December 3 2011 – Mori to LaoQiTai Zhen

Previous post said I had made it to Jimsar, that was incorrect

No photos from the ride today, but this is what it looked like…

…or at least my recollection of it.

I got off the main road early in the day and on a back road through villages. One dude saw me and started shouting Chinese at me and I just lift up my sunglasses and say, “Hey, I don’t understand what you are saying, I’m a foreigner.”

He looks confused.

When I finally made it to the town (a steady, small incline all day), I passed a young Uyghur man selling fruits and he noticed what I was. “Look there is a foreigner.”

It’s rare in the winter to get to hear this. Sometimes I need to be reminded, there are too many days that pass where I feel myself becoming native. Speaking of…

I’m looking for zhusu off the main street, where it’s usually cheaper and I find a little place.

Careful climbing the 3 flights of steps outside, taking note not to slip on the fresh 2cm of snow. (Sorry Americans, I love metric.)

I open the door and look around. Nosey around. Hearing someone in the bathroom.

“Hello? I need accommodation, you have don’t have, and it’s one person.”

Laobanniang (boss lady) starts going on and on and on from the bathroom. Friendly but a little too fast, I understand it but she needs to see my big ol’ white face. There’s nothing like getting the, “foreigners can’t stay here” after making yourself at home.

I begin laughing, “a, laobanniang, hahaha, I’m a foreigner so my Chinese isn’t so good.”

She exits the bathroom laughing too and we take care of the business that needs to be taken care of.

My bike is locked in their cage outside and I make myself at home, in my little hole, and drain the battery on my netbook watching a movie.

I get the visit from the local police. The usual. The photos. The questions of where are coming from where are you going. Takes up a good 20 minutes of my PRECIOUS time of staring at the walls.

When I go out to look for dinner, unsuccessful, there is about 10cm of fresh snow.

It’s going to instant noodles and a Sprite for dinner.

Yo, Ellen, how do you pass the time in those holes you live in, you asked?

It usually goes in this order.

Test the firmness of the board I’ll be sleeping on. Firm…my lady hips love that. Luckily, I’m mostly a stomach sleeper.

A look at the pillowcase (towel) and maybe even take a few sniffs. You’ll learn how to analyze how many oily heads have laid to rest there. And, by all means, I’m probably rockin’ as hard as the best.

I’ll take a glance in the corners and even the space between the bed and the wall. I don’t know why I do this, but I do, and I’m usually grossed out.

Then check out the outlets and electrical cords, to see if I’m going to be burning to my death in the middle of the night.

Of course, then to the tv. Sometimes the remote is wrapped in plastic, but not usually, and I try to avoid the brown/black sticky stuff that it’s been decorated with. Usually the tv doesn’t work or I get scramble vision of one channel.

Find my kaishui, pour a cup of hot water and put on my slippers. Sometimes they are too small, sometimes fried with cigarette burn holes. Speaking of cigarettes, there’s usually an old “Red Bull” can cut open for the ashtray.

Then, well, I enjoy looking at the walls. Usually they have a bit of character, much more than the ceilings do. The curtains are generally a nice thing to ponder over as well. It can be interesting to see how they have been hung, installed, or just the general pattern and choice of fabrics.

The place tonight, I will have neighbors and I can hear the television. It’s not at full volume, which is a rare case here in China. They seem to be well behaved local men and I walk by their room I can see the colored light flickering over their weary faces.