May 23rd - Off to Yunnan

Tuesday May 23d -Off to Yunnan

We had a pretty early flight to Yunnan, about 9 am, so I had to get up very early and double check my packing (especially the bug bottles). Of course the taxi driver took me to the wrong departure hall (anyone surprised?) but after a few phone calls I managed to locate Panda. We checked in and went to wait for our plane. About 30 minutes before departure I noticed how the Chinese travelers around me started getting up, pacing around, gathering their luggage, and heading towards the plane gate. It didn’t matter that the Hainan Airways staff that blocked the entrance of the gate told them to go back and sit down, a small line soon formed around the gate. Oh here we go again…Let’s get on the plane FAST!

After telling Panda 3 times that no one would take our seats and that we don’t have to go and stand in line, I eventually gave up and decided to queue with her. Man, the Chinese can be stubborn! And the ‘line’ btw… didn’t exist for long. When the staff finally started letting ppl on, Chinese travelers attacked from everywhere. Once again, I had to close my eyes, hope for the best and push for my life. I was pretty relieved when I was finally firmly fastened on my seat.

The plane trip went well, and I didn’t have to worry about my skipped breakfast, as we got a copious amount of food?! Two boxes full of cakes, hot food and fruits..?! And this was just a domestic flight! I’ve never had such a feast, at neither swank Cathay Pacific nor Finnair.

However, when we 3 hours later landed, I experienced another hit of total madness. As soon as the plane’s wheels unfolded and touched the ground, the Chinese passengers rushed up and started gathering their luggage?! I was astonished! Angry stewardesses came running and a fight almost occurred as ppl were told to sit down immediately until the plane stopped. A few ppl tried their luck again, but the (now furious) stewardesses guarded them as watchdogs and forced them back to their seat. Wow. I don’t think I have ever experienced a more exciting landing?!

At Kunming airport we were met by a girl from YID -Yunnan Institute of Development, the group we were going to visit. Hm.. maybe I should explain shortly about my purpose of trip so you readers understand why I went all the way to Yunnan for…? Ok, let’s do a quick sidetracking timeline:

Oct 05: Jonna finds out she can apply for a journalist scholarship if she goes to a developing country and reports on a development project taking place there.

Some days later: Jonna locates a project in Yuxi, a town in south China’s Yunnan province and gladly applies, much encouraged by her boss Jutta. It is a development project that the volunteer group YID -Yunnan Institute for Development has been doing for the last 3 years. The project includes educating ppl about health, hygiene and HIV. Building pre-schools and helping the poor farmers with bio-gas and micro credit -a type of loan for ppl living in poverty.

Nov 05: Jonna receives a letter saying she’s been accepted. Jonna enters happy world for a few days before she forgets all about it.

Feb 06: Jonna remember she’s got a scholarship and books a trip to China

April/May 06: Jonna makes a travel plan for Beijing and get in touch with YID, the volunteer group that is in charge of the developing project, and makes a plan for Yunnan too.
Everything is looking great.

May 21: Jonna receives an email from YID that warns her of ‘primitive conditions’ and suggests that she bring some insect repellent cream.

May 22nd: Jonna gets cold feet about going to the outback and indulges in a bug-repellent-shopping spree in the pharmacies and supermarkets of Beijing. The shopping assistants have probably never sold more at one go.

May 23: Jonna lands at Kunming airport (with heavy bags) and gets picked up by YID who takes her back to Yuxi.

Ok, back to where we were. I hope that ppl can follow a bit better now.

Arriving at Yuxi was a pleasant surprise. I had expected extreme poverty and very primal living conditions, but there was none of that to be seen. Instead, I saw a beautiful, well-developed city with blooming flowers and a clear blue sky. Oh paradise here I come?! I later found out that the reason why the town is so rich is because it’s the second largest center for cigarette trade in China. Darn. So much for falling in love with that place. I simply cannot support a cigarette-city.

As we stepped off the car we were greeted by Elisabeth, the project coordinator, who took us for lunch and introduced us to the project. It seemed like there was quite a lot of stuff going on, and the amount of information I got during the short lunch we had, almost made me more full than the actual food.

Elisabeth had organized a room for us at the YID school teaching center, which also works as a hostel for the groups volunteers. I became very happy when I saw that the room was nice, clean and had a bathroom (with a squat toilet of course.. but i had sort of already given up the idea of western toilets since I departed Beijing’s airport). After unpacking all my bug-bottles and seeing Elisabeth’s eyes grow wider and wider (don’t tell me why? She was the one who sent that warning email!!!), we went back up to the YID office to meet some more ppl and to discuss the travel plan in detail.

After about 3 hours, I was exhausted from all the information I’d received. I decided to do one interview with one of the volunteers, or ‘DI:s’ (development instructors) as they are called at YID before I hit the sack. So I interviewed Chrystal, a lovely Chinese girl that was just as tired as me (she’s been up working the whole night before) and on all the photos that Panda took we both look like ghosts. Cheers to that one!

After a failed attempt to get the shower to work, and a long session of smearing myself with all my different sprays and creams, I went to bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

The day should have ended here, all good and happy -right?? But when I in the middle of the night had to get up to go to the loo, and was greeted by a GIANT red cockroach I must have jumped at least one meter (no exaggeration). It’s quite ironic actually, because I used to live in OZ and I am used to having cockroaches around (like, really!) but the first sight of a creepy red fella that u haven’t seen for a while (and not really missed either) is never a nice experience… The fact that the revolting thing snuck out the bathroom door and into the room where we slept didn’t ease the pain. I lie awake for the next hour, listening for cockroach sounds, well aware of the fact that I was doing something absolutely ridiculous… but then again. I couldn’t help it. Eventually I must have fallen asleep though, and I wasn’t woken by any crawling noise next to my face, so let’s just say that the red fella took the hint and disappeared, shall we?