onto viet nam

I'm just about set to move onto Viet Nam. After parting ways with Daniel I came back to Dali to spend a couple more days. The ride back was rather long - 8 hour in a 20-person minibus with my knees jammed into the seat in front of me and 19 other chinese guys who each smoked approximately 2 packs of cigarettes. Not the fondest memory I'll have of China. I was glad to be back in Dali however, and quickly found a bed at the Jade Emu hostel I had stayed at the first time I was in town. I spent the evening with a couple people who were staying at the hostel and went to a bar which advertised "Argentinian" music. Turns out, it was an "Argentinian" guy singing everything from the Beattles to Nirvana with a South American accent. Quite enjoyable.

Today I took a 25 mile bike ride through villages which line the lake. Biking isn't my favorite thing to do, but riding through tiny villages, rice paddies and corn fields was quite nice. The weather was great and accordingly I got a nice "tan" (read sunburn). And since I'm leaving the country - I'll admit it, I picked/stole a few ears of baby corn along the way... hopefully they dont catch me before I get out! Oh and this evening I had a little adventure that turned out to be not such an adventure. After dinner, I took a strole into town and walked by a hairdresser. Since I'd been considering getting my hair cut at some point and with nothing else to do I walked into the shop. The lady looked slightly confused until I made a motion and sound to buzz all my hair off. She smiled and approximately two minutes and $1.30 later I walked out with my usual haircut. Like I said, what I thought was going to be an adventure turned out to be rather quick and painless.

Tomorrow I'll head back to Kunming during the day - a 5 hour trip - and then take the sleeper bus to the Vietnamese border overnight. I should arrive at Lao Cai and the Vietnamese border bright and early on Tuesday morning. From there, I'll take another 1 hour bus ride to Sapa - a tiny village nestled in the hills of northern Viet Nam. I anticipate spending a few days there before moving on to Hanoi, but I'm sure I'll update the blog before then. Anyway, that's it for China. T'was an interesting 3 weeks full of surprises, frustrations and many fascinating sights and I'm leaving knowing I only experienced a tiny fraction of the country. There'll certainly be a return visit in the future.