Hells Bells
Trip Start
Apr 04, 2004
1
10
34
Trip End
Jun 07, 2004
Dali,
Yunnan,
China
Saturday, May 8, 2004
7th May 2004
Rosie is pleased to see all of us. Mark and Katie have returned to Dali with me to stay at the Space Cafe. Todd reappears later. I rustle up some of my signature Space-burgers which we wash down with plenty of Dali beer. We are all tired. For me it feels like I'm home. Next day we sit around the yard washing clothes and playing pool. Rosie trims up my beard which has been growing at a surprising rate. The moustache part is the most troublesome. When drinking, the hairs that protrude over my top lip catch droplets of beer which are then blown forwards when speaking. A case of 'spray that again'. Rosie becomes contemplative. Evidently the neighbours have been up to mischief again making snide remarks in the street about her entertaining all these foreigners in her 'whorehouse'. It's just plain old jealousy and xenophobia on the part of the bigots in this neighbourhood.
Undeterred by it, I visit Xiaguan Police station for another extension of my tourist visa. It involves a photo and a few questions and its all done quickly and painlessly. Todd and I decide to go and wander about Dali looking for some girls to play with. Rosie is playing hard to get. We catch a brightly coloured tuk tuk so as to not make our movements too bloody obvious and ask the driver if he can recommend any establishments that might satisfy our desires. We're looking for the sort of bar you might find in one of Thailand's main hotspots. I should say that hand gestures are necessary to convey our intentions to the driver. The yellow and red tuk tuk looks like something created for children's daytime TV as it pulls up somewhere near the West gate of Old Dali. Shoeless Todd and his bearded friend are pointed down an alleyway where there are a series of blind turns. We cheerily reach a door into a decrepit house and can see people inside. And dogs. Big fucking mean dogs. Up the stairway we go onto a landing where a lady is waiting for us. Possibly the wife or the mother of the bloke downstairs. She is not a good specimen of the female form. But we're here now and backing out might not be such a good idea given the growling welcome. Todd and I must decide who is to go first while the other remains outside plugged into his walkman. At some point I recall Hells Bells by AC/DC blasting into my disbelieving ears.
Rosie and I walk into town the following day to eat 'wood fired' pizza and conduct a sort of feasibility study on it at the same time. Getting a good supply of cheese is not easy in Dali. I spot Todd sitting outside the Korean place waiting for his dinner. We exchange the look of secrecy and he tells me that after our little indiscretion, he woke up in a doorway covered in vomit. Chuckles are stifled and Rosie and I glide swiftly on.
Next ; Steps in the clouds
