DRAGON’S GATE by David

By the time we arrived at the Mekong River, China was very much in mind, with final border entry arrangements being negotiated, instructions in earnest but fractured English being given by email and text, by ever attentive but street wise Abby Zhang of NAVO, our private Chinese tour company, warnings received of (apparently) up to day long border processing, and confirmation provided that we would meet our guide at a particular hour on the agreed day (and allowing for the one hour time difference between China and Laos at the Boten (Lao)/Mohan (China) border) and have her with us 24 hours a day (separate hotel room and sustenance paid for by us, of course), as part of multi-level government permit requirements for our entry into China, and our very tightly controlled and expensive tour through the country. I tentatively request a one day change in entry date - no, came the answer, straight back by text from Abby - “it has already been submitted to CIQ [who?] and cannot be changed”. Very foolish of me to ask, I thought…

Despite the constraints and controls that we are required to submit to, it seems almost surreal to finally be so close to starting after probably a year or more of making detailed and seemingly never ending arrangements with NAVO for this one particularly difficult leg of our journey (with Ros, for instance, only in the last couple of weeks, carefully making the required second telegraphic transfer of funds to NAVO, at the Bank of China, Melbourne).

We look forward to Laos, but I cannot help thinking of the time, soon, when we are to pass through the Dragon’s gate…