Naxi musicians

Sleeper busses seem like a good idea on paper. You can enjoy your overnight trip from the comfort of a bed. Unfortunately, the reality is hellish. The beds are designed for tiny stick people, and are about five feet long and six inches wide. There are three of these beds across, with two aisles between them, and upper and lower bunks. The back of the bus dispenses with the aisles, so five people fit on the bottom and five more on top. All the beds leave no room for a bathroom or for luggage storage (most Chinese travelers only have a tiny bag).

I got stuck in the very back, which turned out to be good, since there were only four of us, so I got a nine inches instead of six. Still, there was no room for my arms. The guy next to me got off halfway, leaving me with a luxurious 15 inches.

Ruili isn’t as exciting as I imagined, or as Lonely Planet makes it out to be. It’s just a big Chinese town. But if you wander around there are some interesting tidbits: Burmese wearing longyi, Burmese writing on signs, Burmese food, sticky rice in bamboo, and tasty Burmese shakes blended for you on the sidewalk, made either with fresh fruit, or sweet syrup imported from “Myanmar.” The place is especially interesting at night, with people eating at little tables on sidewalks everywhere, and the food is excellent. But all this is maybe 10% of the place. The town is 90% typical Chinese.

There are no sights in town. But sometimes it’s fun to visit a place where there are no foreigners.

Unfortunately, due to my continuing malaise and the fact that I didn’t perceive Ruili to be visually interesting, I didn’t take any photos.