Phoenix

November 22, 2008

I'm in Phoenix, minus the heat. Phoenix is the name for Fenghuang, a hilly village in Hunan, named after the mythical bird (ala Harry Potter). My trip started out last night, taking an overnight hard sleeper from Changsha to Jishou and then bussing it for two hours to Fenghuang. Unfortunately, I did not get much sleep on the train and then the bus broke down, stranding us until a replacement came along.

On the train, I kept waking up because the bed was so damn hard. I rolled solo, was going to meet up with another volunteer at his placement site, but decided that it was just too much travel and money to spend. So I am up in the hills of central China for 3 days and two nights.

This place is a tourist-haven, but I am one of only like 6 foreigners I've seen. I got swarmed today by the Chinese paparrazzi. Literally, when a group of Chinese college students saw me, they started a photo-taking frenzy where dozens of people were either taking pictures of me or posing with me for a picture. It is bizarre having that much attention and basically being treated like a celebrity but I really layed it on thick today too. Not in a self-righteous way, I just had fun. Why resist?

Randomly, I met these two middle-aged Chinese women on the bus from Jishou and they basically invited me out all day to hang out with them. They helped me find a room and even bartered with the owner to get the price down for me. For 50 kuai a night, I have a single room, overlooking the water. Probably the best view I have ever had, anywhere. See pictures soon.

Tonight, I am going to go check out the bar scene here. This village was built about 1200 years ago but is well preserved and now attracts people from all over China. It is really relaxing and quiet but very coloful. I really needed the time to think and just kick back and study Chinese. Probably will go to a coffee shop on Monday for a few hours before I head out that night. Tomorrow, I plan on hiking around again.

Traveling alone can be a drag but it can also be challenging. I find myself always meeting interesting people and having random adventures. I also know that it makes me stronger, even though it can be hard at times. Still, this is really my only truly independent travel this year. Other times, I have either went with someone, met up with someone or bumped into someone (although it was for like 5 minutes tops in Beijing). Anyways, things are COLD but good. I'm gonna go find a warm drink and enjoy nice walk in the crisp, CLEAN air.