Post #31 – November 11, 2012 – Xi’an and Kunming, China

What we did: Wal-Mart, Muslim Quarter, Flight from Xi’an to Kunming
Budget: 450 Yuan/$75; Spent: 335 Yuan/$55.83

Jeff here. All day today it felt like we were going on vacation. Something about taking a flight is exciting. Plus, we are both pretty pumped to leave northern China for sunnier and hopefully warmer pastures.

We woke up pretty late today. It was hard to get out of bed. I think we’re both still fighting something off. Today was the worst day for me in terms of how I was feeling. I am pretty tired and have a sore throat. Nothing bad, but it’s pretty annoying. I also have a few hundred mosquito bites all over my body from the night before. Last night they were driving me absolutely insane. I don’t know what it is about the mosquitos in Asia, but I get a pretty nasty reaction to them.

We started our day off with a nice breakfast at our hostel. We still had some oranges and raisin buns, so we ate those too. We were in no rush to leave this morning, so we hung around the hostel figuring out how we were going to get to our hostel in Kunming and among other things. I spoke with my mom for a bit on Skype, which was awesome since it’s been days since I could get a good enough internet connection for Skype to work properly.

We left our hostel around 1:30 pm, which didn’t give us much time because our flight was at 7pm and we were recommended to catch a shuttle bus around 4 pm. We had decided to buy some more food from Wal-Mart because our stay in Kunming is going to be super brief (basically just a place to sleep) and where we are staying (Duoyishu) is a very small town. We were able to buy a bunch of stuff at Wal-Mart for about $12, which should last us for the next couple of days. 

From here, we ran over to the Muslim Quarter to look for some lunch. It’s really too bad we didn’t have some more time to spend here, it’s a really cool place. It wasn’t long before we found a decent looking restaurant that appeared to serve soup. Patty has been wanting to try the “jow-zah” soup we saw someone else eating the other day, so we ordered that. It was basically a dumpling soup and it was quite tasty. I think both of us decided, though, that we preferred the “mee-eh” soup. The “jow-zah” was pretty spicy, but it also had a very strong vinegar taste. Here’s a pic:

From here we basically just ran back to our hostel, picked up our stuff, and then ran for the shuttle bus. Luckily, the stop wasn’t too far from our hostel and in no time we were on the bus to the airport. We were a little late and got on the bus leaving at 4:40 pm, but that didn’t matter. The drive to the airport was about an hour. I couldn’t believe how far outside of the city the airport is. Once we got outside the city, the bus was traveling along a raised, four-lane divided highway. It was pretty impressive. Again, the infrastructure in China is just crazy. 

Getting our boarding passes was no problem and in no time we were through security. I had to buy a Coke to get the taste of the soup out of my mouth and then we headed for our gate. We had about 45 minutes to wait before boarding so we just sat and chatted and watched a really cute Chinese baby running around. It’s really funny how they dress their babies here. They are bundled up in massive jackets and pants, but the pants have a hole in the bum. I’m not sure how exactly that works.

When it was time to board we passed through the gate and climbed onto a bus that took us to our plane. It was a couple minutes’ ride and when the doors opened, in typical Chinese fashion, people were piling out the doors and running to line up at the stairs leading to the plane. Patty and I were stuck in front of these two really fat guys (a rarity in China) who were dead set on getting on the plane like their lives depended on it. It was ridiculous how these guys were pushing us from behind. I actually had to lean back and push in the opposite direction so that I didn’t crush the people in front of me. Patty was so disgusted by their behaviour she actually just let them go in front of her. I’m always amazed by the desperation people show when trying to board something that actually just would not leave without them.

Once we were on the plane, everything went smoothly. We received a really nice meal. The hot portion consisted of chicken, rice, carrots, and corn. The cold portion consisted of an orange, a bun, a salad with cold cuts, and a muffin. A really tasty sauce also came with the meal that we assumed was supposed to be put on the salad. The sauce, called Hainan Golden Pepper Sauce, was super tasty and spicy! It reminded me a little of spicy olives that we get back home, but much hotter.

The rest of the plane ride was uneventful and we arrived on time. We picked up our bags no problem and set off to try to figure out how to get into Kunming. We had originally intended to take the subway into town from the airport, but it turns out the subway doesn’t operate past 6pm (at least to the airport). Kinda ridiculous. Our next option was to take a bus. We found it after running around for a bit. The ride into town was 50 Yuan, which is much cheaper than the 120 Yuan we would have paid to a taxi.

The ride was about 45 minutes and once we arrived at the last drop out point we didn’t really know which way to go. We had looked on Google Maps before leaving our last hostel so we had an idea, and after asking someone on the street, we were on our way. The walk to our hostel in Kunming took about 15 minutes and was pretty straightforward.

Once we checked in, we found out that we need to leave our hostel around 8am to get to our bus to Yuanyang on time. It’s onto the rice terraces tomorrow!! Can’t wait!

Good night!