greetings guys! well were in a place called dali now which i think its safe to say weve both fallen in love with, very relaxed with only the odd person atttempting to drag you into there shop rather than the whole street!! think our bags may be a bit heavier when we leave though, oops far too much to buy!! so the saga behind getting here ....... ANOTHER train, only this time we got cocky and decided on hard sleeper tickets thinking how much difference can there really be?! well the beds did still resemble coffins and were about as comfy as sleeping on concrete, only this time they were 3 or 4 meters up in the air with only a little ladder and the odd shelf to grab onto to get into them! anyone that knows me (oh its gem by the way!) will know heights and ladders arent really my speciality?! and thats putting it mildly. so the options sit at bottom or have great bladder control for 18 hours and get up and stay there!?! as it was i mastered the ladder, much i think to becks relief! so cutting a very very very long journey short, we arrived in kunming but it was raining so we decided to get coach to dali, logical as ever what better than a 5 hour coach after an 18 hour train? now becks would kill me if i missed out the only highlight of the coach, something i fear she may require extensive counselling to recover from! chinese open plan toilets!! i kid you not its amazing how the urge to pee disappears when you have half a dozen chinese women staring at you!! So after 18 hour train, 5 hour coach and then 30 min bus journey to top it all off (standing room only with packs on!) we arrived here and i think this may be where we stay for several days! the thought of a train or coach isnt vey appealng at the mo cant understand why? OH and i woke up this morning and walked out front door to find a hoopoe sat about 10 meters away! thats a really cool bird for anyone feeling confused right now!! anyway now i've made you read war and peace i'll be off hope everyone ok, and thanks for emails and message board notes their great! xx gem