Leaving China!

Leaving China, and I am ready for a change of scenery. I have spent over 6 months in Chinese speaking areas with similar cultural norms and ancestry, so Vietnam might be just what I am looking for. My Chinese at this point is passable, which means I can haggle, buy tickets, food, anything necessary, and get directions. I am satisfied with the progress, but expect that I will lose it as I leave the country. I can still understand quite a bit of Italian, but end up speaking Chinese instead (strange, eh?).

I woke up this morning with a question of whether I should attempt visiting the rice paddy fields in Yuanyang, Yunnan or head straight for the border. I have decided to go for the straight shot to Sapa in Northern Vietnam to avoid the risk of overstaying my Chinese visa. I have heard rumors that they charge up to 500Y a day (about $90) for overstaying. I have met an Italian guy who is heading the same way and I am hoping to meet up with him in Kunming before catching a night bus to the border.

Old Dali is very nice, but of course a lot of the touristy things to do in China are heavily over-developed and lacking any originality. Yunnan, at least, has the very best coffee I have had yet in China. So after a cup or two today, I am ready to catch my 1:30 pm bus back to Kunming.

I managed to have a kind of mixed up day yesterday. I attempted to hike up the Changban Shan, but once I arrived at the muddy excuse for a path, I decided that wandering around in the woods by myself for 4 hours was too precarious for me (which was a good decision as I read later that a many solo-hikers were robbed hiking the path) and paid for the chairlift to the top. I had assumed that there would be other hikers to meet up with, but there were none, and the Chinese tend to only hike on paved paths. On the way up, I was trying to remove my camera from my purse and lost the case in the process. Upon my return down after 3 hours or so of hiking around and overlooking the Erhai Hu (Ear-Shaped Lake), I spent 20 minutes with the hopefulness that I would regain my case, no luck. I spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on some reading and planning my approach to the border. I imagine the crossing is easier from this side anyway.

I just wanted to post this in case anyone was worried about my location and plans. My Chinese phone will no longer work once I cross, but at least I will have uncensored Internet, which means Facebook and actual access to my blog (right now I use a proxy). Thank you to anyone who is reading this blog and supporting my adventures, it really means a lot.