* no photos for this entry, not even of the girl on the motorbike.
Sorry but nothing at this time compared to the beauty of Damenlong.

Wednesday, 1st February 2006

Woken early by loud music. It would have been ok if it was another type of music, even Boyzone would have been better that the damn Wedding March. It was so loud. Why are you doing this to me! We packed and got out of there as quick as we could to have breakfast at our little family eatery. When we returned to collect our bags a Chinese Wedding reception was nearing full swing. The handsome groom and his beautiful bride were standing at the gates welcoming all as they entered. Here is where it gets funny. At a Chinese reception the bride and the groom and their families hand out packets of cigarettes to everyone who attends along with other assorted goodies. Hey thanks for coming, now go and put another nail in the coffin!

The bus ride home was just as bumpy and dusty as the ride to Gung Gung. The amount of dust that came in through the bottom of the door was amazing. Breathing was horrid! When we arrived three hours later the Bus Girl wiped her jeans and shoes down with a 'wet one' and the state of it before she threw it out the window to litter the streets was a thick reddy brown colour.

When we arrived at our favourite hotel I went for a hair cut, gawd knows what the lady thought of all the dirt in my hair and the smell of my many days old clothing! Judy went to get us a room and found it had now gone up to 150yuan a night. Oh ya gotta love China...even though you know I'm ripping you off, I'm gonna actually make it worse and charge you another 50 Yuan because I can! I'm sure she smiled a forceful smile before leaving. She had had enough by this time and wanted to stay in a beautiful hotel so over to the Original Banna Hotel we went. Our room even included a Western Toilet! WOW, what is that strange thing in the bathroom I asked. It's growing out of the floor! For the price of the room I was very disappointed. No fly screens, dirty towels, a used toothbrush on the bathroom floor, no water machine and the room was very stuffy! Our 30 Yuan a night room included all this except the stuffiness, it included airflow for free! After a beautiful shower and putting on my clean clothes we dropped off our stinking washing. I put mine on a lead and let walk beside me!

Whilst sitting at Mei Mei's eating burgers I sat watching a beautiful girl posing on her motor bike whilst on her mobile phone. She was beautiful and she knew it. She was running her hand through her hair and shifting it from side to side and then shaking her head. She was very beautiful so I ordered a ginger and honey tea so I could watch longer. I kept searching for cameras thinking maybe she was making a shampoo commercial or even a China Mobile add. In the end it became all too amusing so I left with Judy for the supermarket. You'd take her home but not give her your phone number, too high maintenance!

After using body language and making the girl giggle by shaving my face and smelling my armpits she showed me to the shavers and the little Avon stand. I have such a great time and amuse even myself whilst shopping in China. A trip to my local market place ends up being a game of charades. Why learn Chinese, this is more fun! Soon the old ladies are right in there playing the game with me.

We took a walk down what we call Jade Street, I think it's actually called Burmese Street. This is where all the people from Pakistan, India and Myanmar have their shops. Every second shop is a Jade Jewellery shop with the same guy in each doing his best to entice you in to buy crap you'll never wear. I'm sure it's the same guy who runs down a little hidden pathway at the rear of the shop. Maybe his mother had 50 sons whom all look the same and all wear the same sarong/dress thingamabob. In between each Jade Shop is a tourist clothes shop all trying to inform you that everything is hand made etc. Maybe hands unpack the boxes but they did not make the clothes! I forked out 20 Yuan for a 'handmade' 70 Yuan shirt. All the way down I negotiated with the sellers offering as little as possible for as much as I could get. I don't mind doing this on tourist streets, it's all a bit of fun and they love the game. Its rouses them from the sleep with their head on the counter. In the end I left with only my handmade (70 Yuan shirt I got for 20 Yuan) shirt that I'm sure is worth 3 Yuan. But hey, everyone's gotta make a buck!

We spent the night at the Mekong Cafe playing cards. By now Judy is well into the high 10,000's and I'm just about 10,000 points. Adding up is becoming a game in itself after a few beers, especially Beer Lao which is 5%. Uli and Vicky had not returned from her parents yet so I didn't have to force some home made corn moonshine down. The Cafe is down to only Dali Beer which is made from hops and rice. It's like drinking beer flavoured water. Vicky needs to return and have Uli run around from shop to shop collecting as much Beer Lao and Tsingtao Beer (Chingdow) as possible to keep the customers happy.

We had a snack on a beautiful Dai dish. It was a sweet and sour type thing made from pineapple, tomato and potato. Just beautiful! Even Judy stayed till nearing midnight this evening, mainly because she was kicking my butt at cards! I have to invest in a new deck of cards. It's so hard to get rid of these ones as they came along with me last time so it's their second visit to China, plus the deck is missing the Ace of Hearts. Strange thing is though, I'm the one whom forgets this and waits on the ace of hearts for half the game before I remember.