An early start to an arbitrary day, off to the airport. We brought up the issue of the room rate with our guide who shrugged it off as a misunderstanding. We now regret having given him a tip. Anyway we were both very excited to be getting on a plane, our first since January. Lhasa airport is snazzy and looks brand new. It was very busy and slowed by the excruciating security checks. Oddly, once past security there is nowhere to buy nibbles. Food and water are marked up by around 300% – the worst price gouging we have seen in China (except for the Dadong duck restaurant water saga). Boarding the plane was a real novelty as it was the first time in a long while that we have see a queue in the English sense of the word – very civilized. The plane left on time at 11h25 and after exhibiting stunning mountain views below us and a short stop in Shangrila we arrived on time in Kunming at 15h30. Unfortunately the baggage handlers were slower than those at JNB and after a very long wait we said our goodbyes to Manouk (great to meet you Manouk and thanks for everything and especially for the Gibbon thing). We then spent another 30 minutes in a typical Chinese queue for a taxi fending off locals as they tried to push in and past. V was like the Great Wall. No one got past us, we must be getting good.

We have returned to the Camelia Hostel. It’s a really great feeling to be back somewhere that you know. Everything is familiar and easy. The Internet connection is still miserable and the public use laptop in reception (the only one we have seen in China with Windows and Office in English) still has the software and settings that I installed last month 🙂 . V had been dreading the rock solid beds at Camelia but we ended up with an unusually comfy one – what a relief. We will rest up here for two nights, stock up on supplies from WalMart and abuse the washing machine before heading off to Laos. We are incredibly excited about Loas and have been checking maps and plotting routes. Manouk sent us a link to ‘The Gibbon Experience’ which looks incredible and just up our street (if expensive). Laos… bring it on !

[Pictures: Home sweet home – Camelia Hostel]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi