I LOVE TRAINS!

So after I was the coldest I have ever been in my life, I warmed up nice and toasty on the overnight train to Kunming, where I was flying out to meet my parents in Ho Chi Minh. I was the only foreigner on the train and there were only two people in my hard sleeper, which sleeps six. She was already asleep above me, so I quietly nestled into my bottom bunk, while various conductors came by to check me out and take my ticket. They liked that I spoke Chinese.

The rocking of the train and general quiet empty atmosphere was quite conducive to sleeping, so I was comfortable until I was shaken awake by the conductor, exchanging my card for my ticket. That was at seven am, though we weren't due to arrive until ten or so. My compartment companion had already alighted somewhere in the night.

I brushed my teeth and packed my things, taking out all my food to survey the options. As you can see below, it was an odd assortment of candy and snacks, plus some powdered coffee.

 
Yum! Train breakfast!

I gazed out the window as the sun rose, seeing the beautiful hills that are Yunnan Province. I cannot wait to travel here. It looks amazing!

 

Out the window to Yunnan, my next adventure!

My flight was not until five pm, so I had half a day to kill in Kunming. Before I ditched my friends, I borrowed their Lonely Planet to do a little research on where I should go. The market sounded fun, as well as an art district. Even at ten am, the market was just opening, so their were few people. I ended up buying a lot of things. Earlier in the trip, the gender ratio of my companions prevented me from going and buying all the cool things I saw, mainly by being totally disinterested in buying things. I tried to get some shopping in by encouraging them to "buy something for someone special!" but that didn't work too well. Anyway, once unsupervised, I went a bit crazy. It's fine. The market was pretty cheap and had some nice minority crafts and other useful items...

 

Marshmallow peeps?

...including baby chicks dyed in bright colors. Very useful.

After the market, I wandered through a park and found a cab, explaining that I wanted to visit the art district. That was closed, so I wandered into another park, where a crazy old man sang to me and waved endearingly. What a creep. So then I left and decided to make my way to the airport, though the weather was beautiful and being outside was ideal. I ate some dumplings in a shop and tried to get public transport directions to the airport, but as usual, nobody knew how to get anywhere. That seems to be the norm in China. I tried! But ended up taking a cab.

Kunming was a pretty nice city, though I wonder if I had an atypical experience because I was there the Sunday before Chinese New Year. I think it was emptier and quieter than usual, making it quite pleasant. In general though, it had many parks, wide avenues and Starbucks. A better Chinese city than most, I'd say.

My 36 hours alone gave me a lot of time to think and be...alone. I've effectively decided that I was not meant to be a solo traveler. I get bored and am constantly turning to empty air saying "Do you...? Hey, look at...!" You have to lug all your crap everywhere because you don't just want to ditch it randomly. Dunno, just not my thing, though I think we idealize the solo traveler who is so free and independent. Guess that's just not me. So I'm currently in the market for an excellent travel buddy.

Also, my friend Eric was doing some solo traveling in China and explained that he'd had so many conversations with himself that he had probably exhausted the deepest parts of his subconscious. I barely spent over a day alone. I cannot imagine several weeks of quality time with Ellen's brain.

So finally, after some serious introspection and learning, I boarded my plane to Vietnam to see my parents for the first time in five months!

ellen