Eric's Beijing Diary

Lijiang Grand Hotel. I like this place because it has a nice breakfast buffet. Really good bacon, eggs made to order, peaches, pears, apples, and Chinese mangos. Rice, bread, and Danish pastries. I know, food should not be the only reason for choosing a place to stay. There are other factors which ought to be considered, but right now I can't remember what they are. The train pulled into Panzhihua yesterday morning at 6 am. I took a cab to the bus station and bought a ticket to Lijiang. The country between Panzhihua and Lijiang is very mountainous. Doesn't look far on a map, but on the ground it's seven hours of switchbacks. I had books with me, but it's pretty hard to read when the bus is jostling back and forth. And the driver didn't waste any time, either. He was driving as fast as he could on the narrow mountain roads. Interesting...after I got to Lijiang last evening, I went to the travel office right near the hotel. I was asking about securing travel back to Chengdu. I found out that I could take the bus back to Panzhihua, but I would not be able to buy a ticket back to Chengdu until I got to the train station at Panzhihua. I thought this sounded a bit chancy, and to be honest, I was less than enthusiastic about taking the bus back over the mountains. Miraculously, a traveler from Chengdu happened to be in the office the same time I was, and she told me that the bus to Dali was only three hours, and from there I could take the train to Kunming. That struck me as a novel idea, although I had not originally planned to go to Dali. To put it simply, I like trains; I don't like busses. Now, I must admit, busses do give you a perspective that you don't get from the window of a train. Trains run the river beds. Busses weave back and forth up the mountain roads and look down on the river bed several thousand feet below from a narrow road with no shoulder or guard rail. And the bus is being driven by a driver who is moving just as fast as he can without rolling the bus over the cliff. As I said, I like trains; I don't like busses. Anyway, I thanked the young lady from Chengdu. I think I may change my original plans (plans??) a bit and go to Dali.

Labels: Summer 2004, Travel Yunnan