On the Way to Jinghong

We made it to Laos a couple days ago after pausing in Jinghong for two nights. According to the hostel in Kunming, the bus station was 2 hours away by bus and 1.5 hours away by taxi. We decided to leave for our 8:30 bus at 5:00 and ran into a gal from our hostel that Reid had been hanging out with the previous (headache) night who had booked the 6:30 bus for Jinghong and hadn't realized that the bus station had moved further out of town. We shared a taxi and arrived forty minutes later--in time for Kristen to make her 6:30 bus and giving us two hours to kill before our bus departed. The bus station is in a temporary building temporarily while they finish the bus station (we could see them working on it). We checked our bags and went to explore the area.

There was a large building across the street that Reid conjectured was a shopping mall, so we headed there in hopes of a coffee shop and clean-ish bathroom (figuring most anything would be an improvement over the bus station bathrooms). We found an entrance but two security guards signaled that we couldn't enter, so we wandered around the building curious about what it was passing several closed entrances along the way. We worked out that it was a shopping mall, not yet opened.

We were rewarded by seeing what we can only guess was a group of young people hoping to get hired at the new mall. When we arrived they were milling about a square and quickly got into neat rows and columns when several men in suits came out and started calling commands to them. After taking some time getting the rows and columns to their satisfaction, the suits called out a command and all the people lined up turned to their right and then proceeded, in an orderly fashion, into the office. It was quite the sight.

Although Reid was worried about the sleeper bus, it ended up being a pretty good experience. The bunks were pretty small, but our bus wasn't very full and we were able to move. Reid picked a bed in the middle and was able to just barely fit into the bunk. He took a sleeping pill and was out for most of the trip. I dozed for several hours at a time, which wasn't too bad or too awesome. We arrived in Jinghong at 6:30 in the morning very bleary eyed and were immediately descended upon by touts. It took us a while to fend them off, but to be fair, I wasn't sure if they were still trying to sell us something or just chat.

Lonely Planet was a bit devoid of sleeping options, but highly recommended a cafe for great travel information, so we decided to head there. It was walking distance so we set off down the road to find the cafe not yet open. We only had to wait about twenty minutes for workers to show up and open up one of the cafes. Luckily, they had internet and we were searching for hostels and reviews as we ate our breakfast. As we were sitting there, our friend Kristen from Kunming wanders up and asks where we were staying. She'd arrived at 4:30 am and a helpful Chinese man had set her up in a less-than-awesome Chinese hotel. Just as we were getting ready to set off for the new Many Trees hostel that was so new it hadn't even made it into Lonely Planet, a young man from the Czech Republic stopped by our table and asked, "do you know where to stay around here?" We had to laugh and confess we were also stumped. His Rough Guide mentioned a place that he hadn't been able to find--the road no longer existed, or something. So, we all set out together to find the hostel. Jinghong, we soon discovered, was warm and tropical and we were all coated in sweat when we found the hostel. It was good, but we still decided to check out a place recommended by Lonely Planet. We found it, but rejected it and all jumped in a taxi back to the hostel to check in, drink a beer, and take a shower. And it wasn't even lunchtime yet!

That's enough for one entry, check back for the rest of our adventure in Jinghong plus lovely lovely Laos.

A Wonderful Headache

Reid here. I am sitting out in the courtyard of the Cloudland youth hostel, sipping on an Americano (delicious, made with Illy coffee). People are just starting to wake up and there is a comfortable bustle around. There's a vine covered in small purple blossoms covering the wall opposite me. As I wait for my breakfast to arrive, I am enjoying the remnants of the best headache I've had in years.

It started last night, as all good headaches do, when Dyanne and I dropped down to the courtyard for a beer before an early bed time. We got into a bit of conversation with Peter, a German who has traveled to the area several times. He gave us more information on Vietnam, then gave us his lonely planet Vietnam - very nice of him! He was sitting with a group of about 10 people from various countries (South Korea, China, Sweden, Germany, and Australia). They were all very friendly and, after learning that I was from Chicago, I learned that Sue from South Korea loves Al Capone. I then learned that she was much better than me at ping pong, and her Chinese friend from Shenzhen (near Hong Kong) was even better. Dyanne had the good sense to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I, on the other hand, stayed up with this international group drinking until about 1am. At that point, the situation was beginning to deteriorate rapidly, and I judged it past time for bed.

I woke up this morning to sunlight and noises in the street. It was very early and my head hurt. Dyanne was sleeping soundly. We had a long day ahead of us that would end in a long trip on a sleeper bus. I weighed my options. I tried to sleep more. That failed, so I decided to go for a jog. I only made it about three blocks before I came to a little park that was just filled with activity. There were several groups playing the most vigorous badminton I've ever seen, a few people doing calisthenics, and a big group of people doing tai chi. I was the youngest person in the park by at least 20 years. I started following along with the tai chi from near the park entrance. After a few minutes, a couple of older ladies noticed me and emphatically gestured to an open space in the square. I joined them and did my best to keep up for about 45 minutes. My headache completely forgotten, I had the most excellent morning getting a free (and very genuine) tai chi lesson in a park overlooking a pleasant pond.

On a slightly related note, there is something very striking about the sense of community I've been seeing in Kunming. Older people doing tai chi (how many years have these same people been getting together to do tai chi every morning?), playing cards and mah jong at little sidewalk tables, etc. It definitely puts the community in communism.