Christie Turns 29 In Kunming
Trip Start
Oct 30, 2005
1
61
122
Trip End
Ongoing
Kunming,
China
Friday, April 7, 2006
We made it to Lao Cai two hours later and had fun trying to change our money before crossing. There were a couple of hassles at the border. We were a bit worried as we went through Vietnamese immigration because they took one look at our passports and told us to "wait over there" (everyone else was passing through quite quickly). We were concerned as we were on the last day of our visa and asked them if there was a problem, and they again said "wait over there!"
Birthday Pressie (1)
. After waiting for about 15 minutes and having about 6 different people look at our passports, they called us over and handed us our passports allowing us to cross (phew!).To cross the border we had to walk about 500 metres along a bridge over the Red River to get to the Chinese immigration building in Hekou. Not too many problems here although they did take their time and for some reason they decided that there was a problem with our Belgian friend's Vietnam guidebook - apparently Taiwan lies off the coast of Vietnam, and they wanted to rip the Vietnamese map out of the book! After spending some time convincing them that Taiwan does not lie off the coast of Vietnam, but China, they eventually agreed with us and allowed him to take his guidebook intact. (Christie didn't tell them that she had the same guidebook sitting in her bag).
As all this was going on, we were greeted by a guy trying to help us to the bus station
and get us tickets to Kunming. Luckily for us we had checked the Lonely Planet forums a couple of days before and had noticed a warning about a scam artist at the bus station which also gave his description - this guy matched the description exactly. So of course we were wary and tried to ignore him
Birthday Pressie (2)
.We managed to find our way to the bus station with this guy following us. We started to talk to the girls at the ticket counter to try to figure out which bus to catch and whether or not we would go to Kunming or another town. This guy decided to translate for us insisting that we had to catch the night bus to Kunming and that we had to pay him a fee for our "big luggage". We told him to go away but he wouldn't listen, he was insisting that he was the manager of the bus station and even pulled out his "i.d.". At this point we noticed he had a black eye. We could only imagine how he got it, but we asked him anyway and he insisted he got it from being drunk and falling over. He continued to harrass us and started to get a bit agitated. At this point Christie decided to have a little chat to him. She told him that we knew all about his little scam and we weren't falling for it. At this point he started to get upset and said, "Well i'm friends with police so I don't care!". Christie responded with "Well that's really nice for you mate, I'd really like to meet your friend the policeman!" At this point he decided to leave us alone for a while - realising that Christie was pretty good at arguing and that Glenn was about twice his size and our Belgian mate about three times! After this we managed to buy tickets for a bus to Kunming that left in an hour!
Western Pagoda (1)
After buying our tickets we thought it best to try to get some lunch, and after walking around for a while not being able to find a restaurant we noticed some locals crowding around a game of chinese chequers and decided to ask them (using sign language) if they knew of somewhere we could eat. With big smiles on their faces they pointed us in the right direction, not before a local lady stopped Christie as she was crossing the street to mention that Christie must have big muscles to carry such a huge pack - grabbing Christie's arm and squeezing it while giggling! Ah - it's nice to be back in China!
We found a little restaurant, where of course they did not speak English, but we managed through sign language and a bit of help from our Chinese menu to order a meal. When the plates landed on our table the meals were huge and just as we were wondering how we would manage to eat it all, they brought out even more. A bit worried how much this was going to cost, we managed to figure out that we would pay for the first plate of food as agreed, but they were giving the rest to us for free - just so we could try it. What a welcome back to China!
Bellies absolutely stuffed, we waddled back to the bus station and found our bus. We managed to get our luggage on the bus before our friendly bus manager showed up again. He didn't come near us, though just as the bus was about to leave and we thought we had got rid of him he jumped on the bus and tried to sell us bottles of water! I don't think so buddy - get off our bus! It wasn't long before he was shuffled off the bus and we were sitting in airconditioned comfort on our way to Kunming. Soon after departing, we were supplied with free bottles of water by the bus company
Western Pagoda (2)
!We were told that the bus trip was going to take 8 hours, which would get us into Kunming at 9pm. We thought that this was a little optimistic as we had heard that most buses take about 12 hours and we were a bit concerned we may be turning up in a strange city in the early hours of the morning.
The first part of the trip was beautiful, travelling through mountain areas, rice terraces and minority villages, and sure enough (even with making the obligatory stops) we made it into Kunming at about 10:30pm. We were all exhausted so we stopped at the first hotel we found, and even though the bathrooms were disgusting we didn't care - we needed sleep!
The next day was Christie's birthday and the first thing we had to do was check out of that hotel! So we spent most of the morning looking for better accommodation so that Christie could feel just a little bit spoilt on her birthday. After finding a decent place, she decided that all she wanted for her birthday was a day of comfort food - no more noodles or rice! So, it was apple pie and ice cream for lunch and a cheeseburger at McDonalds for dinner - mmmmm....cheeseburger (I miss cheese!)
Western Pagoda (3)
. Isn't Glenn glad he picked a girl with simple tastes!The day after we decided we should see some of the city. First we had lunch at the Brothers Jiang to try some of Kunming's famous "across the bridge noodles". To explain this dish we are going to rely on one of our favourite travellers, Michael Palin - here is an exerpt from his book, Himilaya:
"The story behind the name is both romantic and utilitarian. A scholar seeking peace and quiet retires to a cottage on an island. His wife brings him his food, but the bridge is so long it's cold by the time she gets across. She discovers one day that by pouring a layer of oil on top of the broth it would stay hot. So she poured on the oil, took the broth over the bridge, put in the various cuts of meat when she got there and a new dish was born. (I think the story says a lot about the importance of food to the Chinese. In England he'd have been lucky to get a sandwich.)
So we have set in front of us a bowl of very hot soup flavoured with chicken stock, duck and spare ribs and arrayed round it, with no regard for the size of the table, a multitude of side dishes including raw chicken and Yunnan ham, liver, fish, pork, spinach, onions and all sorts of other vegetables as well as chilli pepper to add to the fun
Western Pagoda (4)
.It's a huge but quite delicate meal, with impeccably fresh ingredients." - www.palinstravels.co.uk
We really loved this meal, and we also tried one of the other local specialties - "Pu'er" tea. Quite nice, despite the strange name.
After this we took a wander around the city to try and find the West Pagoda, not for the pagoda itself, but to hang out with the locals who spend their spare time in the courtyard. We weren't disappointed. We found old guys flying kites, playing cards and chequers. Ladies knitting and gossiping and kids running around having fun. It was a great place to spend the afternoon just to people watch.
Even though we have enjoyed our time in Kunming, it really is just another big Chinese city. So tonight we will board a sleeper train to our next destination, Dali.
