Kunming, CHINA

I'm in China. I think that's pretty exciting, really. I arrived Saturday night after an epic 24 hours of travelling - in fact it was more than that. I met up with the new tour group on Thursday - 6 people who had been travelling through Vietnam as the start of this tour. An American chick from California, an Accountant from Brisbane, Dee and Gav from Perth and another two 19 year olds from England who are very loud and very cheeky. Looking forward to developing the kind of relationship with them where I can smack them across the ears.

We were due to leave Hanoi Friday night. Unfortunately our last day in Vietnam was a shocker - it poured all day. But once again we boarded the overnight train to Lao Cai to leave at 9.55 pm, and again it was a very nice carriage, but this time there was no air conditioning, and without wanting to sound like a slack tourist it was completely horrid, and I don't think anyone really slept that night.

Subsequently we were on top form to go through customs into China. We filled out quite a bit of paperwork for general entry and quarantine customs before having our passports completely scrutinised without a question being asked. They examined my passport under UV light, flouro light, a magnifying glass, checked every single page, examined the watermarks, checked the lamination on the face page, held it up to the window, consulted their colleagues and finally, finally stamped me through.

Next was the baggage x-ray. Straight forward enough, but I was asked whether I had any books. I've been reading a book on travelling up the Yangtze, so I was worried it might contain sensitive material that would offend the Chinese, but it was fine. A couple of others from the group, however had the 2005 edition of China lonely Planet guide which were promptly confiscated as they do not make reference to Taiwan being part of China. Welcome to the People's Republic.

We were to jump on a fairly long bus up to Kunming, so we headed to the Supermarket to stock up on snacks. It was a classic experience. For those of you familiar with engrish.com, you know what I'm getting at. In fact anywhere we are lucky enough to come across English translations its a hoot. I'll note some of the better ones down later for you. I decided to take the challenge set out by a bag of watermelon lollies, that they were specious, and to try one I would love more and more. Muh, they're OK.

The Bus. The bus was supposed to be a large 40 seater for the 11 hour journey, but it turned out to be a 20 seater - well actually a 16 seater with fold down chairs in the aisles. For anyone who has made fun of my height - I was having the last laugh. I was quite OK in my corner for the 1st 7 hours - then no-one was happy. The road was like a rollercoaster - a mud track basically which we prayed we would not get bogged in, all the while a new freeway in varying stages of construction was teasing us just above our heads.

We were fortunate enough to get a few toilet stops along the way, but after the first I don't think anyone drank another drop of liquid. It was basic china - stalls with partitions about 60cm high to divide the long drops. You were lucky if there was a door. At one stop there was just a trench in a room - most of us declined to make use of the facilities at that time. Its an adventure every time. But the food was OK for random stops along the road. Where we stopped for dinner we had a great spread. I had no clue as to what I was asking for, so just picked what I thought looked good. I have learnt not to trust my eyes as I have now tried pigs lung (and no, I don't recommend it).

Eventually we made it to Kunming at about 11pm and were all pleasantly surprised to find a big, clean city, with normal noise levels and most importantly a really nice soft pillow. The streets are wide, have footpaths and are not crowded. Its a nice place. And the food here is fantastic. Yesterday a few from the group and I headed to a market where everyone was happy for us to taste their food. It was so much fun, and I think the locals were having a great time at us, as we could not hide our facial expressions when trying nashi fruit - expecting something sweet, but getting it pickled.

Today I headed out of town to Dragons Gate in the Western Hills. Its a lovely spot with loads of temples, but far too many stairs. We eventually found the chair lift, as we were coming down...Subsequently I'm pretty tired, hence the lack of oomph today. Sorry. I'll do better next time.