signs. Enjoy.

I didn’t titter anywhere. Promise. Although I’ll admit I had trouble figuring out what to do with my parings. Actually I’m still not sure what to do with them.

I wanted to stay at the hotel but what was I going to do with my nuclear bomb? At least I’d remembered to leave all my poison back in Beijing.

These were actually pretty good. In fact I found the transmutation downright resistible.

Sincerely,
Reid

*I know it’s Myanmar but Germans don’t call Germany “Germany” and no one has emailed me to complain about this.
**More specifically Dali Gu Cheng which officially translates to “Dali Old City” but after visiting I’ll translate as “Dali the Chinese Ebcot Center”