CHINA!
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2008
1
16
20
Trip End
May 30, 2008
Dali,
China
Monday, April 14, 2008
So i'm now safe and sound in China, in the southern Yunnan province and it is so beautiful here, no words to describe it.
So lets start from where we last left off. After Thailand, I headed through Lao to travel by land into China. Upon entering Lao, I unexpectedly found a traveling buddy, Hernan, who was also heading towards China through Lao so we decided to travel together and keep each other company. We ended up hitch hiking from the Thai border in Lao to the Chinese border which took a good two days. We hitch hiked everything from tractors, which moved slower than people walking, to chicken trucks and onion trucks. There were places where not a car passed by for hours so we were left with nothing to do but sit around the side of the streets with the street kids. But we did make it safely to the border which is actually where the real trouble started. Upon arrival, the border patrol looked at my passport and said that he could not permit me to leave the country because I didn't get the passport stamped by the police upon arrival into Lao. NO ONE TOLD ME! so after sending me from one police to another, they finally gave me two options, to travel back to the border where I entered (two days of traveling away) or pay 100 US dollars. I only had 20 yuan on me at the time, there was no ATMs around, and I was definitely not going to go all the way back just to get a stupid stamp. So i stood there and argued with them for a good hour but got no where. Finally, i asked someone where the Chinese border was, and was told that it was 30 min walking distance away, and gathered up my courage and just walked across. I was so scared that they would run after me and chase me down but they didn't. when i got to the chinese border, i was praying that they would just overlook the fact that i didn't have the stamp and let me thru. My palms where sweating and i was shaking as the guard looked thru my passport and as he reached for the entry stamp, i let out a sign of releave but just right before he was going to stamp my passport, he stoped and asked, "but wheres your exit stamp from Lao." At this point, i just thought holy shit and was going to get ready to cry. But i explained the whole situation in as calm of a voice as i could fake. the guard then called over the main guard and the two of them went to the back to discuss the situation. Then he came back, stamped my passport, and welcomed me into China. I became the happiest girl to ever enter into china thru the lao border.
fast forward...now i'm in Dali which is an absolutely beautiful place. I'm working at a hostle and bar and therefore have free accomedations (but its really not work at all).
will update again soon.
Alice
