Just a quick account of Kunming, which is a lovely place but there’s not a lot to do there. Of course, Kunming holds the reputation of most chilled out city in China and is known as the ‘city of eternal Spring’. So really, it was a nice place to do not a lot.
Thanks to a strangely on time bus journey I arrived at Kunming West bus station at stupid o’clock, somewhere around 5am, so had to wait in the station for over an hour before the city buses started running. A lot of people stared at me for over an hour.
Jumped on the first bus into the city centre to my hostel and it was still so early that I thought I’d make a day of it and head to Shilin, a famous scenic spot close to Kunming. Several buses later I was on the coach, where I met 3 Parisians (the only other white people around) who I then spent the rest of the day with. Shilin was an interesting place, but I certainly appreciated the company.
Shilin translates as the ‘Stone Forest’, an area of intricate basalt formations that was apparently once entirely submerged in water.
It took a while to walk round but did feel kind of like being in a forest. Of stone.
The next day I visited a bird and flower (and, oddly, reptile) market…
Spent a good afternoon on the roof terrace, sunning…
And had a head massage from one of many blind masseurs/masseuses who set up chairs lining a central pedestrian street.
So Yunnan really had everything. It definitely wins the battle of the provinces so far. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to do the far north (bordering Tibet) or the far south (where you can easily cross into Vietnam or Laos) but it’s certainly a place I would return to so who knows, maybe next time. Until then I will remain content in my memories of endless sunshine, spectacular scenery, and not losing my camera again.
