Xishuangbanna
By admin on 2015-01-12

Well, yet another vacation adventure I wish I didn’t have to say “good bye” to. And this one was truly a bit of an adventure. Combine remote China amenities, a location within 70km of Burma, jungle and rain forest climes, along with most locals speaking only mandarin or local dialect and you can just begin to picture some of our challenges. But this, like all of our China adventures, could not be classified as a “difficult” or “challenging” vacation as we were treated to the warm hospitality of a former Swiss diplomat, Gerard Burgermeister, at his Bed and Breakfast establishment named “Yourantai”. Where to begin? Let’s start with a few stories of the challenges and finish with the luxuries that made this get-away for two into a sort of retreat from the world.

Challenges:
a) the Kunming airport bathrooms - smelly, crowded, urine covered floor - but wait - there’s an ironic surprise, an electric hand dryer that tinks out “We wish you a merry Christmas” as the air blows dry your hands.

b) Riding along with our local driver/”guide”, Mr. Xiao, as he speaks his best mandarin to tell us all about the area. My attempts at communication were not entirely appreciated as he loudly proclaimed “Ni shuo bu hao!” (My mandarin skills are really bad!)

c) Did I mention it is hot there? 3 days of trekking in shirts stuck to our bellies and backs.

d) A drought in the region renders our rainforest trek treacherous as we traverse dried leaf covered dirt “trails”. Add a steep gradient and you concoct a slippery climb - both up and down. At one point, hearing large rustling noises behind me, I turn just in time to see my handsome husband hanging on vines like Tarzan, trying to save himself from catapulting down a ravine to a river bed far below. He saved himself, but not without war wounds of a gash to the forehead, bloodied knuckles, and a sprained ankle. Then, we had to continue walking another 1.5 hours to get back to our “mian bao che”.

e) Oh yes, the “mian bao che” (bread truck) - boasts the shocks of a donkey cart.

f) How to order off a menu written in Chinese characters from people who only speak mandarin or Dai dialect? We wander through the restaurant with a cheerful hostess and point to all the food in the kitchen and on the BBQ that look tantalizing - still not sure what we’ve just ordered.

g) We’ve discovered that the Chinese really are not map literate. They hold a map as if it’s an annoying curiosity. They turn it around and around and still can’t make sense of where we are or which direction to head - even if it’s in their own home town. We have learned that detailed maps are not readily available and most people learn their way by “road marks”. In a rapidly changing region, hence, we’ve discovered it’s not only us foreign tourists who are lost!

h) Yet another flight on China Eastern with our meal choice of “chicken rice” or “food noodle”. I ask, what is “food”. Stewardess repeats “food noodle”. Safer to have the “chicken rice” I think.

Luxuries:
a) Ahhh, hearing the twittering of the birds, feeling the warm morning breeze, and enjoying peace and stillness while anticipating a Yourantai breakfast. There’re crepes, homemade mango, lime, waxberry, and strawberry jellies, omelets better than my own, fresh squeezed juices, fresh cut mangoes, pineapple, etc…, and fresh baked breads. Did I mention that Gerard’s wife is a master baker?

b) A cozy German down covered mattress surrounded by effective mosquito netting.

c) Walking many hours along rainforest pathways without encountering more than just a couple other locals or tourists along the way. Now this is truly odd in a country of 1.4 billion people!

d) Roadside fresh fruits galore! The tiny “ba jiao” or bananas, are oh so sweet and full of flavor. Less than $0.50 for a large bunch. Also fresh pineapple, mangos, oranges, tamarind, persimmon and others I’m not familiar with.

e) The many fragrant flowers which are ubiquitous in this region in the spring time. I hear myself often asking “What smells so good?”

f) The warm, smiling greetings we receive from hawkers and simple residents alike. One woman ran out from her home, as we passed by, smiling broadly and offering her bananas as a gift.

g) The fabulous pepper steak meal complete with homemade ice cream and waffle crisps like Gerard’s mom would make back in Switzerland.

h) Lying in the hammock overlooking the Mekong River.

i) Touring Yourantai with its creator and visionary. He’s creating a botanical paradise on the hillside overlooking the Mekong. The villas and operation facilities are patterned after traditional Dai construction and are ecologically sensitive. I told Matt it was like having a tour of the Nautilus led by Captain Nemo himself. We are in awe of what Gerard and Lyn Burgermeister have created.

In the end, the luxuries and eye-openers outweigh any inconveniences we encountered. Indeed, that seems to always be the case, in my view. Inherent in travel are guaranteed certain discomforts - after all, no place is like home. The images still stuck in my mind: the towering, waving palm trees, the relaxed and stimulating conversations with Gerard, sipping Yunnan coffee and tea, wandering freely through rainforest trails, botanical gardens, markets, and Dai villages - always at ease and struck by new sights, the welcome gestures from village locals. The diversity of our host country, China, never ceases to surprise us and inspire a longing to get out and explore more of her backroads. There’s much yet to be discovered.