In China they say: The sun gives light and the cloud it’s shadow.
These few words seem to sum up the experiences and feelings I have as I continue my travels through this vast continent of Asia.
As China experiences it’s worst snow storms in decades, I too have been amongst the chill of the snow capped mountains in the far north west of Yunnan province and now in the south, close to crossing the boarder into Laos tomorrow, I am bathed in sunshine and a tropical warmth all too familiar.
The yin and the yang, the dark and the light, good and evil all express stark descriptions of extremes, and a reminder of how fortunate I have been through out my life. I’ve had it so easy! And I am increasingly thankful.
Two nights ago I arrived in Dali during a very cold, wet and windy afternoon. I decided not to continue on to the tourist destination of the “old town” to avoid a possible complication in travel arrangements already booked. Instead I ran from the bus into a congested and very Chinese bus station…every notice illegible to me, not a blond head amongst the crowd and no idea where I was headed…mmmm Ok Vic , you can do this…deep breath
Scanning the crowd I spotted a well dressed and cool looking young man (all young people study english to some extent throughout their schooling). “Can you help me get a taxi to a hotel?” Next thing I knew his friend came to my rescue, carried my bag out into the rain and flagged down a taxi, arranged for me to be taken to an “English speaking hotel’ and off I went. ( I have learnt you only need to ask for help) when all else fails.
Big city….grand but grotty hotel….fine…perfect…I have a room and tomorrow I’ll get to the airport and I’ll be away. I walk down the cold wet and busy street, being careful not to lose my bearings on the hotel. Food…yes I’m hungry so I find one of those streets that have strange but intriguing aromas, with big pots of some thing boiling out the front and a narrow room behind lined with tables and chairs. I walk up and down the street. A mother and daughter smile as I wandered past…..it’s a good enough sign and I go back to be served noodles of my choice with a sprinkling of fresh herbs, some kind of meat and a hot broth….it tastes great and I wonder where the meat has been…but I enoy it anyway.!
Back at the hotel I hop into bed because there is no heating. I become increasingly aware of how dirty the walls are and mmmm….it feels yuk!!. I check out the towels and sheets….clean enough!....complimentary shampoos and toothbrush…nice. Mmmm and condoms? Mmmm…..I settle into the last pages of my book, “A child called It” by David Pezler. It is his account of his extreme abuse by his mother when he was a child. It’s confronting as well as up lifting as he goes on to make his life dedicated to educating people about the reality of child abuse and uses his story to demonstrate and motivate others to overcome what life throws at them.
About thirty pages before the end my bed-side phone rings. I ignore it but it won’t go away and so eventually answer. Chinese woman’s voice…”Sorry I don’t speak Chinese.”…Oh…massage?....”NO”. She hangs up.
Five minutes later I hear the phone ring in the room next to me.
Twenty minute later I hear the phone ring down the hall.! And so it went through out the last pages. I put the book down, digesting it’s contents. Then I hear from down in the street below….M’ma…..m’ma…a distressed little girl’s voice.Every two minutes or so…m’ma, m’ma… until eventually a high pitched screech bellows from above a command that I did not understand. The little voice stopped and the ringing continued throughout the night as I settled between my sheets and hoped for the morning to come.
As I left for the airport that morning the sun shone pink onto the snow capped mountains that back-dropped the town. The lake too reflected the scene. And as my plane punched through the cloud cover to reveal the sun I madly clicked away with my camera so as not to forget this moment…..and gave thanks for all the love that I’ve had in my life, and the family and country into which I had been born.
