Last day in Lijian - Kunming Visit
Trip Start
Jan 05, 2009
1
12
Trip End
Jan 26, 2009
Kunming,
Yunnan,
China
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Second day in Kunming
Sorry I haven't been updating. I
have been sick since about Tuesday. Being sick in China is miserable. That is
all I have to say about that. Our last day in Lijiang was pretty relaxing. We
woke up and took a two hour bus ride to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. The Yangtze
gets very narrow here, and the rapids are really strong. It is about a 3.5 mile
hike from the bus to the gorge and back. There is a path running along side the
river and every once in a while you pass through a tunnel. Finally, at the end
of the path there is a large bridge, and you can walk down a few flights of
stairs to get closer to the rapids. Dr. Crowe told us that the only people that
have tried to raft this gorge were killed. It is one of the most dangerous
places, as it is a class six rapid. Apart from this part of the walk, most of
the Yangtze was very peaceful. Lijiang is pretty much like summer all year
round and the seasons are not definite. However, summer is a rainy season for
Lijiang and the raindrops cause the Yangtze to appear brown and really dirty.
However, we were able to see the Yangtze in the winter, and it was very
greenish/blue. It didn't look dirty at all. It was a pretty warm walk and
definitely a beautiful site. We then loaded the bus and drove about an hour to
a village to have lunch. After lunch we took some time venturing around the
village. The village is significant for two reasons. First, it is located at
the first bend of the Yangtze river. The River literally changes directions for
the first time at the foot of this town. Secondly, during the Long March, the
red army came through this town and was assisted by local ferrymen in crossing
the river. We visited a museum in the town, which had a lot of displays and
monuments and historical pieces dedicated to the red army's presence. After the
village we headed back to the hotel and had another free night. Christie and I
visited our favorite pizza place, Don Papa's and then walked around Lijiang a
little bit. We met up with some people in our group and visited a local bar,
Stone the Crows, owned by a guy from Ireland. It was really nice to hear
English, and it is a good example of the appeal Lijiang has to people all over.
For instance, the pizza place we love so much is owned by a man from France,
Dr. Crowe knows of an American who has opened a Tibetan restaurant in Lijiang,
and we saw multiple restaurants and bars that were owned by people from all
over the world. Lijiang was probably my favorite stop in China. I would
definitely recommend spending some time there.
We
arrived in Kunming around lunchtime on Wednesday. After getting off the plane
we met our tour guide, Selena, and went to lunch at a local restaurant. After
lunch we visited a minority village. However, this wasn't a minority village in
its natural setting. It was like the Disney World of minority groups in China.
Each group had its own village in the large park. We saw one of Thailand's
minority group's village. After touring the recreation of a minority village,
we went to an elephant show. Dr. Crowe and Dr. Xiao paid for us all to ride on
the elephant. So we walked up to the trunk and grabbed on, and it picked us up
with its trunk. It was so much fun! Then we stayed for the elephant show, where
the elephants performed for us. They played soccer, basketball, walked on
narrow bridges and sat in traditional Buddhist positions. It was pretty
impressive. After the elephant show we stopped a museum downtown, but everyone
was a little tired and a little exhausted at this point, so our guide didn't
get very much attention. After getting back to the hotel, Christie and I
decided to find the Wal-Mart & KFC. After walking the streets for about an
hour, we finally found Dr. Crowe
who directed us to the Wal-Mart. If you ever complain about an American
Wal-Mart, and its tendency to be overcrowded with people, then I can tell you
for a 100 percent fact, you never want to go into a Chinese Wal-Mart. No
exaggeration, there was probably 1,000 people on the first floor alone. We were
hoping to find some Cheez-its, or Pringles, or some kind of American snack.
Unfortunately, the first floor was produce. Whole chickens, barely covered in
ice falling on the floor was probably the highlight of our Wal-Mart Experience.
We bought absolutely nothing, and it was a great relief to make it out of the
store. (One good thing about being sick in China - Did not fully experience the
terrible smells of Wal-Mart) After leaving Wal-Mart, we found the KFC. KFC in
the states, needs to step it up, because China can cook a chicken sandwich and
fries wayyy better than any KFC I've ever had. So after our adventure out in
the crazy city of Kunming, we went back to the hotel, and went to bed pretty
early.
Today
(finally) we woke up and had breakfast, and travelled about 2 hours to see the
Stone Forest. It was really beautiful, and honestly, we had more fun here than
probably any other stop on this trip. Not only was the forest itself
impressive, but there were not fences or rails to keep us from climbing on
everything. We all got some really impressive pictures from awkward formations
in the rocks. It was interesting to see such a tourist place for the Chinese. I
suppose, it is a lot like Americans travelling to the Grand Canyon. After the
stone forest, we had the best lunch of the trip in my opinion and headed back
to the hotel. We made two stops on the way home, a pearl factory and a jade
factory. Evidently, tour guides get a cut of what groups spend when they came
in. Unfortunately for Selena, we all went broke in Beijing when David took us,
so I'm sure she didn't make quite as much as she was hoping. Traffic in Kunming
is horrible, so we didn't make it back to the hotel until about 5. 1 out of 8
people own a car in Kunming, and the city is built on not so sturdy ground, so
they are unable to build a subway system. I like Kunming, but being sick has
really put a damper on this town. We leave for Shanghai tomorrow morning, the
wake up call comes at 4:45. Sorry for not updating, like I said, getting sick
in China is absolutely horrible. Enjoy the pictures!
Love,
Anna
