Tuesday, January 6th, 2004 – Day 322
I had thought of going to the Panda Research centre this morning but decided it was cutting it a bit fine. I had a shave, hair cut, shower etc which took up the morning. I walked around town for an hour buying some dried fruit for the journey. I took the 64 bus from outside the hostel to the train station at 12.30pm. there were thousands of people waiting for the train. Wow. I was in a hard sleeper.
Hard sleeper has couchettes, separated into groups of six by partitions, but open to the corridor. Berths are provided in columns of three and are cheaper as they get further from the floor. Lights go off at about 10pm and on again at 6am. Thermoses of boiled water are in each compartment and group of berths, refilled either by the attendants or by yourself from a boiler at the end of each car. Compartments often have cups, but it’s best to take your own. Bed linens are provided in both classes. More modern trains have a mixture of Western and Chinese squat toilets. Washing facilities are limited, and except on the highest quality trains, there’s cold water only (and this may sometimes run out).
It was as described above. I was in a top berth, which was a good 10 feet from the floor. Its hard as they all open to the corridor and nobody gets privacy or even a bed lights. Ligts out at 10.00pm exactly and no noise after. Lights back on at 7.00am. Still it was just OK.
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Train back to Kumning (06-01-2004)
People with trolleys pass non stop all the time selling food, presents, towels, rental of VCD players. I purchased some noodles around 3.00pm and had a full dinner for 5 Yuan around 6.00pm. There are spring seats in the corridor to eat. Once you get on the train, the attendant will swap your ticket for a token with your berth number. Shortly before arrival, she will return to re-exchange it (you never miss your stop in China). Keep the ticket ready, as it will be checked again as you leave the station.
There were three Candadins a few berths down. I called down there and we started playing cards. It was like 45 and I soon got the hang of it. Indeed my p[artner and I won the game out rights. They were a serious bunch and would not discuss Tibet (where they were teaching) as they were afraid who might be listening. Weird. One girl kept asking questions of me about Ireland. He would say the question like whets the capital called. I would say Dublin and she would go D..U.B.L.I..N and I would have to spell words to her. She would then write them out with her finger in the air. She asked the most ludicrous and silly questions and I was grinning at the other two, but they seemed obblious. There were two girls and a guy. He mentioned that 50% of those had his small college in Michigan had gone overseas. When pressed for information, he accepted that New York and Hawaili were no overseas (but was accepted as such by the college). Funny bunch and definitely a religious thing with them by the books they were reading.
We played cards until lights out. I got little sleepand kept on tossing and turning. Maybe it was booze as a Chinese gent kept giving us (I was the only person drinking it) some Chinese alcoho. It was good stuff but strong. He was plastered. I also had a flagon of something which the gent looked down at. Hes had cost 20 Yuan and mine cost 2.50 Yuan (.25 cent).
Wednesday, January 7th, 2004 – Day 323
We arrived early in Kunming. It was about 8.15am. I knew the area and could walk to the same hostel I stayed in last time. I rebooked a single room for 40 Yuan (4 Euro). During breakfast, the German lad I met in Zhongian turned up. He was leaving for Beijing in 2 hours. He had got sick of the cycling and sold it to the English guy for 200 Yuan (20 Euro). He was as crazy as ever and was cursing and shouting to all and sundry. He was good craic and we talked (if that’s what you call it) for an hour.
I went to the bus station and purchased an express ticket for Ruli for 10.30am tomorrow. It was an expensive 180 Yuan but its 14 hours rather than the 22-26 hour normal journey.
I did little of interest the rest of the day.
Thursday, January 8th, 2004 – Day 324
I was up at 9.00am and had breakfast. My bus was at 10.30am. It was a normal bus with no reclining seats. It was an OK journey. We only had two meal breaks the whole trip. The first meal was included in the price. The second cost 12 Yuan. At least I was in the front seat and could watch the subtitles on the two film they showed. They showed two Hong Kong classics called god of Gambles 1 and God of Gamblers two. They both star Yun-Fat Chow. The rest of the time (about 60%) they showed Karaoke. I was nearby enjoying it near the end of the trip.
The poor girl beside me puked her guts up. Not once but at least 20 times during her 12 hour trip. I don’t know where it came from. She puked into plastic bas the whole way. They are bad bus travelers.
I thought we might arrive earlier as is usual when they give a arrival time. But no, at 12.35am, just over 14 hours we arrived. It was dark but its a small town with a few streets. I walked about 10 minutes to my chosen hotel.
Yunnan`s most westerly town, RUILI is barely thirty minutes by road from the sober formalities and politely quiet cross-border sneaking at Wanding, but infinitely distant in spirit. Once the capital of the Mengmao Dai Kingdom but now an ostentatious boom town, Ruili revels in the possibilities of its proximity to Burma – 5km south over the Shweli – with such a heavy flow of illegal traffic pouring over the dozens of crossing points to Mu Se , its Burmese counterpart, that locals quip “feed a chicken in China and you get an egg in Burma”. Though things along the Burmese side have tightened up considerably in recent years, trade is very much a two-way affair, and Ruili is the main conduit for Burmese heroin entering China, reflected in the town`s high incidence of addicts and AIDS patients. Burmese, Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals wander around in sarongs and thongs, clocks are often set to Rangoon time, markets display foreign trade goods and most Chinese in town are tourists, attracted by the chance to pick up some cut-price trinkets and the decadent thrills of commercial sex and night-long karaoke sessions. Ruili`s karaoke craze is so intense that there are not enough clubs for the howling hordes of late-night revellers, so scores of entrepreneurs set up videos, microphones and amplifiers out in the streets, blocking pavements and making the town audible kilometres away. While all this might sound like something to avoid, here at the fringes of the Chinese empire Ruili is a surreal treat. If the town`s nightlife appals you, the markets are fascinating, and many foreign traders speak good English and make interesting company – and the surrounding countryside, studded with Dai villages and temples, is only a bike ride away.
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Ruili – Neon paradise (08-01-2004)
I received an email in August 2005 to say my depiction wasnt fair to Ruili – an interesting town. I will add her email here to give a fuller picture of this town.
I came across your website while doing a search for
some information on Ruili. I lived there for over a year (I happened to
be out of town during your visit) and continue to work with the people
there because it’s a wonderful place with wonderful people that yes –
has its faults but all places have their faults and all places have
their beauties. Ruili has no more neon than anywhere else in China and in
fact – probably has less. Take a look at any large city in China and
you will learn the meaning of a neon capital. A lighted sign on a
hospital is not so odd though to highlight its location at night. There’s
also less prostitution in Ruili than a lot of other places because the
economy isn’t doing so well lately and I’m not sure why you depict streets
running over with karaoke bars. Again – there are no more karaoke bars
in Ruili than any other Chinese town and they’re certainly not running
over into the street. Ruili can be down right quiet on some nights. One
more comment about your ‘dog meat’ restaurant. It was actually a
Sichuanese restaurant – but one wouldn’t know that unless they could read the
sign. Dog meat is popular in Ruili as are fried bee pupa and fried
bamboo worms. But that’s their local diet its no more odd to them than a
steak and kidney pie is to you.
It’s great to be able to travel around the world and learn about
different places and cultures but keep an open mind while you’re at it.
Elanah
In News:
- China Fires About 45,000 Police for Abuses
- Chinese Buddhist Teacher Phuntsok Dead at 70
- Second Sars Case for China.
- Thai Attackers Said Regional Terrorists
- Editor Who Broke SARS News Is Questioned
Not my picture: A civet cat that attempted to escape is held down by a health worker as another bludgeoned it to death at a wildlife market in Guangzhou, southern China, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2004. Amid a mass slaughter of civet cats, Chinese authorities said Wednesday they will launch a rat-killing campaign in the southern city of Guangzhou as they try to wipe out possible sources of the SARS
Friday, January 9th, 2004 – Day 325
I was in at 12.30am last night. I did little today. I walked to the various markets including the Jade market where Burmese traders sellers are. I took a 10 Yuan taxi to Jiegao about 7km from Ruili. Its on the Burma border with only a wire fence separating the two countries. Its a nice town with most people waring the Burmese Sarong. Even though the West has trade sanctions against the country, the amount of trade (illegal and legal) to Burma is massive. I saw warehouses and 3-/40 motor bikes been packed up with boxes for transfer to Burma. China has been Burma’s closest ally since the army seized power in Rangoon in 1988.
Beijing supplies it with most of its military hardware and training. They are also in reality Burma’s most important trading partner, although much of that is unofficial cross-border trade.
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Ruili – Market for Rice (09-01-2004)
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Ruili – Dog Meat restaurant (09-01-2004)
I got a shared taxi (4 Yuan) back to Ruili. Ruoli only comes alive at around 9.00pm and stays that way for a few hours. Its all neon lights, tress lighted up in green and karaoke bars. Even the Hospital is all Neon. Still, its low season. It wasn’t a party town and I deciced to head off tomorrow. I didn’t want to travel that far in one day as I make my way to the Laos border so I purchased a ticket for Lincang which is about 1/3 of the way there for 115 Yuan. It leaves at 9.00am.
Saturday, January 10th, 2004 – Day 326
The bus was at 9.00am. It was a sleeper bus. In China, there is the wonderful sleeper bus. You either love them or hate them. For long distances, buses are equipped with bunk-bed style sleeping arrangements. It was very reasonably priced, and allowed a person to get a night’s sleep. There are about 30 beds on the bus. Five down, two up and three across. I took a bottom bunk as there is no storage space. You have to stuff your bags where ever you can find space. It can make you nervous. You also get a duvet. The troubles are numerwous. The bunks are filthy, no pillows, the duvets are filthy, everyone smokes, spits and dumps their rubbish on the floor.
The main problem is that the bunks are too short for Westerners and I had to double up my knees. Sleeper buses, although cheaper, should generally be avoided when an overnight train is an alternative. Usually they have three rows of two-tier berths, which are extremely narrow and do not recline fully.
Anyway we kept on getting stopped and held up. The first two times were by drugs police. They checked everyone’s identity papers and questions three men who were traveling alone. They opened their bags and even kicked them off as they checked under their bunk mattresses. Ruli and this area is the biggest drugs entry point into China from Burma. Heroin is a big problem. This province borders the notorious “golden triangle,” which is the nickname for a drugs production area between the Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. A success in removing the scourge of narcotics from Yunnan is expected to play a leading role in eliminating them from the country as a whole. Anyway we were stopped for an hour. They took my passport for 5 minutes to record details.
We were stopped again for the same exercise an hour later. To cut the story short, we stopped man times during the night as we were carrying lots of cargo intended for various shops along the route. We got to Kuncang at 4.00am and were stopped for an hour unloading cargo. One box could not be found and they ripped the box apart until they found it on the roof of the bus. Many passengers left here but I decided to hell with it. I had expected to e earlier, stay the night and continue on in the morning. With it nearly been 4.30a, I decided to stay on and go directly to Jinghong. When I would arrive, is anyone’s guess. I only had a little sleep on the bus due to the bad road conditions.
In compensation the scenery was great. It got very cold during the night and there was a full moon with millions of stars out. It shone on the water terraces we passed. All beautiful but I would rather have the sleep.
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Journey to Jinghong (10-01-2004)
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Click on the picture to see it in its original size
Journey to Jinghong (10-01-2004)
Sunday, January 11th, 2004 – Day 327
What can I say. We passed through some nice towns. Its a long feckin journey and I arrived in Jinghong at 7.30pm, some 35.5 hours after I left Ruli. Its an epic journey with the highpoints being the toilet stops. We would have got here ealier except for the two hours we lost to checkpoints, two hours lost to two punctures and two hours lost to cargo stops. The first puncture was fine as we had a spare and were heading into a town. The second time we had to back track 30 minutes to a town and then get the puncture fixed. At least we could have breakfast. We had only two main meal breaks with the food been good. You grabbed a toilet break on the road any chance you could (i.e traffic jams) as you don’t know when the next one could occur.
My trainers were lost some where to the back of the bus. My luggage was filfty with rubbish, fag ash and spit. Only three of us were left from Ruili. Everybody else (and the bus was full a few times) got off along the way.
I walked from the station to the first cheap hotel I passed. It was 30 Yuan for a double room with bath. I don’t even know the name of the place. I was totally zoned out, spaced out, a space cadet. My body was there but my mind was some place else.
I found a place to eat, a backpacker place called Mei Mei Cafe which had good music but crap food. The rice was sticky and cold, the dumplings were purchased at a stall down the street and the vegetables poor. Still for 20 Yuan including a beer it was OK. I did went to the NET for 30 minutes but I could not concentrate. I was in bed watching TV by 11.00am and had a great nights sleep after a shave and a wash.
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Jinghong – Famous Bridge (11-01-2004)
Another suggested SARS case n China.