An Infamous 40 Hours

Finally...and I mean finally! After a 40 hour bus ride (count that, it's three days and two nights my friends), I have finally arrived in Kunming - the capital of China's most southern Yunnan province! Although we did manage to become best friends with our 6'6 bus driver (he was the most enormous man I have ever seen in real life), it was not easy. However, I feel that I really took that 40 hours to learn some things, which I will share with you right now...

(1.) Chinese men like to spit. I shouldn't say spit actually, I should say they like to hawk huge loogies and spit them out wherever they please.

(2.) Apparently, 40 hour bus rides are not smoke-free. Chinese men are frequent smokers who are allowed to light up anywhere they want - even in the 50 foot vicinity of a supposedly air-conditioned charter bus from Vientiane to Kunming.

(3.) Even though a bus says it is a "sleeper bus," this means nothing in reality because traversing the winding, twisting, turning roads of Laos and China really do not permit sleep. Especially not when one is squished into a 1 foot x 4 foot bed area.

(4.) Never underestimate fellow travelers. After forgetting to bring extra spending money on the trip, Lauren and I met Ken - a fellow Thai - who not only bought us lunch but also preceded to give us each 50Y (yuan - the Chinese currency) to spend on food for the trip.

(5.) As much as I hate to admit it, my mother's impression of Asians is correct. Not only do they scream, yell and talk loudly, most of the time it is not because they are angry or anything. That is just the way they talk - forceful and to the point. My mother is never letting me live that one down.

(6.) A hot shower is one of life's simple pleasures. After a 40 hour bus ride, my half an hour long hot shower was probably one of the best moments of the trip so far. The relief and dirt that finally washed away was indescribable.

Now, I could really continue because one learns a plethora of things while confined in such a small space for such a long time, but I feel these are the most important points to make thus far. After arriving at 7am this morning, I set about to explore the town - which I got immediate good vibes from. However, Lauren accidentally dropped my camera today, so I spent the day finding someone, anyone who would fix it. Finally, after searching for what seemed like hours, I found a camera shop carrying Casio. It is currently sitting there and if all goes according to plan, should be ready to pick up tomorrow. So cross your fingers for me people and as soon as I can, I will post more goodies about Kunming - with photos! This was my home for 40 hours...and oh, the TV did not work, just in case you were wondering...