through the looking glass

if you’re going to be on a bus for seven or eight hours, logistics become important. if given a choice between a small bus and a big monster I choose the little guys, in part because you can usually smoke, in part because on mountain roads they’re not nearly as tall and therefore, in my limited knowledge of physics, have a slightly less chance of toppling over the side of a cliff on one of the hairpin turns the drivers like to take at 60km/hour.

in the summer the little busses rule because you can actually open the windows. the monsters might have air conditioning but a) this being china there is only a 1 in 5 chance that broken air conditioning gets fixed and b) many women seem to get bus sick, with no windows to clean out the smell that gets, well, smelly.

if your only choice is the big bus, try and score a seat near the skylight, if the trip turns sour you’ll be happy for whatever fresh air you can get. if you don’t mind close contact with people and baggage you can also head for the last row, there’s usually one window that opens, but there will undoubtedly be produce piled behind your head. this is also the spot to watch if the ticket taker is a smoker, if he heads back for a cig mid trip chances are you can either bond with him and enjoy the nicotine together or at least get away with one yourself when he’s done.