1 Girl, 2 Bags, 3 Countries, 4 Weeks

So.. Why the Title?

Because I head out on a solo extended trip today.

1 week in Yunnan province in China.
1 week in Laos.
2 weeks in Northern Thailand.

33 days to be exact.

China Facts and Info.

• I'm flying to Yunnan province from Xiamen, in Fujian province, today.
• I will be there for one week.
• I will stay in mainly 2 locations, Kunming and Lijiang. I'll take a bus to travel between the two locations, about 7 hours each way.
• While in Yunnan I hope to see a 'stone forest', a deep gorge and a tall mountain with snow.
• It's forecasted to rain everyday I'm there, unfortunately, so I'm going to need to be flexible.
• I have all my rooms booked ahead of time. I always stay in private rooms, but often in hostels.
• It's great to travel in China because the data on my phone still works. Which means I can still use Apple maps and my taxi app. 
• At the end of the week, I'll fly from Kunming to Vientiane, Laos.

More Facts and Information to come. You know... as I figure it all out.

My First (and Hopefully Not My Last) Visitor to China

I had my first visitor to China. It's nice to have some shared experiences in the place I currently call home with someone I knew before China. I met Stef when I lived in Hungary, where she still lives, and we have traveled to Greece and Israel together.

I was a little anxious to be the 'tour guide'. We had decided on going to 3 places (one was Xiamen the city I live in) that I had been to before, but this is still China. But as soon at she arrived I realized I didn't need to worry because she was going to like whatever we did. In fact I had to pray for my attitude because her positivity highlighted my impatience with some inconveniences that come with living here. I could hear and see how my reactions contrasted with her graciousness and friendliness when faced with common annoyances and cultural differences and I was challenged.

Stefanie and I traveled around Xiamen, Hong Kong and Guilin/Yangshuo.

Some Highlights

Xiamen had some extremely clear days (no pollution).

I enjoyed showing off some of my favorite places. And she wanted to make sure she could go to church with me. I met Stefanie at a church in Budapest over 10 years ago.

The Disneyland shows were amazing. 

Stef worked at Disney in France and Florida many years ago and she wanted to experience Hong Kong Disneyland. This was the first time for me to go to this one as well. We flew from Xiamen to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, we also went up to The Peak to see the view, down to see the harbour view and we ate some dim-sum.

The Mountain 'Retreat' was wonderfully located and staffed.

Next we took a train to Guilin. From there we went on a day trip to see the Longshen rice terraces. After spending two nights in Guilin, we took a bus to nearby Yangshuo and stayed at a beautiful 'Mountain Retreat'. From there we were able to bike around the breathtaking countryside. We also hiked up a small mountain to get a view of the Karst mountains in Guilin and I climbed up another in Yangshuo for the same reason.

Good weather all around. 

It was hot and pretty humid, but bearable.

Small Mishaps and Frustrations

- Missed ferry boat
- Bug bites, lots of them (me)
- Loud people at the Yangshuo 'show'. Actually, we came to watch and listen to the show, thank you.
- Too much time in the car on a tour we didn't care for. Car sickness for part of it (me). We just want to see the rice terraces, actually.

Now Stef is back in Budapest and I am officially the owner of only one apartment. For the last month I was renting and going back and forth between two. But today I said goodbye to the more heart-of-the-city apartment and all my stuff was moved to my new place, closer to my work. I'm very happy with the change. I love Xiamen island, but I was ready for a quieter location. And the apartment is new which is nice!

See you next in Budapest!

So, who is coming to see me next? Jill, Angie, Naomi, Valerie, Brenda?!?