Up in the Cool Himalayas

Tuesday, July 8, 2008--Kunming (Continued)

I tried to eat at a place recommended by my guidebook that has wood-fired pizzas. That just sounded so good. But the directions for finding it were not clear. The guidebook said, "Down a small alley off _____ Street." Well I went down every alley I could find off that street and never found the place. Then I gave up and went to a tourist restaurant I had read about. It offers both western and Chinese food, but I decided to have Chinese, since the prices were much more reasonable for it. I had a very spicy beef with rice. The strands of beef were coated in chile pepper seeds! It was good, though. What was fun, however, was watching everyone else. I had expected there to be many westerners there, but it was all Chinese except for a couple of women and me. I guess that eating western food is stylish here like I found it to be in Bangkok last year. The restaurant only serves its food with knives, forks, and spoons. It was fun watchig the Chinese decide how to eat with them. Most of them tried to adapt their normal chopstick style. For instance, a woman and her daughter eating a pizza would pick up a whole piece speered on a fork and bring it to their mouth to take a bite off it. With chopsticks, they would have put one on each side of the slice and brought it to their mouth to take a bite off it. The little girl dropped her piece onto the table.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008--Kunming to Shangri La via China Eastern Airlines

I didn't sleep well. I kept worrying that the alarm would not go off at the right time. About every hour I awakened and checked the time. Finally, at 4:30, I just got up since the alarm was set for 5:00.

I got to the airport much faster than expected. I walked in at 5:30. It is really close into town, and there was no traffic at that time. They went ahead and put me on the 7:00 flight instead of the 7:30 that I had booked.

I sat next to a nice young boy who played a video game until the plane took off and he had to put it away. Then he started talking to me. He and his family were on their way here to celebrate his birthday which is today. He's 12 and in the 7th grade in school. As time went on, we visited about various things. I offered him a Trail Mix bar for his birthday, and he took it after trying to refuse. Then his father stuck a plastic bag between the seats from behind which they gave to me. It's some kind of dried fish snack. I also tried to give him a fresh $1 bill, but he refused it, and I got the feeling his father was insisting on that. I am wondering if maybe his father is an official in the government since they are from Beijing and had come this far just to celebrate a birthday. It could be that it would not be seemly for the son of an official to have money from the U.S. But that's just speculation. However, their arrival at the airport was greeted by two women dressed in native costume and placing crinkled silk scares around their necks, so he has to have money if he isn't powerful through the government. Leo, the boy, took his scarf and put it around my neck and told me to keep it.

There was great confusion outside the airport. I intended to take a shuttle bus to town. There were many mini-vans, so I wasn't sure which were shuttle buses and which weren't. I went to one and the driver put me on. Then a tour group showed up. It was their own private shuttle bus, so I had to get off and start looking again. Suddenly, I saw what looked like a shuttle bus pulling out of the airport lot too far away for me to get their attention. Then the taxi drivers descended on me. There were 8-10 of them who had not gotten business, and they were all fussing over me. I just walked away. I walked out to the highway intersection, and a local bus stopped and picked me up--easier and much cheaper than any of the options at the airport.

I had already written the Dragoncloud Guesthouse to ask for a reservation, so I went to there. They had a private room for me that is quite fascinating. First, the building must have been an old monastery or something. It is built around a courtyard and has very worn and narrow wooden steps going up to the second floor. My room has old wooden floors, brick walls, wooden posts, etc. There's a smell of smoky wood in the place--maybe from fires that were used there in the past. It has a modern bathroom, a heated bed sheet, a TV, etc. Nice, but also quaint.

I went out to wander the Old Town. It is filled with restaurants, souvenir shops, guesthouses, etc. The lanes are all cobblestoned. The roofs are all broken tiles with stones holding them down. It's quite atmospheric.

By then, I was so tired. First, the altitude here is about 3500 m (11,500 ft). Second, I had walked a lot already at the airport and after arriving in town before explorig the old town. And third, I had not slept enough during the night. So I returned to my room, got under the covers, and napped for 2 hours. Of course, I felt so draggy after that; it was hard to get myself out of bed. But I had seen this cyber cafe and wanted to return to it. And I want to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring one of the monasteries. This town is known for them and has all these gold-domed and tipped temples everywhere. The buildings and the people are all Tibetan, so it is much like being in Tibet itself without the hassle of trying to arrange travel there.