The Saga Continues
June 29 – Kunming to Tengchong
The hotel phone rang at 4:50am! In polite English, they told us we had to check out by 5:20. In a daze, we rolled our bags down to the lobby and jammed them into the bus. At 6, we were in the security line to get into the airport. Then we stood in the re-check in line for our bags. Then we stood in the security line to get to the gates. By 7am we finally arrived at our gate in plenty of time for our 8am departure.
Our 7:20 boarding time came and went. At 8am, they posted that the flight was delayed until 9am. At that announcement the 130 Chinese travelers went ballistic! A crowd formed around the check in desk and there was non-stop yelling and finger pointing. Not speaking Chinese, we’re not sure exactly what was said, but it probably included more than a few Chinese F-bombs.
The 9am departure time came and went. Thankfully there was a Starbucks nearby and the lattes were pretty good. There was no posted time for the flight which was not encouraging. We started creating our backup plan – skip Tengchong and spend a few days in Kunming. During this whole time, the check in desk continued to be surrounded by yelling Chinese. Except for a group of about 20 who threatened to march to the front of the airport and chant anti-lucky at r slogans. Eventually a pair of security guards joined the fray to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.
At 10, Tom booked a hotel as we were sure the flight would be going. At 10:05, without any announcement people began flocking to the desk. At 10:15 we were all checked through. At 10:30 we were happily on the plane. Our flight had been completely full, but now there were about 20 empty seats. Whether those passengers voluntarily left the flight or were left behind we’ll never know. While the actual airline was Lucky Air, we had taken to calling it Sucky Air.
A short 60 minutes later we were at the tiny airport in Tengchong. Thankfully the hotel had sent a car for us and another 40 minutes later we were checking in at our adorable hotel overlooking verdant rice fields and the attractive old town of Heshun.
After a quick dip in the pool, we strolled to a local restaurant for a late lunch followed by a rejuvenating nap. At 6pm, we went to lobby to meet the rest of our group.
Our reason for coming all the way to Tengchong, the far reaches of Yunnan, was to be part of a school education program called Shoulder Action. The program strives bto provide books to schools in rural China in the form of “book corners.” Think mini-librarys of 70 books. A small idea with a big affect.
We walked to dinner through the old city of Heshun and met 5 of the 6 families on our trip: 4 Chinese families (all from Shanghai but one family lived in the Bay Area for a few years) and 1 from USA (New Jersey). The best part: kids! The American group had a 13 year old boy and girl and among the Chinese families there are 6 kids between 9-12).
After a delightful dinner the kids ran outside and frolicked among the Lily’s and rice fields. A stroll through the ancient city, which unlike Lijiang was comfortably empty, confirmed what we already felt – it was an exceptionally long journey to the farthest corner of china, but we are very glad to be here.
