Lugu Hoodoo

We did eventually make a decision - the 8.30am bus to Lugu Lake! Apparently a lovely body of water with an interesting local people livng around it. The Mosuo have traditionally lived in a matriarchy. There is no marriage as such, a woman invites a man she fancies to sleep in her bed. If any children come they live with the woman and the father has no rights, if she has a brother he becomes the male figure looking after the child. If a relationship breaks down the woman retains the property and the man has to go back to live with his mother, or a group of single men. Not sure if I'm a hundred percent right on all that - I cobbled it together from dodgy translations and conversations on the bus.

Ahhh the bus! Yes, supposedly a breezy 5 hour drive.


Was it bumpy? Well I did actually crack my head on the ceiling TWO FEET ABOVE ME as the driver gunned it over one spectacular bump. Why oh why did we choose the back seat??? Apart from a few hundred of those giant type ruts, there was merely a constant teeth-chattering brain-shaking rattle.

Was it windy? After some consideration I'd have to yes. The evidence - the plexiglass imprint still present on my cheek, my hands remaining cramped into claws (actually Sarah currently has a bruised finger from grimly hanging on) and the fact that not a single Chinese person managed a wink of sleep the whole way (a minor miracle). The driver did have some fun gunning the engine everytime we hit a corner so the back wheels would screech and the back of the bus would slide out over the precipice. Did I mention we regretted taking the back seat? Oh there's some photographic evidence as well


Was is unneccesarily prolonged? Tough question. Does it usually take 10 hours to do a 5 hour drive? I mean we only had about a dozen toilet/snack stops (where the driver got kickbacks on free snacks), a lunch stop for over an hour, another half-dozen photo stops for snap-happy tourists and finally, when we were only 20 minutes away, a lovely 2 hour stop by the side of the lake while the driver pushed the passengers into taking canoe trips while he and another driver stripped off to their undies for a swim.



Was it worth it? Without a doubt