Kunming to Dali (2-6)

This was a travel day. My bus seat was in the front row. With the broad window in front of me, I could see everything. Much of the scenery was beautiful. The road went through a number of mountains, the tunnels reminding me of the trip to Jiuzhaigou. 

Some of the hills were terraced, but most were barren at this time of year. Rape seed was growing in some fields.

After a while, I noticed that houses in the villages we passed had paintings on them. So I enjoyed looking for paintings. Around a place called Dinosaur Valley, the houses have paintings of dinosaurs. 

In an area that must be famous for mushrooms, they have paintings of mushrooms. We stopped for a break in that area, and the shop has bags of many kinds of dried mushrooms. 

A sign beside the road features mushrooms. 

In both areas and later along the road, houses have round, often geometric designs in the eaves. These were usually different on each house. A road sign welcomed us to the home of the Yi ethnic group; so I think the villages may have been Yi villages. 

As we approached Dali, the paintings on houses changed to black and white designs and pictures as well as designs in the eaves.

The trip to new Dali took five hours. I remembered reading that buses go there and you then have to go to old Dali, which is farther along the lake. When we were arriving at the bus station, I noticed vans with signs saying Dali in Chinese. Having had the word pointed out on my ticket, I recognized it. So I headed for the vans, and sure enough, they were going to Dali. The next decision was where to get off once I arrived in Dali. I waited several minutes for a taxi, but the only one that passed was occupied. A few girls who were standing to my right decided to move to my left so they could hail a taxi first. 

So I started walking to the ancient city to find one elsewhere. The two that came along wanted too much money; so I kept walking. I was enjoying walking since I’d been on the bus all day. As I went down the hill, the sun was starting to set behind the mountains behind me.

The ancient city was crowded with tourists, but I enjoyed my first glimpses of the buildings. No more taxis came along, and I eventually came to an intersection with a sign so I could call the guesthouse and tell the man where I was so he could pick me up. But a young man with a car approached and offered to take me for 30 yuan ($5). Since I wasn’t sure if this was reasonable, I called the guesthouse and the man said that was a fair amount, so I agreed to let the man drive me. The guesthouse is near the lake, which is farther from town than I had realized. I had chosen to stay near the lake rather than in the ancient town, and I as I walked through the crowded town and we drove out of town, I was glad to have made this decision.

The man dropped me off and pointed to the pier. The address I had said the guesthouse is near the pier. I walked up the street and asked and was twice pointed toward the pier. Then a woman pointed to the left; so I went that direction. After a while, I decided to ask once more and then call the guesthouse. When I entered a building where there were some people eating, a young woman came to help me. She called the guesthouse, and Andy came to meet me. The guesthouse is located on the main road to the pier farther up than I had walked. The people pointed me toward the pier because they saw those words and not an address. The guesthouse is new—four months old, and the name I had was in English; so people didn’t recognize it.

Andy studied and worked in England for ten years; so his English is excellent. When he called me to ask how and when I would arrive in Dali, I wasn’t sure if he was Chinese or foreign. He returned to China last year to help his parents, who are getting older—59 and 60. They moved to Yunnan because the weather is good. I found it strange to be talking to a Chinese person who speaks English so well and sounds British. But it was nice to be able to communicate easily.

When I commented on all the new buildings and construction, he explained that the government recently built a ring road around the lake; so all the small communities are expanding to accommodate more tourists.

Andy invited me to join the family for dinner, but they were having beef dumplings that his parents were making. So he took me to a nearby restaurant. The server recommended a vegetable dish; so I had it. It was a soup with white radish strips cooked with a small number of beans. Not quite what I was anticipating, but it was quite good. As I was finishing, Andy came to see how I was getting along. Back at the guesthouse, he offered me some Australian wine a friend had recently given him. As we finished, he left to pick up some guests. When I started to go upstairs, a man said something to me and then indicated that they wanted to take a photo. I ended out sitting and chatting with them for an hour. They are an extended family from Guanzhou. The 12-year-old boy did a nice job translating some of what the men wanted to say and answering some of my questions. After a few photos and some chatting, they decided to offer me tea. They had special Yunnan black tea, which I hadn’t had before. After a while, the other man’s daughter came down to chat with me. She is 24 and works in a bank. She apologized for her poor English because she hasn’t used it for a year, but her English is quite good. They thanked me for spending time with them, which they appreciated because they don’t have many opportunities to talk to Americans.