Hangzhou Hotels
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I'm too big for Asia
Entry 12 of 14 | show all | print this entry |
I can't count the number of times I have hit my head on a door way that is just a little too short. It hits that very top part of my head like it wants to take a little slice off the top. And its not just short doorways, everything here is just a little too small. When I went shopping for jeans in Kunming, I would start looking and the sales people would walk up and say say "Oh, you big size!" and then they would go about finding the largest pair of jeans in the store, usually returning with a 36 or so (I wear 32). We took a bus to the bottom of the Yellow Mountains and I hardly fit in. It was a sleeper bus which, first of all, is bad news in and of itself. They pack these little buses with three rows of bunk bed sleepers. You lay on a little incline because the person behind you puts their feet in a compartment below your head. Chinese people have a hard time fitting in them. When we walked on the bus I was wearing a small day-pack backpack and because of the line of people pushing me from behind, I got lodged in the aisle. My shoulders were pressed in front of me reaching for each other and I was pushed until I could do nothing to free myself. My backpack prevented me from turning, not to mention I would have to dislocate my shoulder to accomplish that task. I had to slide down onto my knees and crawl along to my bed. When I finally found my bed, people were laughing at the prospect that such a giant as myself would actually squeeze my huge-ness into such a small space. I wedged my feet into the compartment and sat on the bed with my butt about where my face should be, on the incline. Not my favorite sleeping position I admit, but eventually, after a lot of rolling around, I managed to squeeze myself in laying in the fetal position with my butt hanging slightly off the edge. Then the video started. These buses are equipped with several TV screens to keep people occupied instead of thinking about how miserably uncomfortable they are. However, its at the drivers discretion what video should be played. This particular driver enjoyed videos of Chinese circus acts. Loud Chinese circus acts with bad singers and horrible comedians. Video after video of them. And just when you think you're going to give up and break the glass, rolling yourself on to the busy highway, someone starts smoking. In a bus with no windows that open, people smoking. Its amazing, the only way to travel.
So today we're in Hangzhou taking a break. After two days of hiking the Yellow Mountain stairs, we're pretty tired. Two full days of hiking stairs up and down to see some of the most amazing scenery in the world. We'll post pictures soon. Then for my birthday we're heading to Long Shan, the village I used to live in. I'm starting to realize that the trip is coming to a close. I come home in 10 days and and Jeff comes home in about 193.
One of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut wrote a play called Slapstick. And because of his recent passing, I have though a lot about it. In the play the Chinese have become so advanced that they find a way to shrink themselves to microscopic proportions and live on other humans. Just something to think about for the day.
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