We left Chengdu at 1pm for my final train journey in Asia on this itinerary. Thank god!
I felt awful last night... flu symptoms and an upset stomach. I think this is my 4th bout of flu whilst being on the road this year. Being in close proximity to other travellers means that I am highly susceptible to these conditions. I mostly relaxed in my little train bed for most of the 21 hour train journey.
But here I am in Kunming after our 14 day tour from Beijing to Kunming. I farewell the other 6 group members at tonight's dinner, and meet another 11 new people tomorrow evening for my 9 day tour through Lijiang, Dali and Tiger Leaping Gorge. John has been raving about this part of the tour to me and the others since we started, so I am very much looking forward to it - this area of the world reminds John of Canada - I am a great fan of nature so can't wait to see it, even though it will be physically demanding.
The last 2 weeks have been very eventful. So much has happened - good and bad. I'm really glad that I've had an excellent leader in John for he's really made the experience a lot more positive than it could of been. I was ready to ditch Intrepid tours after the last pathetic tour, but John has turned my attitude around towards this company and I will go so far in recommending it to other RTW planners. It is pot luck as to the quality of your leadership and room mate (unless you already have one).
Kunming is hot and has blue skies! I haven't seen a blue sky for weeks now. It's fantastic being here. Kunming has a certain SE Asia flare to it, and the people seem so down to earth here. More about Kunming later.
Kunming Hotels
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