Jinghong
Arrived very early in the morning by sleeper bus from Dali. I didn't even realize we were already there when the bus parked in a parking lot with many other buses (turned out to be the bus station, duh!), because I expected to arrive around 8am, and it was only 6am or so. It took a while before I realized we stopped. Most people just kept sleeping, like I did. Apparently the driver just let everybody sleep until they were ready to get up. It was just before 8 when I finally left the bus. Some were still sleeping.
I headed off to the number 1 recommendation of Lonely Planet: the Banna College Hotel. On the grounds of this college, and according to L.P. just Y20-30 per room. Not today. The rate jumped to 200 Yuan! I don't know if it was becasue of the holiday, or just a matter of hyper inflation, but it was more than I was willing to pay, so I trotted around town to check out the other places. After some wrong turns, I found the Wali Dai Style Guesthouse, a nice place which offered a 3-bed dormitory for just Y 25. I checked in, had a shower, and rented a mountain bike for the day from a nearby bicycle shop.
Jinghong is quite different from were I came from. Clearly in the tropical zone. More humid, banana and palm trees, and a large part of the people look like Thai or Lao. There are also a lot of Thai style temples and elephant statues everywhere. Big hotels in Thai style. Women dressed in sarongs. It's almpst like China tried to appropriate a piece of Thailand to boost local tourism.
I took my bike across the Mekong river (using the huge bridge which dominates the riverside skyline) and followed it South. It was a nice ride, but there was not much to see except for the river itself, and some wooden Thai-style houses and a lot of trucks passing. I forgot that I was in the tropics, and soon I was drenched in sweat. The rear gear cable broke, so I was left with just 3 gears from the front gear set. It was not so bad, because the road was relatively flat. When I returned to the hostel I ran into the Israeli guy from Lijiang again (for the third time now!). It was quite funny. He just returned from a four-day trek in the region. Maybe I should do something similar. Tonight I will just hangout in town.
I headed off to the number 1 recommendation of Lonely Planet: the Banna College Hotel. On the grounds of this college, and according to L.P. just Y20-30 per room. Not today. The rate jumped to 200 Yuan! I don't know if it was becasue of the holiday, or just a matter of hyper inflation, but it was more than I was willing to pay, so I trotted around town to check out the other places. After some wrong turns, I found the Wali Dai Style Guesthouse, a nice place which offered a 3-bed dormitory for just Y 25. I checked in, had a shower, and rented a mountain bike for the day from a nearby bicycle shop.
Jinghong is quite different from were I came from. Clearly in the tropical zone. More humid, banana and palm trees, and a large part of the people look like Thai or Lao. There are also a lot of Thai style temples and elephant statues everywhere. Big hotels in Thai style. Women dressed in sarongs. It's almpst like China tried to appropriate a piece of Thailand to boost local tourism.
I took my bike across the Mekong river (using the huge bridge which dominates the riverside skyline) and followed it South. It was a nice ride, but there was not much to see except for the river itself, and some wooden Thai-style houses and a lot of trucks passing. I forgot that I was in the tropics, and soon I was drenched in sweat. The rear gear cable broke, so I was left with just 3 gears from the front gear set. It was not so bad, because the road was relatively flat. When I returned to the hostel I ran into the Israeli guy from Lijiang again (for the third time now!). It was quite funny. He just returned from a four-day trek in the region. Maybe I should do something similar. Tonight I will just hangout in town.
posted by marc at 16:57
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