I woke up at about 7 AM and started updating this journal. It took a decent amount of time. I think it took more than two hours to finish writing. The reason why I have been keeping this journal is because, as I mentioned in the last journal, I would like to record my memories so that I can look back on them later. Secondly, this is good practice for maintaining my English level. Since I left the US, situations where I use English on a daily basis have obviously become rare. If I do not use English, I am sure my English level will go down. At the same time, I can learn new words through this process. While writing this journal, I sometimes face situations where I do not know how to explain what I would like to describe. Simply put, this journal is good for keeping my memories clear and improving my English.
I also organized the videos that had been accumulating on my Osmo Nano camera, which I have been using since I started this trip. The storage is not very large, so if I keep recording without doing anything with the files, it fills up quickly. I trimmed some videos for YouTube and deleted the videos that I did not need anymore. By the time I finished these things, it was already 12 PM, so I packed everything and finished checking out. There was nobody at the front desk, so I just left my room key card on the desk and exited.
I was heading to Kunming Railway Station since I needed to get a train ticket to Hanoi. I had searched beforehand for how to get to Hanoi from Kunming. According to the internet, in order to go to Hanoi from Kunming by land, I would need to make several transfers along the way. The first trip was from Kunming to Hekoubei, the closest station in China to the Vietnam border, by train. From there, I could get to Lao Cai and then Hanoi. I was going to figure out how to get to Lao Cai and Hanoi later, so I just wanted to get a ticket from Kunming to Hekoubei first.
On the way to the station, I found a restaurant that looked really nice, so I went in and had lunch. I asked one of the staff members for the most popular dish. She gave me white noodles with some meat. I was supposed to pour a soup made from beef over it, I think. The dish was delicious, especially the soup, which had a lot of umami flavor. The cost was 20 yuan (about $3). I told her it was delicious and left the restaurant.
I arrived at the station and tried to buy a ticket at a ticket machine since the ticket counter had long lines. However, I realized that I could not buy a ticket using my passport at the machine. For some reason, I had thought that I needed to buy the ticket in person, but I searched online and realized that I could buy it through an app like Trip.com, just like I had done before. The ticket cost $17.
I got out of the station and headed to the hotel that I had booked. The hotel was only about a five-minute walk away. There were two young girls at the front desk. I gave them my passport, and they explained the direction and location of my room in English with a Chinese accent. My room was on the second floor, and it was a double room. The cost was $18.
I took a short rest and then headed to Yunnan Ethnic Village. The village was pretty empty, and there was not much to do there, so I left after about 30 minutes. Since I had already walked a lot by that point, I decided to use an e-shared bike. I could connect to one through an app inside Alipay. I was not sure how it worked at first, but I gave it a try. It was very easy to ride and felt great while driving.
In China, there are large designated lanes along the roads for motorbikes, bicycles, and e-shared bikes. I could return the bike to any designated parking area. Also, the cost was crazily cheap. I think I rode for about 30 minutes, and it cost me less than $1. The fare is determined by how long and how far the bike is used. I thought to myself that I wished I had known this earlier because I could have saved money while getting around cities in China.
From the village, I moved to Kunming Old Street, where there were many shops. I enjoyed walking around and seeing all kinds of food. I tried some of them, which became my dinner. I stuffed myself again, just like the previous night.
After leaving the street, I used an e-shared bike again. However, this bike’s brakes did not work very well, so it was a little scary to ride. Still, I made it back to the hotel safely. It felt really good to ride around the city, although I had to pay close attention because there were so many other motorbikes and bicycles around me.
After I got back to the hotel, I had the same issue with my iPhone again. I could not charge it, but I already knew how to fix it. I turned it off for a while to let it cool down. After that, I was able to charge it, and it worked fine again. I honestly felt relieved because I was planning to move to Vietnam the next day.
I went to bed at about 12 AM.
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