Dali（大理）
Dali
Breakfast
土豆丝饼 and 香肠: 10 Yuan
Snacks
Sushi: 10 Yuan
Cost of food (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, snacks, water), drinks, accommodation and transport (Dali Ancient Town is away from the train station)
Dali Ancient Town
Shrouded in low lying mist, old Dali seemed a dreamy place. From Dali City’s Xiaguan to Dali Ancient Town, you can take bus 8 for 3 yuan for around an hour, depending on the number of stops the bus makes along the way. After the bus drives out from Xiaguan, it follows a straight 11KM long road along Erhai Lake on one side and past scenic landscapes of villages that lie in the shadows of distant mountains on the other side. Long dirt paths lead to those villages from these roadside bus stops that are usually marked by a signpost.
I arrived at Dali Ancient Town in the evening. Cooling as it felt, the surrounding temperature was much higher than in Shangri-la. Dali was the turning point in my trip where my attire changed from jackets to short sleeves. My six person dormitory was full and I got the last bed although I was tempted to change accommodation once I realized that there was neither air conditioning nor a fan in the room. My bed was on the upper bunk and there were faint but big blotches of blood stains and almost no space to park my backpack, the five other ladies had their things strewn all over the room. I had already paid for a one night stay though and decided to then shorten my stay in Dali to one night. The night was spent walking around the Ancient Town amongst flashy vehicles and colours of neon signboards and the shouts of storeowners advertising their products. Roadside barbeque was still very much enjoyed in the sweltering heat. The sound of Chinese pop music, sight of tropical fruits, massage, tattooing services and bars were stark contrasts to the peaceful nights I have had so far but there was an undeniable charm in this bustle of the night. The outside air was cool but it was uncomfortably stuffy behind closed doors at the hostel and after exiting the room to and fro for bouts of fresh air, I eventually managed to catch some sleep.
Accomodation
大理十二号时光国际青年旅舍
Length of Stay: 1 Night
Type of Room: Bed in 6 people dormitory (20 Yuan per night)
Address: 古城东门果子园9组271号
Air Conditioning: No
Towels: Not provided
Personal Locker: Not provided
Location: This hostel is located within Dali Ancient Town itself, less than five minutes’ walk away from the bus stop the bus from Xiaguan stops at. It is in down one of the alleyways, easily located with the Chinese Amaps.
Further Comments:
There are many cats within this hostel! This hostel can only be booked on CTrip.
Journey to Jinghong
Dali only has one train station, which is located in Xiaguan (下关), almost an hour by number 8 public bus (八路) from Dali Ancient Town. I had bought a train ticket to Kunming online on Ctrip and left the hostel at 0715. The bus stop was along the main road which wasn’t much visible except for a signage that marked the location as the bus station. Fortunately, there was a small crowd waiting for the bus with their luggages ahead of me. Most people would be heading to the train station for their train to Kunming in the early mornings thus I gladly joined the queue. We had thirty one bus stops to cover before we reached the train station but the bus drove past bus stops where there were neither passengers to pick up nor alight, shortening our journey to solely forty minutes.
The train station（大理站) was the last station and I went to collect my train ticket from the counter with my passport. Dali train station has two floors for boarding, you will have to check against your train ticket for your allocated boarding gate number.
These stairs are the reason why I’d prefer backpacks to luggages. The dongche seats are generously spacious with plenty of leg room to leave your backpack.
I was to reach Kunming in a little over two hours and whilst I was sourced online for accommodation options, I suddenly wondered if I could catch a bus to Jing Hong in the same day. That would free up a day on my schedule and I could spend more time in either Laos or Thailand. As I had regarded Kunming as a transit city on this trip, I had no plans there for the time being. There were multiple buses to Jing Hong, the earliest bus I could potentially catch would leave at 1210 from the Kunming Southern Bus Terminal. The next bus was at 1400, which I instantly ruled out as the journey from Kunming would take at least eight hours. With my mind set on catching the 1210 bus, I had to get to the Southern bus terminal in the shortest time possible. The train would reach Kunming at 1103 and I had to get to the Southern bus terminal before 1210 to purchase my bus ticket. According to Chinese Amaps, the Southern bus terminal was only 31 minutes away by local subway and although I had an hour to cover the distance, we all knew 31 minutes was an optimistic duration.
Once I alighted at Kunming, I decided it was much faster to ask the locals for directions to the nearest subway station. It felt rather efficient, they would point into the distance and I would simply head in that direction. One of the strangers I asked directions from turned out to be an agent who sold bus tickets. He informed me that there was another bus to Jing Hong leaving from a bus station nearby but I decided to stick to the information presented on Amaps and take the subway.
I later reached the subway station only to find out that it was a different subway station from the one listed on Amaps. It didn’t matter too much though, I was only one stop away from the subway station listed on Amaps, however it meant that I had wasted previous time walking some extra distance. I was making excruciating slow progress towards the Southern bus terminal, with time ticking away as I tried to figure out ticket purchase on the local subway and the direction I should travel in. I reached Kunming Southern Bus Terminal at 1208, two minutes shy of the 1210 departure time. There was a queue at the ticketing counters and when my turn came, I didn’t think I would make it. The ticket lady nodded at my request for a ticket to Jing Hong and asked for my passport.
“You mean I can make it in time?” I was in disbelief.
“You can make it in time.” she reiterated.
My phone showed exactly 1210. I hurriedly thanked her and ran to get my luggage checked at security before entering the departure hall. I found my bus and got on, thankful that I had made it on time. “Take your shoes off,” the bus driver said, handing me a red plastic bag.
“Sorry?” I was confused. I took a look into the bus, three rows of bunk beds with passengers facing their feet towards the front of the bus greeted me. In my rush, I did not realize that I had bought a ticket for a sleeper bus. Thus far, I have only seen sleeper buses on overnight journeys but there were plenty of them on these Southern bus routes. With everyone’s shoes in red plastic bags, the unpleasant smell of feet was distinctively strong. It got bearable though, once I came round to the fact that my feet probably won’t smell any better.
Gaotie to Kunming
The bus pulled into the Southern Bus Terminal of Yunnan Yuxi’s Hongta district (红塔区) at 1400 for a break. Outside the bus station’s washroom, there were puddles of water on the ceramic tiles. Trying to avoid them, I suddenly lost my footing and slipped with my entire body weight landing on my right knee. There was a hand on my arm as a stranger kindly helped me back on my feet. “Be careful,” he cautioned.
There was so much mist in the surroundings.
Dinner was at 1900, at a rest stop near Pu’er City. You could pay a fixed price of 25 yuan and get a card which would entitle you to eat as much as you’d like within the canteen. The canteen only offered economical rice thus I opted for a bowl of potatoes outside the canteen for 10 yuan. More than half of the passengers alighted at Pu’er City, some 8 hours after we left Kunming. There were still two hours before we reached Jing Hong. I took the time to choose a hostel near the bus station we would be arriving at. All buses fro, Kunming will arrive at Jing Hong Southern Bus Terminal, according to the driver. I vividly recall the dampness and humidity of the night when I alighted in Jing Hong at 2230. The bus station somehow resembled those in Malaysia. Palm trees, steel window grills and drivers in flimsy knee length pants, scooting around the bus station for passengers.
