A week in Kunming

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On Friday we went to morning classes to find everyone had the rest of the day off.  We had decided not to go to Xi'an after all, and so we went to the train station and bought a ticket to Kunming in Yunnan (the province next to Tibet).  Unfortunately, the only tickets they had left were for hard seats, and when we got on the train we found that there weren't even any seats left.  A hard seat is a straight backed seat in a group of 6, 3 facing the other 3.   We had to stand in the aisle.  However, since this was a 22 hour trip, a couple Chinese locals felt sorry for us and let us have a turn on their seats, it then turned into musical chairs.  If someone got up they lost their seat for the next hour or so until another person got up.  We didn't want to lose our seats so we didn't move at all and they felt sorry for us and gave us noodles.

We arrived 22 hours later to the beautiful clear, sunshiny skies of Kunming.  Such a clean city with parks everywhere.  We dropped our bags in at the City Cafe Hostel and headed out to the nearest pub to have a pint or two, grateful that there were pubs in this place (there aren't any in Yongzhou, pubs are just for Western tourists - Chinese just do karaoke).  Ended up having dinner at Wei's Pizzeria with a couple of pommy girls and a Canadian lady.

Sunday was spent looking for a bookshop (and eating more pizza while trying to find it) and spent in the Park of the Lakes which is a massive park made up of many small lakes and pavilions (with horrible traditional Chinese musicians in them) and the locals all go there on a Sunday, it was packed!  At one point we passed by a 4 piece Chinese band playing and around them was the biggest Conga line I've ever seen!  Except they weren't doing the Conga, it was more like the Nutbush.  Old and young people really getting into it, it was great.

Monday we caught the number 5, and then the number 6 bus to take us to the bottom of Xi Shan mountain that holds the Dragon Gate.  We did the 2 hour walk up, taking a detour along an ancient pathway that looked like it came straight out of Crouching Tiger, however the masses of noisy Chinese tourists kind of detracted from that.  We walked hard along the road with the market stalls on the side, sweating with the exertion and the hot sun and only pausing to buy a red book (Mao's quotations).  We reached the entrance to the Dragon Gate and had to pay and exorbitant amount to go in (I can't remember exactly how much).  But it was a really wonderful place, we found that Queen Elizabeth had been there before.  It was full of old Chinese pagodas, gates, carvings and hobbit holes.  We climbed through the labyrinth, touching the Dragon Gate for luck, came back down through the stone forest and did the 2 hour hike back down the mountain.  We were wearing shorts, singlets and hiking shoes.  The Chinese tourists were wearing suits, skirts and high heels.  So funny.  After the full 6 hours of walking and climbing, we headed back to the local pub.

On Tuesday we took a 2 hour bus trip to Shilin, a village next to a massive stone forest.  We dropped our bags at the local YHA (after a little bargaining for the room) and headed to a local restaurant for lunch to have the famous 'Across the Bridge Noodles'.  We asked for a small serve each and so we got a massive earthenware bowl each with broth boiling in it.  The noodles were in a separate bowl and we each had a plate with a various selection of vegetables and meat and an egg on it.  While the broth is boiling you tip whatever you want into the bowl, the broth cooks it and then ceases boiling, and then you add the noodles.  Was really delicious and cheap - 10 yuan.  We then headed on the long hike through the Stone Forest.  Another amazing place, with hundreds of little paths that we followed and got lost in of course.  Massive karst stones everywhere with trees and little ponds growing in between.  It took a few hours to get from one side to the other so we rewarded ourselves by taking a rest on the lush green grass, next to the sign saying 'Keep off the Grass'.  Returned to the hostel after taking about a hundred photos.

Wednesday morning we stood on the side of the main road and waited until a minivan stopped and took us to the nearby town of Lunan.  Wednesday is where all the locals come in to the market to sell their stuff.  It was full of meat, vegetables, baby clothes and army wear.  We walked around and found a stall selling bauzes (a dumpling) but these weren't filled with pork but a date and nut paste.  Yummy breakfast.  The local produce seemed to be corn and we saw hills of popcorn and mounds of white corn on the cob.  We headed back to Shilin, and then back to Kunming and a much needed massage at a hotel.

Thursday we were woken up by someone outside our window hocking up gorbies for 20 minutes.  What a disgusting way to be woken up.  We moped around all day, checking out different pubs, cafes and the internet.  Treated ourselves to a steak and then left for the train station where, as usual, we were late.  The train shut it's doors while I was on the platform arguing about the price of the plums and bananas I was buying but a hostess ran over and pushed me on in time, thank goodness, while James was waving goodbye at the window.  Luckily we managed to get a soft sleeper this time (1st class - 2 bunks to a cabin) and we had the whole cabin to ourselves for the 19 hours to Guilin.  Unfortunately we managed to get off at the wrong station and had to find a local bus to get us back into the Guilin town centre.  We then hopped on a bus to Longsheng.