Vietnam & Co

I did not feel comfortable booking something through the international platforms again, seeing how that hadn't served me well the last few times. So I grabbed all of my stuff in the morning and hiked up a nearby hill, which took around 25min. There was a hostel which I had spotted online, and I saw they had a lot of availability, but before booking I wanted to check it out myself.

When I got there, it turned out that I was the only guest, which nullified my #1 reason of staying in a hostel, namely being able to share exploration with others. But the rooms weren't really available despite me being the only guest. Seeing how it was Chinese New Year, the owner had invited his entire family to stay in all of the rooms. What he offered me was a bed in an 8 bed dorm.

It's something I would've usually considered, but I really didn't like the vibe of the place, and it felt strange to intrude in their family celebrations as the only foreigner. CNY is often likened in significance to the western Christmas celebration - a time to be among family.

I was truly quite demotivated at that point. Everything I had pre-planned to avoid exactly this scenario had failed. Frustrated, I left my stuff in the hostel, on the pretense to explore the surroundings a bit before committing to a stay. I was wandering around quite aimlessly, attempting to call random numbers of other lodgings I saw along the path, but nobody picked up.

Then suddenly I ran into a foreigner (read: westerner) walking his dog Kevin right past me. I couldn't help but approach him, and quickly mentioned that I'm in desperate need of a place to stay. The guys name was Russ, and he was an expat from Wales who'd been in China for nearly ten years now. He immediately offered to help, and mentioned that he knows a place that only opened a month ago, just up the road, that surely had some availability for me.

So Russ, Kevin (the dog), and I trotted further up the hill, until we arrived at what looked like a fancy boutique hotel from the outside. Russ immediately chatted up the owner, who didn't speak any English, but Russ was great at translating for me. We then got a tour through the entire place, and there were some seriously fancy suites there. I mentioned that I don't need much and expressed interest in the smallest room, and after a short exchange Russ managed to get a friend's price for me.

Seeing how it was CNY, the rates were still somewhat high, but more than fair for what was offered. All of this was negotiated while we were being treated to a traditional tea ceremony, on a beautifully ornamented tea table, with super nice tasting local tea from Pu'er. He had really opened less than a month ago, and I was the very first international guest. It took around 30min with all the registrations that were needed for international guests, but we managed.

Then, Russ continued his walk with Kevin, while I got some rest first, and then got a lift by my host to a shopping mall nearby, because I desperately needed to buy a winter jacket. When I left Germany I was packing for summer, but in Lijiang, while the daytime temperature was around 20 degrees, at night it was around 0 degrees.

It took three assistants, four stores, and trying on over 30 jackets, until I finally found one that fit me. Size 5XL 👀 I only succeeded a few minutes before the stores closed for the week, and then walked through another part of the ancient city that I hadn't explored yet.Read more