grace led in life: Day 2 - Explore Kunming

Yesterday was a blur--something like 28 hours of travelling. We finally arrived in Kunming last night and met our guide, David. He was immediately very helpful and easy to talk to. He said on the drive from the airport that Kunming wasn't a very big city for China. Its the 30th most populated with merely 7 million people.

We woke up today to a very busy, but lush city. This was supposed to be the rainy day, but instead it was partly cloudy and 69. The entire next week is supposed to be a copy/paste of today. We are definitely not suffering! Speaking of not suffering, the hotel and restaurant make for a good, comfortable home base. Its nice to at least start the day with familiar food.

We didn't have a big agenda--just to learn about Isla's city today. We went for a walk by ourselves (without our guide) this morning, found some good Seattle coffee, and walked through a nearby park. Later, we met up with David (our guide) back at the hotel and took another walk, this time to Walmart. We were in search of bottled water, a hot plate and frying pan (so Molly can make gluten-free food), and a couple other odds and ends. Like Chongqing, the Walmart didn't look anything like it does in the US. There were so many items I didn't recognise; didn't even have a guess.

Sure, big cities are busy everywhere, but there's something special here. Cars have to stay in their own dedicated area, but mopeds, bikes, and pedestrians share the same space. Sometimes that's in a lane on the side of the street. Sometimes that's right on the sidewalk. I just can't describe it. When you want to cross the street, you have to keep moving forward, acting as if you're oblivious, not making eye contact with the drivers. Any hesitation and you'll have to wait until you have the courage to jump into the next small gap in traffic.

The third and longest outing we had today was to the Kunming Municipal Museum that features a permanent exhibit about the US Air Force operations in Kunming in World War II. Justin and my Grandpa, Vern Bergstrom, flew C47 transport planes "over the hump" from Burma and India to Chongqing and Kunming, bringing food, fuel, and other supplies to the Chinese while they were under attack from Japan. The museum had original equipment and pictures of the Flying Tigers (p40s), Chinese Air Force, and the transport squadrons (c47s and others). 1,500 pilots lost their lives flying through the Himalayas. I can't wait to show grandpa the pictures.

On the walk home, we went to the Golden Horse and Jade Rooster Archway, walked around the old shopping district, and (of all things) went to McDonalds. What drew us in was a burger with black buns. Justin and I had to try it. It was some kind of spicy chicken, but I'm not sure how they make black bread for the buns.

Today was a Saturday, and Molly said she kept wondering about Isla when she saw all the little girls out and about. Some of them were riding with 1, 2, or 3 other people on mopeds. Others stared, giggled, or a few times pointed us out to their parents as we walked by. We have one more day to explore the city, but it's a reminder of why we're here. Monday is gotcha day (3:00 PM), and everything is going to change. The suspense is killing us!

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