I had a few days a few weeks back and Ling and I decided it would be fun to go to Jiangchang (the place I was supposed to work but it closed down before I came by 3 weeks) and then to Fuxian Lake (the lake the blog is named after) and then to Dajie (her home town). It took about 4 buses to get there. OH MY it would have been so stressful to figure it all out alone. They say from Jiangchang to the lake is walkable but that would have been a solid 30-45 minutes. I was happy to just take a bus.
I was in a grocery store in Jiangchang and I couldn’t find Ling. I went up and down the aisle like 4 times and during my search some middle school aged guys were following me. They would say something and when I would turn around to say hi or whatever this one guy would jump back and have this scared face like I was about to punch him in the face. I wasn’t sure what he was saying so that reaction was strange to me.
The littler kids tend to just be shy and run away or they smile really big and say laowhy and run to their parents super excited that there Hello was indeed understandable.
We get to the lake. Pretty -pretty island dead center in our visual path.. complete with traditional buildings (roofs) all over. This town is really small. I’m talking the beach strip and a few streets for all the houses and that’s it.
Well, Ada told us to stay at a hostel called the Farmers House. We go to it and instead of charging the 40 which is what she thought it would be the lady wanted 60 then 50. This place was cool though.
It was upstairs from seafood restaurant (very common to have stores on first floor and the rest of the floors are something else). Private bath in the room, two beds, and a lake view. Well because we felt like she was trying to rip me off we went try this other hotel.
Ling actually knew and met the owner once before. We go up to the room and again it has 2 beds but it is an atrium style place so no lake view and shared bath with the floor. The room was yellow and Ling likes yellow and knew the lady so we ended up staying there for the same price. I was a little it disappointed in that but got over it. It’s not just about me…I guess. Lol.
The sand is pretty but because its off peak season we could not rent the foot paddle boats that were abundantly available. To get to the island you have to go by boat and it feels like Italy in that two people row it for you.
When we were getting off they said oh it should only take 30-45 minutes… Ling responds NO we will be 1-3 hours, come back and get us later when we call. (remember this for later DRAMA).
The island is beautiful. Most of those pretty roofs were just pavilions to watch the lake. When we made it to the other side there was beautiful seaweed and this mountain in the distance that was just begging to be climbed.
No idea how to get to the town nestled at the foot of it and from this distance you could see the best path…but who knows if they have real paths already. Honestly it would probably take several hours to drive to this area, although later that night after dinner when walking..we did find a biz renting kayaks.
It would be quite a feat to kayak all the way across and then climb… may need to sleep the night type of thing. So we chilled there for about two hours, and found a monk area but they shut down for the night.
Also for only about 20 bucks there is a hotel on the island but off season so no food was served like usual. There was even area of cave like substance and steep climb that they thought a chain anchored to the rock would help climb. That is great but we were going down..opps.
Oh and some people were swimming in the lake…Second deepest lake in china…and it was cold, I figured kind of like Colorado lakes in the mountains style.. you know the type-where after 2 minutes your feet cramp from the coldness.
We finally get back to the boat and this guy is yelling or Speaking Loud Words as they say. Apparently he was cursing and all mad that they had to wait. Of course for the most part Ling kept her cool but then she probably cursed back and told them you did not have to wait.. like I said… we never agreed to be back in 30 minutes.
DO your job and bring us back and shut up. Well luckily another boat was there and a different two guys paddled 5 of us across. SHE was PISSED! I tried to help her calm down and be like hey don’t let it bother you they only win if they ruin the rest of the day.
On the way back to the hotel while I was getting a pool made from deep fried small shrimp, these boat rowers approached. I ended up having to shove one guy down to the ground and punched the other guy in the temple. Luckily some locals swooped in and separated us. No I’m just kidding there was no fight… I ate my shrimp.
When we checked in earlier, we ran into the Kunming marketing guy for the hospital and he was going to treat us to a massage on the top floor but that ended up not happening.
Also since we was returning to Kunming from Yuxi two day later, he was going to give Curt and I ride. Turns out the next day we get a few calls and ALL OF A SUDDEN they accidentally gave me to many days off and need me to return to Yuanjiang.
Actually, we kind of thought they made a mistake but not my problem. Of course I was all what if I was in Beijing, I can’t just fly back. Needless to say, I returned home two days early. Curt and I said hey let’s not fight this battle, but keep it in mind and learn from it for later.
Because at one point Doe the manager was trying to dodge the blame by saying was something signed. I told another boss, hey I just emailed you my formal request that clearly states what days off I requested and Doe was all smiles and thumbs up when he said I can have off.
I actually said, “is that how things are run in this company, your word doesn’t mean anything? I think Doe realizes he is about to get reamed by the ceo and is trying to cover his butt.” The tone changed at that point and although I still came home I think my message came across, stop trying to screw me. Heck they even treated me to lunch and drove me home..beats the bus. NOW back to the lake.
And then it happened. It hit me so hard, loneliness and home sick and this feeling in this small nothing of a town that I am trapped and I just can’t get up and leave. It was literally crushing me and I couldn’t shake it like normal. Even at dinner Ling could tell something was wrong and so I shared with her and got a little eye moisture.
She tried to make me feel better with her own home sickness in college. Anyway I kept praying about it and refocusing my attention and even though it took several hours, it finally did pass.
