Wow. I have never tasted food this hot in my life....and I love spicy food! I literally touched it to my tongue, and there were fireworks in my mouth. Incredible. But I'm getting ahead of myself here....
Obviously, I've made my way to Sichuan province ~ Chengdu, to be precise. I arrived early this morning on the night train from Xi'an, and made my way to a hostel that came highly recommended. Well, one thing they forgot here was heating. The place is bloody freezing! The shared showers thankfully have hot water, but who in their right mind would want wet hair in these quarters??? I think this place would be great in the summer, but its not for me ~ not in the winter, anyways.
I headed out on the town to get my visa renewed (tough to find the place with a serious language barrier!), tested out the bus system (claustrophobic but cheap at Y1), mailed some postcards (keep your eyes peeled!!), and eventually wandered into a cafe for a snack. There I met a guy who had just been turned back from the very horse trek adventure I've been hoping to take ~ the SNOW and ICE made it dangerous as the horses were slipping all over the place. Um, something tells me this is not the best season for touring China.
Oooh, and good news.....I found a Starbucks. My stomach is beginning to rebel against all the greasy food, so I found myself longing for a latte and a muffin. In this respect, Starbucks is a definate score. Of course, there I met 3 Swedes who were really great.....after they told me of the old Chinese saying, "come to china for the food, come to sichuan for the flavour" how could I refuse their dinner invitation? And heres where the sichuan food comes into it......
The one guy used to study in China back in the 80's, and thank goodness he can speak Mandarin. After one tentative tongue touching to a piece of celery, I needed water ~ stat. This makes the sichuan beans at hells kitchen seem sweet.....and I'm not in any way exaggerating. Dad, I even think you would have met your match here. Much coughing (me) and laughing ( them) ensued....definately gave the locals a good show, anyways. At least I've proven my entertainment value!!!
So....hope all of you are well, just thought I would touch base and share with you. Tomorrow is panda bear adventure day....I'm so excited!!!! I look forward to hearing from all of you soon if you have a moment...
xoxoxo Laura
ps. A very big happy birthday to both Ant Ger and Papa Don...wish I could be there to celebrate with you!!!!!!! xoxo laura
