Y3 and I arrived in De Ching to get onto a bus to Xi Dan Hot Spring where the trail head for Yu Beng is. She had already called the driver who she knew from her previous visits and made arrangements to pay him afterwards. I didn’t know what this was about until the end of the day.
She warned me on how cute he was and indeed he was handsome. He could have been a movie star but instead he drove buses all day long making sure everyone stays alive on his bus on these very dangerous sharp tight turns mountain snowy roads.
She also ran into a girl who worked at the hot spring. Who turns out to be the parent arranged marriage to the driver who is twice as old as she was. It was decided before either one was conceived. I know, doesn’t it sound just like some script out of TV soap. Well, regardless if they like it or not, they have been arranged. They are both very beautiful people.
Tickets, we did not buy tickets at the counter. Instead Y3 did this whole connection thing with the driver. I later learned that the money did not go to the agency but went to the driver who was now her friend and he would save us the tourist gate toll fee to enter a part of the mountain.
What was the point in all of this? Was it money that was vastly being saved? No, it was more like investing in a connection, establishing a relationship through this method. This was new for me and I understand was quite a common practice.
