Kunming
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2008
1
12
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Kunming,
Yunnan,
China
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
On the 11th we caught a public bus to a stone forest, some 2 hour journey away. When we arrived we were horrified at the price of entry
Lijiang at night
. It was 380 Yuan to get in for both of us!! That's about 24 pound. That may not seem a lot, but in chinese terms it's mad money!! The great wall was only 200 Yuan! So, seen as we had just spent 2 hours on the bus we grudgingly handed over our money and went into the park. We started by following the crowds of chinese tourists through the main paths which lead up to a pagoda on top of the highest point of this area. As we went up we realised that the rest of the tourists turned around and went back to the entrance of the park to leave. So all of a sudden you realise that the main touristy parts is the path that we had just walked. So we decided to walk deeper into the stone forest....... It was brilliant, we were the only 2 in this section, and you walked through caverns, up and down steep paths and steps.....It was great fun. Even better, we found a hill that we hiked up only to have a complete view of the stone forest, much better than the pagoda view where the other tourists were!! So we got out our 20 or so pastries and rolls, thanks to the great hotel buffet, and had a picnic on top of this hill with a great view......and not a single other person in sight!The next day we caught another bus that went to a town called Lijiang, a 9 hour trip North of Kunnming. The bus journey itself was good with lots of rice fields and sunflowers in the fields. We also started on this bus journey to make our way through rolling hills, so the landscape was beginning to change
Lijiang old town at night
. When we arrived in Lijiang, we caught a taxi to the old town area. Lijiang is split into the new and old town, and we had been advised that the old town was a must-see. Well...... I reckon it was 10 minutes before we were completley lost in the old town! The alleyways are small and all look the same, the tourist maps on each corner showed you where you were, but they were crazy!! pointing in the wrong direction etc! We had a hostel name that we were trying to find, so we stopped off to ask for some help in a random hotel. The lady, bless her, gave us a map and showed us where to go!! (I LOVE CHINESE PEOPLE!) So it turns out, we were about 30 minutes in the wrong direction of where we wanted to be going!! GREAT! So with our heavy backpacks still on, we walk in the right direction and finally find our hostel tucked away in a peacful little alleyway, an hour and a half after being dropped off by the taxi!!That night we walked back to the main area of the old town, which was full of hustle and bustle. The streets were only lit by red lanterns which gave a real cosy feeling to the area. There were a lot of chinese tourists here and many shops selling the same old souvenirs. Each alleyway had a small stream running down the side of the path, so there was the soothing sound of water running wherever you walked. Then in the main square at night, you could light candles and float them down the stream into the darkness on flowers that were made of paper
Lijiang old town, small alleyway
.The streams were full of goldfish, hundreds of them all swimming against the current. There were also the odd big fish of some description (looked like rainbow trout?).
The next day we decided to hire 2 bikes for the day from our hostel at a cost of £2.40p for the day (for both bikes!). So we set off with map in hand....and yes you guessed it...... within 15 minutes we were completley lost and heading in the wrong direction! So after a lot of map turning and scratching of the heads, we cycle on the right road in the right direction! We headed for a lake that is very famous and almost always on the front cover of books about china, Jade dragon pool. But when we get there we have to pay to get in, and again, in chinese standards it was just too expensive, so unfortunatly we didn't go in. Instead we cycled North for about an hour to another small village, which was similar to Lijinag old town, but there was only a few tourists there, so much nicer and quieter! We had lunch here, then head off North again, to another small village.
Along the way we meet 2 other cyclists an american and a chinese cycling together. We are all heading to the same village, but get split up after they stopped for photos and we carried on
Other stones at the stone forest
. we go through this random tiny village with muddy roads and come out the other end on a small cobbled path. We cycled for about 30 minutes and couldn't see or hear the road that we are MEANT to be on according to our map! So we couldn't work out if we were going in the right direction or not. We waited for 10 minutes for the american, but they didn't turn up either! So we decide to keep following this path, that had massive corn fields either side of it, and eventually stumbled across the road that we should have been on! We later bumped into the american again, and it turned out he also went on the cobbled road..... so we weren't that lost after all! This village was really knackered,not like the other 2 places we had just come from, chickens running around, muddy little roads, and a lot more farmers, with women carrying huge baskets of fruit and veg on their backs.We bought 2 deliciously fruity ice lollies for 10p for two (made it taste even better!) and headed off back to Lijiang old town, which took about an hour and a half. That night there are about 6 tables in the main market square of the old town, banners and music, and on these tables were amazing flowers and round, circular cakes. It turns out it's moon festival on the 15th (today is the 14th). when the music started, a huge long line of people locked arms and danced around to the music, people ate cake and people were having a good time.
On the 15th, the next day, which turns out to be a national holiday, so every single chinese person wasn't working, and we were trying to book a bus to Tiger Leaping Gorge, and of course, after packing our bags and walking to the bus station..... all the buses are full until tommorrow! We had a flight booked on the 17th, so we were gutted that we were going to loose a day at the gorge. Then, a young lad comes up behind us asking if we want a lift to the gorge, and after Helen asking him if he was safe, and not planning on killing us, we agree a price and this lad takes us all the way to the hostel that we wanted to stay in at the gorge. It turns out he worked at a hostel a little further down the gorge.
