China Adventure Begins
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2007
1
57
102
Trip End
Dec 2007
Kunming,
China
Sunday, July 8, 2007
We arrived into Kunming and met our group of 10 total. We are a mix of Australian, American and English. Anita hit it right on the head when Monica asked her what she thought the girl-guy ratio would be; Anita guessed it right - 80% women!!! ESTROGEN!
Our local tour leader is ZU! he is hilarious. He was so nervous meeting all of us "pretty ladies", sweating and rubbing his hands together. So funny.
We spent the first day in Kunming walking around the city, to the flower and bird market (interesting animals for sale) and then to the Provincial museum where we were impressed with bronze stuff dating back to BC times.
We decided (just the 2 of us) to take an optional visit to the Ethnic Villages. NOT what we expected. It was like Epcot centre at Disney World. Each ethnic minority had a section of the park that showed what a typical house would look like, traditional dress and dances, as well as souvenirs for sale. it was funny and informative.
that evening we caught the overnight train to Dali - interesting ride watching the Chinese man beside us drink 2 bottles of STRONG 65%+ Rice Whisky....he was talkative and curious to know all about us.
So far we are enjoying the tour - it is very relaxed , leaving us with many options to do meals and tours just on our own. Glad we dont have to make decisions about accomodation and transportation. we can just enjoy the ride.
