Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Another update from the road!

Thank you to all of you who shared their thoughts about the knicker craze sweeping the East! I enjoyed reading your comments!

Right now I am in Dunhuang (western Gansu) and so far it seems like it is a nice city. Tomorrow we are going out to look at the Mogao Caves and possibly hop on some camels for some more desert fun!

When I was little I seem to remember a theme park ride called, "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". I remember getting into one of those little cars attached to a rail and going through a tunnel. But nothing much more than that, must not have been too wild. Why am I writing about a children's ride? Why, let me tell you!

We decided to take the express bus out here - about 5 hours and totally doable. I am once again sick with bathroom problems (both ends again), but decide that 5 hours would be okay. So, we board our bus, wedge into the little seat and prepare for our ride out to Dunhuang. What we didn't realize was that there is a ton of road construction going on. Unlike in the states, there isn't an easy detour road that we can take, so we just pull off the road and travel on God's road. Yup, dirt and rock. It was like travelling in/on a huge pothole filled with potholes for 7 hours. Yes, I said 7 hours. You might be thinking, "wait, you said that the bus ride was only 5 hours". Well, the road work seemed to add at least another 3 to that. So we are getting violently rocked back and forth, up and down for HOURS while I am nauseous and have diarrhea (really, really bad diarrhea), it gets better - no bathroom. Everywhere we pull over does not have a bathroom option. Have you even held in your urine and bowels for so long and under such aggravating circumstances that you actually feel like you will pass out? Well, now I can check that off of my list.

So, I decide it is best just to try to go to sleep. Getting lulled by the bus motion wasn't easy, but after a little bit I managed it. Just as I nod off, the lady behind me on the aisle side pokes me on the head. I ignore her. Then the pokes me on the head again. I ignore her again. Third she hits me. I wake up and stare at her, thinking, "what the hell is your problem?" She motions to the window in front of me and motions for me to pull the curtain open. I fumble with it a little but it was stuck and wasn't worth the effort to me. So I just go back to sleep. A minute later she leaps to her feet and reaches over me, making sure to wake me up again with her elbow forcibly placed on my head to tear at the curtain. I can't even begin to tell you how incredible pissed off I was. Mind you, from where she was sitting she really wouldn't be able to even look out the window, much less appreciate the desolate view.

At the next stop off, she made sure to disturb me once again by whipping me in the face a couple of times with the curtain as she tried to tie it back before switching to a different seat which would make my window accessibly not necessary at all. In her new seat she immediately leaned over the woman at the window seat and tore away at that curtain too. She has thus been dubbed the "curtain Nazi". I never was able to really fall back asleep and every time she heard a curtain being moved the "CN" immediately shot me a disgusted look.

So finally, we are about 1 hour away from town and the bus breaks down! For the next 1.5 hours or so the driver and assistant battle the bus transmission every 200-300 meters or so. The bus driver can't shift gears and can only toggle between first and second gears with incredible difficulty. Then it breaks down. They go to fix it, toggle between first and second, break down, etc., etc., etc. Finally, it is unrepairable and they have another bus come and pick us up and drive us into town. We roll into to town just before midnight, we left at 2:30.

Anyhow, we are swarmed at the bus station right after we get off of the bus. I REALLY have to use the bathroom and am in no good mood to deal with the people looking to rip off the tourists.

Long story short, I'm still not in the best of health. Got a little food in me. Slept most of the day (our hotel is actually fairly quiet!) and will hopefully be able to enjoy my time here tomorrow.

Oh, happy birthday, Dad! I spent your special day getting sick on a bus and harassed by the window treatment gestapo. But ate at "Charlie's cafe" and had chocolate souffle in honor of your birthday (thanks for the excuse）！