3 Months on the road today !!
We can hardly believe it ! Still having a great time here in China even if it has been rough lately – it’s still an incredible adventure.

The roosters have been replaced with various power tools – the construction gets going early here and this morning was no different. V is back up and running so we decided to head out. The 9:30 bus apparently left at 8:30 so we waited for the 11:30 one to fill up. Normally buses leave on time in China but only when leaving from a proper bus station. While waiting we started chatting to the only foreigner around. Marcus (a Swede) has been living and studying in China for a couple years. He was interesting to chat to but most importantly was heading the same way and can speak Chinese.

The first leg to Kaili was an hour. The driver used the downhills and good roads to his advantage, turning off the engine and coasting. Good thing the brakes aren’t assisted. It was a pleasant trip but V was stressing about her missing motion sickness pills.

In Kaili we had a short 20 minute wait for the next bus to Guiyang so we crossed the busy street get some supplies. With V’s recent food poisoning we opted for sealed goods including bananas. Marcus (who must be used to food in China) spent some time haggling over the price of some good looking grapes. The Chinese language often sounds like a fight and it’s really funny to watch when one party is a foreigner. The bus was all shiny and new – we even got free drinking water. We were back on concrete highways but shortly after setting out we hit roadworks and traffic. The 2.5 hour trip ended up taking 4 hours but was at least comfortable – not really for me and my stomach. Last night’s meal turned out to be +6 for taste, -5 for consequence 🙂

In Guiuang we said goodbye to Marcus who was flying north to Chengdu and after eventually finding the ticket office got on the last bus leg to Anshun. No delays and a good highway meant the trip only took 1.5 hours before depositing us in the mid-sized, cleaner than most, but not too attractive city of Anshun with our only Information being a small section in our 5 year old LP guide.

People are often amazed how we manage to travel without any Chinese language, but we always seem to get by and today was no different. A young lady traveling on the bus said hello in passing when we got off and as we stood trying to orient ourselves she came back to us with a friend and her mother to ask if she could help us. We tried to decline but eventually accepted the offer and followed as the ladies headed down the main street in search of a hotel for us (Anshun is not geared for travelers – there are no hostels and budget accommodation is rare). We chatted as we walked. Charlin is a student in Hong Kong who is back home for the holidays and her friend, Sandy, has just completed high school. We felt terrible that they were traipsing up the main street with Charlin’s luggage looking for a hotel for us when her mom and friend probably hadn’t seen her for ages. After stopping in at one hotel and being shocked at the price the girls were even more keen to keep looking – Charlin’s poor mom less so. We walked together a couple blocks to the far end of the street and eventually found a typical Chinese hotel at a reasonable rate (£14). Charlin and Sandy were wonderful. They translated for us, made recommendations, drew maps to buses and invited us to the spend some time with them at the city’s night market (if Charlin could get permission from her mom).

After a quick shower we called Charlin to see if she had gotten permission – she told us which bus to catch – they would wait at another stop and jump on when they saw us (we are easy to spot here – very few foreigners). The night market was huge and packed but what a difference it makes being able to ask what things are. This area is famous for braaied fish and we could see why – it looked fantastic on the coal and gas fires – wish I could enjoy fish. The entire braai section of the market smelt surprisingly appetizing. Having heard that this area eats a lot of dog we wanted to stay away from any meat and the girls recommended mini rolls for dinner. That was to be an odd experience. We sat down in front of 10 or so bowls of various diced roots and vegetables (we could only identify bean sprouts and cabbage) and were given instruction on how to wrap ingredients inside little pastries and add copious amounts of chili sauce. It filled the gap, but not really our speed. Wandering the market we came across a guy making sugar stick art. With his randomizing spinning wheel for choosing a design and his skill it was entertaining to watch. He told our guides that he would make a special one for V since we were foreign and proceeded to squiggle a beautiful dragon (on a stick). We were very impressed.

The girls wanted us to try some more local snacks so we sat down at another spot and were presented with mango and banana sorbet followed by various deep fried things from jelly to tofu and more unrecognizable vegetables. We had said that we enjoy spicy food, but wow, it was way too hot for us and made everything taste the same. We were stuffed. As we were about the leave, an American couple (teaching English in the city) said hello – they used the word ‘awesome’ around 10 times in two minutes 🙂

Before getting us back to the bus the girls presented us with a little gift (a small purple doll – purple being the color of love here) and we posed for photos – the V for victory sign that most Chinese make when posing apparently indicates happiness. They were absolutely tremendous hosts – a wonderful experience, thank you Charlin and Sandy.

[Pictures: Making V’s dragon. Will upload lots more photos from the market asap]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi