3/3/07 - Chengdu: Paradise at last!

Had to wake up at bloody 5:30am this morning just to get our bus. Amazingly it wasn't all that hard as I was in high spirits as my travellers diarrhea is finally clearing away and it was a particularly warm morning in Han Yuan. Todays 310km trip was the most arduous though - we left at 6:40 and didn't arrive in Chengdu until close to 3pm. Not only was the road an unsealed dirt track for most of the way but we were again winding through mountains in very dense fog. To add to the misery there were road works to clear fallen rocks and it was raining which made everything damp and cold.

However reaching Chengdu was like arriving in heaven fo us weary travellers - it's a big cosmopolitan city twice the size of Kunming with substantial commerce and high-tech industry and all the wealth that brings. Wealth = wide boulevards with overpasses to avoid traffic jams, multiple McDonalds, KFCs, Starbucks, big clean squares and parks etc - it's like a mini- Beijing.

I felt a sense of awe and marvel as we rode the public bus to Sim's Cozy Guesthouse on the northern side of town from our long distance bus station on the south western edge. These big rich Chinese cities contrast so sharply with the poor countryside that I've just seen so closely over the last 4 days. I can't wait to check out Chengdu over the next couple of days - it's got this really beautiful vibe about it that I can't describe. I will re-iterate that the people here are generally nicer than Kunming locals.

Sim's Cozy Guesthouse now rates as the best hostel I've stayed in. It's big, clean, has good facilities like ensuites for dorms and a nice bar. I spent my first night in the bar just drinking with other travellers and swapping stories and they played Justin Timberlake in the background - it felt so cool. I know it's not very Chinese of me but I really needed a break from the experience of the last few days!