21st Feb 2008 : KUNMING - DALI - LIUKU
0535h : arrived at KMG, temperature was 9 deg C with drizzle. i took a cab (13RMB)to the (南窑汽车站) Nanyao Bus Station which was only about 10mins drive away from the airport and managed to get a seat on the 0700h bus to Dali (88RMB). There's supposedly one bus from the Xiyuan Bus Station (西苑客运站) that runs directly to Liuku in the morning (the rest are sleeper buses at night) but the station is a little too far away and i wanted to have the option of breaking my journey in Dali or even stay there if i felt too fatigued.
The bus was great, new, clean, air-conditioned, relatively spacious (24 seater) and supposedly non-smoking. The last, however, as in most China buses was not strictly enforced but thank God the itinerant 'offenders' were not many so the second hand smoke inhalation was minimal. i was very much entertained by an interesting Chinese movie played on the LCD screen. The story was about a village leader, Liu Fugen who through his sincerity, maganimity and positive attitude managed to overcome the challenges he had to face from an overly jealous wife, an evil rival and ignorant villagemen to eventually unite the entire village to embark on a promising tourism venture that turned the poverty situation in the village around. It's a witty, humorous and heart warming film.
About 2hours after we left KMG,(i think it's near Chuxiong), the skies turned blue and the scenery rolling past outside the bus was refreshing with lush green fields adorned with golden rapeseed flowers and beautiful Bai style houses in the backdrop. It's a pity i couldn't take pics but did make up my mind to do so on my way back.
1135h : arrived at Dali Xiaguan (下关), walked straight to the China Post to post the items i've packed for two of the Chinese nationals i've met on my last trip. i've spent considerable time packing the stuff nicely in 'bubble envelopes' back home and didn't expect the trouble i would encounter with the China Post. They would not allow me to post my items in the original 'bubble envelopes', insisted that i use the standard ones from China Post. Since they only had one standard size for the 'bubble envelopes' and theirs were not able to accommodate my stuff, they had to repack them into China Post boxes which come in various standard sizes. The smallest box they had was not able to accommodate my package as well. Thus, ridiculously, the stuff i had originally fitted nicely in an A4 size envelope now required a box that's slightly bigger than a shoebox. i had posted packages to China before directly from home and i wonder now if all the packages i've sent previously had to be repacked when they reached China before they were actually delivered? Anyway, the total cost for the two packages including the price of the boxes came up to 30RMB which still worked out to be cheaper than if i had posted from home.
After wasting almost an hour at the Post, i went to gobble down a bowl of 米线(rice noodles) near the bus station and bought the ticket (55RMB) for the next bus to Liuku which was to leave at 1400h. The buses were supposed to run every 40mins but it looked to be less frequent.
The bus to Liuku was a small cramped van (18 seater), fully, if not overloaded with people and goods, typical of all Chinese local buses that run mid or long distances. In this particular bus, the roof was loaded with bales of cloth, tyres, rubber tubings, a mattress,ropes and steel strips while inside the bus itself, sandwiched between the two rows of seats and on passengers' laps were food, clothes, electrical appliances,flowers, a plastic toy cow,a huge wall sized picture frame...
When i got up the bus, i could hardly manoeuvre to my seat,and when i finally did, i found it occupied by a young man who had placed his belongings including some blankets onto the seat next to him as well. i told him he had taken my seat but he stared at me and after the second time i told him, he made a loud roar at me and muttered something unintelligible. Fed up,i went to look for the bus conductress who told me that the young man was mentally unsound and that she would get his family members who were still shopping out there to move him to his allocated seat as soon as they appear.
The Tibetan family, when they finally arrived, consisted of a fiesty granny, another middle aged lady, two men and a little girl. They could not get the young man to move from his seat so i made a swap with one of the family members and sat with the old granny behind the young man. We were barely out of the bus station when a heated argument broke out between this family and the bus driver and conductress. The bus conductress had come around to collect an extra 10RMB from each passenger citing a diversion of route that day via a highway to avoid a reported road block on the original route. Normally all toll fees would be included in the fare charged when purchasing the ticket at the bus station but in this situation, the diversion appeared to be a private decision by the driver and conductress and they only made it known when the bus moved out of the station. Most of the passengers, however, handed over the extra fare without a word but the family of five were very upset at having to fork out an extra 50RMB in total. Apparently, they had already paid an extra 100RMB for the goods they've brought on board the bus and were furious at having to fork out more money again. (i found out later that almost all the goods loaded on the roof were theirs! not to mention those inside the bus!) They claimed they had spent all their money and blamed the driver for not informing them earlier of the toll fee. What followed was a fiery exchange between the fiesty granny seated next to me and the conductress and driver. The granny wanted the whole family to get off the bus to take the next one and demanded a refund for the fare paid. The bus driver was happy to drop the entire family but told them to return to the bus station to get the refund themselves. The family other than the granny was not willing, so a war of words broke out and the hoo ha went on for about 20mins. i was caught in an awkward position as the granny, who was seated next to me,on the inner side, moved umpteenth times to and fro past me with all her barang barang (and it was a lot of stuff), one moment adamant to get off, the next persuaded by her family to stay. There was no room for me to give way to her as every space on the bus was packed with goods and passengers! Finally, a kind soul offered to subsidise the family 20RMB and the the family then closed the matter by paying the balance and the journey to Liuku finally resumed. It was in the midst of all this din that i fished out my MP3 to find that the player had become totally corrupted and i could not play a single song!
The remaining journery remained torturous as people smoked in the cramped bus and the window beside the granny was shut 'cos her young man in front kept throwing up and all his vomit was splattered across the window behind where we were seated. The bus stopped numerous times off-loading passengers with all their goods and picking up fresh ones along the way. The driver seemed really to be overcharging as most of the freshly picked passengers along the way complained about the fares quoted. i guess they really made a fair bit from all these adhoc passengers and cargo they picked up and the poor folks in remote towns and villages who had no other means of transport would have to remain at their mercy.
When we came to a town near Baoshan,the bus stopped for a considerably 15mins to off load and upload again and flies started to get into the bus and attached themselves comfortably to the ceiling. There were so many that you would think the ceiling was painted black and they hitched the ride all the way till our destination at Liuku. The road conditions got worse approaching Nujiang and the bus slowed down considerably. Meanwhile the bus conductress took out some rice crackers from her bag and started sharing with the passengers and the mood become light hearted as everyone enjoyed the crackers, including the flies, and the family of five and you would not have thought there had been any argument between them and the conductress earlier. i like such 'let bygones be bygones' attitude :)
2000h: Finally arrived at Liuku(六库), the capital of Nujiang prefecture. There weren't many attractions here save for a hotspring where locals, guys and girls alike will gather once a year for a mass bath party(澡堂会)on the first day of the lunar new year. It's a merry event with singing and socialising amongst the village folks but other than then, the hotspring would be quite deserted as it's quite out of the way. So i bought the 0820h bus to the touted 'shangrila' Bingzhongluo(丙中洛) for the next morning,(didn't think i could wake up for the earlier 0620h bus).
Checked out the recommended Jiatong Binguan 交通宾馆 but was not too satisfied with the price of 70RMB for the conditions of the room. Went to look at another hotel down the road (昌隆达酒店aka民政宾馆) which was great with spacious rooms, clean seated toilets that did flush, electric heaters, air-conditioners, TV, hot and cold water dispensers and clean beds for 100RMB. After a night's flight plus a long day on the bus, i decided i deserved to be pampered and so checked into this hotel despite the higher price. Had a delicious meal of fried mushrooms with green pepper and mixed veg soup with rice for 13RMB at one of the small eateries, though i was earlier tempted to try the western fast food at this outlet called "MCDONKEY" : ) ( wondered if they sold donkey meat :) )
Tucked in early that night after a good hot bath and really appreciated the air conditioning which kept the room warm through the night.(yes, warm)
0535h : arrived at KMG, temperature was 9 deg C with drizzle. i took a cab (13RMB)to the (南窑汽车站) Nanyao Bus Station which was only about 10mins drive away from the airport and managed to get a seat on the 0700h bus to Dali (88RMB). There's supposedly one bus from the Xiyuan Bus Station (西苑客运站) that runs directly to Liuku in the morning (the rest are sleeper buses at night) but the station is a little too far away and i wanted to have the option of breaking my journey in Dali or even stay there if i felt too fatigued.
The bus was great, new, clean, air-conditioned, relatively spacious (24 seater) and supposedly non-smoking. The last, however, as in most China buses was not strictly enforced but thank God the itinerant 'offenders' were not many so the second hand smoke inhalation was minimal. i was very much entertained by an interesting Chinese movie played on the LCD screen. The story was about a village leader, Liu Fugen who through his sincerity, maganimity and positive attitude managed to overcome the challenges he had to face from an overly jealous wife, an evil rival and ignorant villagemen to eventually unite the entire village to embark on a promising tourism venture that turned the poverty situation in the village around. It's a witty, humorous and heart warming film.
About 2hours after we left KMG,(i think it's near Chuxiong), the skies turned blue and the scenery rolling past outside the bus was refreshing with lush green fields adorned with golden rapeseed flowers and beautiful Bai style houses in the backdrop. It's a pity i couldn't take pics but did make up my mind to do so on my way back.
1135h : arrived at Dali Xiaguan (下关), walked straight to the China Post to post the items i've packed for two of the Chinese nationals i've met on my last trip. i've spent considerable time packing the stuff nicely in 'bubble envelopes' back home and didn't expect the trouble i would encounter with the China Post. They would not allow me to post my items in the original 'bubble envelopes', insisted that i use the standard ones from China Post. Since they only had one standard size for the 'bubble envelopes' and theirs were not able to accommodate my stuff, they had to repack them into China Post boxes which come in various standard sizes. The smallest box they had was not able to accommodate my package as well. Thus, ridiculously, the stuff i had originally fitted nicely in an A4 size envelope now required a box that's slightly bigger than a shoebox. i had posted packages to China before directly from home and i wonder now if all the packages i've sent previously had to be repacked when they reached China before they were actually delivered? Anyway, the total cost for the two packages including the price of the boxes came up to 30RMB which still worked out to be cheaper than if i had posted from home.
After wasting almost an hour at the Post, i went to gobble down a bowl of 米线(rice noodles) near the bus station and bought the ticket (55RMB) for the next bus to Liuku which was to leave at 1400h. The buses were supposed to run every 40mins but it looked to be less frequent.
The bus to Liuku was a small cramped van (18 seater), fully, if not overloaded with people and goods, typical of all Chinese local buses that run mid or long distances. In this particular bus, the roof was loaded with bales of cloth, tyres, rubber tubings, a mattress,ropes and steel strips while inside the bus itself, sandwiched between the two rows of seats and on passengers' laps were food, clothes, electrical appliances,flowers, a plastic toy cow,a huge wall sized picture frame...
When i got up the bus, i could hardly manoeuvre to my seat,and when i finally did, i found it occupied by a young man who had placed his belongings including some blankets onto the seat next to him as well. i told him he had taken my seat but he stared at me and after the second time i told him, he made a loud roar at me and muttered something unintelligible. Fed up,i went to look for the bus conductress who told me that the young man was mentally unsound and that she would get his family members who were still shopping out there to move him to his allocated seat as soon as they appear.
The Tibetan family, when they finally arrived, consisted of a fiesty granny, another middle aged lady, two men and a little girl. They could not get the young man to move from his seat so i made a swap with one of the family members and sat with the old granny behind the young man. We were barely out of the bus station when a heated argument broke out between this family and the bus driver and conductress. The bus conductress had come around to collect an extra 10RMB from each passenger citing a diversion of route that day via a highway to avoid a reported road block on the original route. Normally all toll fees would be included in the fare charged when purchasing the ticket at the bus station but in this situation, the diversion appeared to be a private decision by the driver and conductress and they only made it known when the bus moved out of the station. Most of the passengers, however, handed over the extra fare without a word but the family of five were very upset at having to fork out an extra 50RMB in total. Apparently, they had already paid an extra 100RMB for the goods they've brought on board the bus and were furious at having to fork out more money again. (i found out later that almost all the goods loaded on the roof were theirs! not to mention those inside the bus!) They claimed they had spent all their money and blamed the driver for not informing them earlier of the toll fee. What followed was a fiery exchange between the fiesty granny seated next to me and the conductress and driver. The granny wanted the whole family to get off the bus to take the next one and demanded a refund for the fare paid. The bus driver was happy to drop the entire family but told them to return to the bus station to get the refund themselves. The family other than the granny was not willing, so a war of words broke out and the hoo ha went on for about 20mins. i was caught in an awkward position as the granny, who was seated next to me,on the inner side, moved umpteenth times to and fro past me with all her barang barang (and it was a lot of stuff), one moment adamant to get off, the next persuaded by her family to stay. There was no room for me to give way to her as every space on the bus was packed with goods and passengers! Finally, a kind soul offered to subsidise the family 20RMB and the the family then closed the matter by paying the balance and the journey to Liuku finally resumed. It was in the midst of all this din that i fished out my MP3 to find that the player had become totally corrupted and i could not play a single song!
The remaining journery remained torturous as people smoked in the cramped bus and the window beside the granny was shut 'cos her young man in front kept throwing up and all his vomit was splattered across the window behind where we were seated. The bus stopped numerous times off-loading passengers with all their goods and picking up fresh ones along the way. The driver seemed really to be overcharging as most of the freshly picked passengers along the way complained about the fares quoted. i guess they really made a fair bit from all these adhoc passengers and cargo they picked up and the poor folks in remote towns and villages who had no other means of transport would have to remain at their mercy.
When we came to a town near Baoshan,the bus stopped for a considerably 15mins to off load and upload again and flies started to get into the bus and attached themselves comfortably to the ceiling. There were so many that you would think the ceiling was painted black and they hitched the ride all the way till our destination at Liuku. The road conditions got worse approaching Nujiang and the bus slowed down considerably. Meanwhile the bus conductress took out some rice crackers from her bag and started sharing with the passengers and the mood become light hearted as everyone enjoyed the crackers, including the flies, and the family of five and you would not have thought there had been any argument between them and the conductress earlier. i like such 'let bygones be bygones' attitude :)
2000h: Finally arrived at Liuku(六库), the capital of Nujiang prefecture. There weren't many attractions here save for a hotspring where locals, guys and girls alike will gather once a year for a mass bath party(澡堂会)on the first day of the lunar new year. It's a merry event with singing and socialising amongst the village folks but other than then, the hotspring would be quite deserted as it's quite out of the way. So i bought the 0820h bus to the touted 'shangrila' Bingzhongluo(丙中洛) for the next morning,(didn't think i could wake up for the earlier 0620h bus).
Checked out the recommended Jiatong Binguan 交通宾馆 but was not too satisfied with the price of 70RMB for the conditions of the room. Went to look at another hotel down the road (昌隆达酒店aka民政宾馆) which was great with spacious rooms, clean seated toilets that did flush, electric heaters, air-conditioners, TV, hot and cold water dispensers and clean beds for 100RMB. After a night's flight plus a long day on the bus, i decided i deserved to be pampered and so checked into this hotel despite the higher price. Had a delicious meal of fried mushrooms with green pepper and mixed veg soup with rice for 13RMB at one of the small eateries, though i was earlier tempted to try the western fast food at this outlet called "MCDONKEY" : ) ( wondered if they sold donkey meat :) )
Tucked in early that night after a good hot bath and really appreciated the air conditioning which kept the room warm through the night.(yes, warm)
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