10/16/98: Slept surprisingly well in the “hard sleeper” compartment on the train last night… Bunk beds were stacked three high, six beds to each compartment, with 10 or 12 of such compartments in the open-air train car… When we boarded the train car was a cacophony of conversations and a thick blue haze of smoke. But about 9pm the lights were turned off and the chatter and smoking stopped cold… We only had a layover of several hours in Kunming, so we stowed our luggage with the concierge at a nearby hotel and then wandered the city… There was some sort of big celebration today, so we came across an elaborate parade and enjoyed the spectacle very much… As we walked around, I couldn’t help humming the old song “I Love a Parade…” We were among the very few numbers of non-Chinese around, so it seemed like we were being watched as much as the costumed marchers, and I was left wondering who was really on parade… We caught our flight onward to Guilin without a problem, then took a bus to the town of Yangshuo…
NOTE: The photo above shows some of the costumed parade marchers in Kunming, China. They are actually staring at us because non-Chinese visitors seemed to catch their attention as much as the costumes and parade caught our attention!
