There is, somehow, an order to the chaos...
I figured it out, there are no stop signs, yeild signs, or descernable rules involving right-of-way on the road. I have seen so many close calls between cars, pedestrians, scooters, and bikes. I am absolutly shocked I have only seen two accidents. To top things of maybe 1 in every 100 people on scooters wear helmets, and no one on bikes wears anything more than a visor.
On a a different topic, a lot people yell here all the time and because of certian tones, it can really difficult to figure out if somone is telling you off, or greeting you politely. It's taking some getting used to.
The balloons have been worth their weight in gold, and have won me more good interactions with people than I could have imagined. I'll probably be needing some more in the next couple of weeks.
I have decided that I am going to go to the northern portion of Yunnan which is just a hop-skip-and-jump-away from Tibet. There I'll hike through the wilderness from village to village. Thats still at least a week off, but I'm pretty excited about it.
Gabie left last night, the Korean woman who I traveled from Guilin with. She was super sweet, and helped me pick up a significant amount of Chinese that would have been impossible for me alone. Also, talking about kind people, an American named Jessie took me out to dinner last night and helped me menuvre throught the maze that is a Chinese menu. It was really a fantastic dinner.
Last thing, they play all my fravorite Hong Kong films on television, undedited. It makes me really happy.
On a a different topic, a lot people yell here all the time and because of certian tones, it can really difficult to figure out if somone is telling you off, or greeting you politely. It's taking some getting used to.
The balloons have been worth their weight in gold, and have won me more good interactions with people than I could have imagined. I'll probably be needing some more in the next couple of weeks.
I have decided that I am going to go to the northern portion of Yunnan which is just a hop-skip-and-jump-away from Tibet. There I'll hike through the wilderness from village to village. Thats still at least a week off, but I'm pretty excited about it.
Gabie left last night, the Korean woman who I traveled from Guilin with. She was super sweet, and helped me pick up a significant amount of Chinese that would have been impossible for me alone. Also, talking about kind people, an American named Jessie took me out to dinner last night and helped me menuvre throught the maze that is a Chinese menu. It was really a fantastic dinner.
Last thing, they play all my fravorite Hong Kong films on television, undedited. It makes me really happy.
posted by Robert at 6/26/2005 11:31:00 PM
4 Comments:
Hey Robert,
The story about ditching the security guard at the youth hostel still has me laughing. All of these experiences are going to make you a very intertaining Grandpa! Stay safe :-)
Hi Robert, Just wanted to thank you for your great entries. What an adventure you are having! You seem to be doing well and I am proud of you.
Aunt Peggy
Hey, You sound like you are having a lot of fun in the youth hostels. I almost wish I was there with you when you were running from the security guard. But somehow I think that if I had gotten caught, it would have jeopardized my chances of getting into Cornish. Oh well, Have fun in Dali!!
Man, diarrhea, lock-down and a search for potable water--not bad. You put my mountain adventures to shame. This has been the first time I took the time to read your entries. I only went back like two weeks. I'll try to set aside the time this weekend to finish the job and get up to speed. Truly amazing. If I ever travel in countries where I don't speak the language, I'm bringing a bag of balloons and learning how to use 'em! Take care of yourself out there. If you wanna see some good ol' seattle type scenery, check out my crappy msn space. http://spaces.msn.com/members/entwash42/ I mostly have it for the pictures.
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