DATELINE: Dali, China
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Author: Lauren Cohen
Out of all the cities on my itinerary, Dali was tied with Chengdu for most anticipated. So far I've found myself feeling a little disappointed. Both of my guidebooks touted it as a bohemian backpacker paradise, with constant jam sessions in hostel courtyards and old Bai ladies chasing westerners down the street shouting "Ganja? Ganja?" (and YES, mom and dad I know better than to buy or use illegal drugs in a foreign country - but that tidbit seemed indicitave of a laid-back atmosphere with lots of cool people in my peer group). But so far the hostels seem like ghost towns, except for a few parents and kids. I also had to run around to find a new hostel because the one I had reserved placed me in a room in a building about 100 meters from the main building, behind an iron fence that I found impossible to open. The room smelled like bleach and had no television or wi-fi. Mostly, I was alarmed by the idea of coming back to my room at night and having to struggle with the gate. The hostel itself had no bar or restaurant, only a limited menu of items that could be ordered and served in the reception area, so it's not like there would be safe and fun options in-house. I tried 2 more hostels around the corner and they were booked. At the second one, the helpful lady at reception brought me around the corner to a locally-owned guesthouse that had a room for a good price. The receptionist also said that if I'm staying at that guesthouse, I'm welcome to use all of their hostel facilities. I was very apprecitive and after settling into the room I went back to the hostel for some fried local noodles and a vodka on the rocks (have I mentioned that China generally suffers from a lack of acceptable whiskey.) I also booked my bus to Kunming, so at least that's one fewer thing to worry about. The hostel offers a Cormorant fishing excursion, which many of my friends heard me talking about before the trip as something I was dying to see. With the weather as such, though, I'm not sure it would be much fun at all. I'm going to head off to a couple of expat bars to see if they can provide more insight into what, exactly, is supposed to be fun here. If nothing else, I'm sure I'll enjoy exploring the market and picking up souvenirs. I could use some cheering up, so drop me a line at lc_in_china at yahoo dot com.
