I had a late morning, and then caught the bus to Dali. I was expecting a 3 hour ride, but it turned into 5 when there was an accident in a mountain pass, which stopped traffic in both directions for 1.5 hours. Typically, I didn't know what was going on, since no one spoke english on my bus (but I walked to the site of the accident and found out). The bus ride was quite interesting since we passed lots of farmland, including some terraced farm land (we had mountains on both sides the whole way). The mountains we also very pretty, and toward the end we drove along the lake by Dali (Yunnan makes me think of a warmer version of colorado). The bus let some people off on the side of the road, and it took me a minute to discover that I should get off there, since Dali old town was close to here (and not close to the bus station). I caught a taxi to my hostel, which was another lovely place.
I went to explore the town and discovered I had left china. There is more english on the signs here then in the rest of china put together (and more than the San Gabriel Valley in LA). I was offered marajuana 5 times in 30 minutes by local women (Dali is known as a hippy hangout). But there were lots of places to eat, and I did successfully get two plates of great tasting and interesting looking local mushrooms tonight (stir fried with some oil and garlic with some peppers). Finally, my mushroom quest was successful.
I have been spending most of the rest of the evening virus fighting on my memory sticks. One system required a complete reinstallation, and I think I might have lost a lot of photos, since the computer here doesn't see the directories. Its very upsetting. I knew I should have taken a laptop with me...
