M-whY

And share my 'taking pictures out of moving vehicles' frustration with. The ride today ranked near the top in the variety and quality of views to be had. Along a churning river of chocolate, bordered by rice paddies. Towns surrounded by a patchwork of green. Climbing to high altitudes to look over stone tiled houses and layered terraces, then back down to the river, which had grown bigger from merging with streams originating somewhere up in the mountains. The towns that we passed had no tourist attractions, and therefore no tourists, so for me at least, it was far more interesting than anything Lijiang had to offer. This wasn't pristine beauty like I saw in New Zealand, nor the mind-blowing vastness of the Australian Outback. 'Rugged' would be the word to describe this terrain.

"I wish I could've explored this road by motorcycle. Then I could stop and take pictures whenever I wanted," remarked Mercedes. Apart from the occasional toilet and meal breaks, public transportation rarely stops.

"That sounds like a good idea. Next time..." M-whY, season two. Around the world on two wheels. Has a nice ring to it.

Sometime after lunch, I caught a whiff of something burning. The driver must've noticed it too, because he pulled over at the next convenient location.

"Do you smell that?" I asked.

"Yeah. I thought it was just someone smoking."

"No, I think something's burning." Towards the front, I heard someone say something about fixing the bus. Crap. Had we broken down?

Everyone, Mercedes and I included, piled off the bus. Apparently, twisting roads and aggressive driving had taken its toll on the tires, which were billowing smoke. The driver went off to fetch a hose and cooled them off. No fire, no problem. A few minutes later, he called for us to get back onboard, and we were off again.

Altogether it was an eight hour journey. As we approached Panzhihua, gray factories and smokestacks replaced green fields. The river was no longer rich and frothy, it was now muddy and filthy. To be fair, downtown Panzhihua had its share of glitzy banks and office buildings, but most of the city was pretty crummy. I wouldn't want to spend the night here.

We were dropped us off about 30km short of the train station. A local bus took us the rest of the way. At the central station, we paused for what should've been a five minute wait, only to have it drag on and on and on... In China, it seems the more people the driver can get on his bus, the more he benefits. Capitalism is alive and well here, folks.

"[Go already! We still have to buy train tickets!]" people started complaining.

"[Don't worry! There's plenty of time. Tickets won't be hard to buy,]" we were assured.

"[You'd better not be lying to us!]" Sleepers on some of the busier routes often sell out. I guess no one else was looking forward to spending the night here either.

It was a mad rush to the ticket booth when we finally arrived, but as we were told, berths were plentiful and easy to purchase. Here, Mercedes and I split up; She was off to Chengdu, I would be making a stop at Mt Emei first. Both were on the same line, but she was on an express, I wasn't. Hers left almost immediately; I had about an hour to kill. Around the train station, I picked up a few snacks - including two pomegranates for 1.5 yuan each! - and sat down for dinner at a food stand.

Sichuan cuisine is known to be spicy, so I probably should've been prepared. A few mouthfuls of the cold noodles, and it hit me. I started perspiring, my face turned red, I even choked. "[Are you okay?]" asked the vendor, handing me a tissue. I nodded, and reached for my water bottle. This time, something really was burning!

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!