really wet day

we take in the sights of teng chong. that is to say, the guide tries hard to help us appreciate the sights.

the sights are pretty enough but unfortunately much marred by the incessant rain because no matter how you look at it i am just not a diehard tourist i am a city girl who needs my creature comforts and i like them dry.

if the rain continues tomorrow i might need to park meself in the van.

jingcheng dihai hot spring hotel

 

palatial set-up. breakfast delivered to the room. we lose our way looking for the elevators.

rainforest

we hike. what i say is, i am very grateful for gore-tex. although the waterfall is pretty too.

mangshi hotel (estab. 1956)

pretty much a grand dame in look and feel. complete with faded carpeting climb-in bathtub soap and shampoo in tiny bottles and heavy wooden furniture that gives me two new bruises within an hour. but also (much appreciated) firm mattress pillow options and bedside charging access. and, as i tell HOM, a to-die-for view from the comfort of my room.

of night markets, rain, and getting older

the gang plan a street food dinner at the night market. i am sorry to report that i decide to have dinner delivered to the room and catch the gradual glowing up of the pagoda.

comes a time a girl has got to say, it's the rainy season in the tropics, guys. gimme my creature comforts. meituan is wonderful. as is dinner.

my year off - robert mccrum (1998)

memoir of a 42-year-old man who suffers a stroke. the account is thoughtful philosophical and surprisingly upbeat. he writes quite beautifully, which restores my confidence in publishers and makes me want to specially read faber & faber books. 

the main beef i have with him is that he is sometimes medically inaccurate, although of course that gives an insight to his perspective. and he is a little medically quaint too, because he writes from a time when people had strokes and left the hospital with just aspirin.

the one thing i learn from him is how fatiguing it can be. 

red eye travel

bloodshot, more like. two sleepless flights and a car ride later we tumble out into a hotel one can only describe as quaint.

on the other hand, the sleeping facilities at kunming airport are wonderful, with a mattress for every budget. it's a near-camping-hostel-living-like experience but very clean.

also, as we descend into the dehong mangshi airport we have to lower the shades on account of security reasons so it all feels very hush hush and momentous.