Yunnan or Bust – Yunnan by Bus

We were invited by friends to join them for their trip to the Yunnan province. Yunnan is famous for its beautiful landscape, weather, and people. The capital of Yunnan is Kunming, which is called “the city of Eternal Spring”. It is a three hour flight from Beijing. Kunming has numerous parks, gardens, and a zoo. The people are amazingly friendly and helpful. In Kunming we boarded an overnight bus to Lijiang. Lijiang is an ancient city that dates back over 1000 years. After spending a day in Lijiang, we took a four hour bus ride into the mountains to Dali. Dali is between the amazing Himalayan Mountains on one side and a beautiful lake on the other. The drive to Dali was truly breathtaking, in part because of the bus driver. To say he was an aggressive driver would be like saying a tiger is just a cat; it would be true but definitely would not give an accurate description. Mountain roads are often narrow and can be treacherous. Most people would traverse them with at least a little caution. Not our driver. It was Full speed ahead with horn blaring. Often, he would even pass other vehicles on blind curbs. So you can probably imagine the sound made by anyone foolish enough to be paying attention to the road; the sound of one sucking in their breath. Mostly the trip was breath taking though because of the stunning views. Before we moved here we realized that China was a beautiful country but we really had no idea how beautiful it really is! Over the next few days we are going to write about the time we spent in Yunnan and post pics. For now I will tell you about the trip from Kunming to Lijiang.
We left Kunming at 9 pm on a sleeper bus for the eight hour trip. Like most things here, that was quite an experience. Once again I was reminded that here, I am a big guy. The beds were made for the average Chinese person so I guess making them five foot seven inches long and twenty-four inches wide is usually plenty big enough. The problem though is that I am a little over five foot eight inches tall and my shoulders are twenty-two or twenty-three inches across. You might not think that one inch makes that much of a difference but believe me it does. I imagine it was like lying in a coffin. I really appreciated the confined space training I received at the fire department. Without that and my Zune (mp4 player), I don’t know if I could have made it through the night sane (who says that I did?). About half way through the journey the bus stopped for a bathroom break and then for breakfast. When we got off the bus, I forgot all about my discomfort. Looking up at the night sky, admiring the myriads of stars, and even catching a glimpse of two shooting stars made up for my ride in the glorified hearse.
If you ever make it to China it is Yunnan or bust; the Yunnan province must be on your list of things to do. - Frank

A path is made up of one or more straight or curved segments. The beginning and end of each segment is marked by anchor points, which work like pins holding wire in place. – Chinese Proverb
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