Sent via email on Friday, January 21
We spent the first full day of vacation walking the streets of Kunming, visiting parks and a few local restaurants and cafes. In our ramblings we came across a street of shops that sold only trophies, plaques, and other awards. We bought a trophy and declared ourselves 2011 "Hide and Seek" champions. Our trophy also makes a great cup.... and we have taken to drinking from it to celebrate our 'victory'.
Kunming is a gorgeous city and seeing a blue sky is unbelievably refreshing. The first park we went to was centered around a pond with thousands of white birds that resembled sea gulls. Pond gulls maybe? There were families all around and I got to watch some old people dancing, which is one of my favorite activities. After another night out in Kunming we were all ready to leave the city behind us.
After a mildly stressful 4 hour bus ride we found ourselves in Dali. It is a beautiful small town famous for three pagodas overlooking the city from a great mountain vista. It was late though, so we went to find something to eat. Yak steak is the best food ever. After filling our stomachs we went back to the hostel and fell asleep. This morning we were greeted with the bluest sky I have seen in 6 months and a massive snow capped mountain in the near horizon.
Time to go climb it...
C. Johnson
Showing posts with label kunming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kunming. Show all posts
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
CHANGSHAREN in Kunming
Craig has taken off on a trip with two friends during Spring Festival. He promised to start his blog again. Here is his first entry:
After a terribly bumpy flight we arrived in Kunming in the early afternoon. Paranoid that we would be mistaken as Laowai or tourists we blew past all the people offering us rides to the city center. We also accidentally blew past the bus station we were supposed to use. After walking for about twenty minutes we reached the next stop on the line and hopped on bus 67.
The congestion of human traffic on this line is mind blowing. At each stop no more than 5 disembarked while no less than 20 got on the bus. A gentleman was trying to help us find the stop we wanted but after he told us that he was actually from Beijing I had an ominous feeling. His advice wasn't completely accurate and we needed to walk another 20 minutes before we found our dormitory.
THE HUMP is one of those Lonely Planet endorsed megahostels where the number of foreigners is just creepy for someone who left Changsha just once in the last 4 months. Everyone from professor types, with grey hair and pipes to smoke, to hippies on the run, with wild shocks of hair and scummy clothes, share a gigantic common room. After eating BBQ at a place with meal worms, pig feet, and whole intestinal tracts on display we started interspersing shots of tequila and mixed tonic drinks with over-competitive games of ping pong.
At the hostel a group of Chinese drivers were playing pool and after buying them a shot of tequila GANGZI (a person) bought us two bottles of watered down gin. While we drank we met a foreigner who lived in Kunming and told us horror stories of Laowai beatings occurring within Kunming's KUNDU bar district. With these thoughts in mind we set off to find said district and offer the Chinese a different point of view on the foreign devils.
Everyone we talked to howled with laughter when we told them we were CHANGSHAREN (people who lived in Changsha [this terminology is reserved for those who are native to a given region]) We finished the night with more BBQ and philosophical conversations. All in all it was a great night.
C. Johnson
After a terribly bumpy flight we arrived in Kunming in the early afternoon. Paranoid that we would be mistaken as Laowai or tourists we blew past all the people offering us rides to the city center. We also accidentally blew past the bus station we were supposed to use. After walking for about twenty minutes we reached the next stop on the line and hopped on bus 67.
The congestion of human traffic on this line is mind blowing. At each stop no more than 5 disembarked while no less than 20 got on the bus. A gentleman was trying to help us find the stop we wanted but after he told us that he was actually from Beijing I had an ominous feeling. His advice wasn't completely accurate and we needed to walk another 20 minutes before we found our dormitory.
THE HUMP is one of those Lonely Planet endorsed megahostels where the number of foreigners is just creepy for someone who left Changsha just once in the last 4 months. Everyone from professor types, with grey hair and pipes to smoke, to hippies on the run, with wild shocks of hair and scummy clothes, share a gigantic common room. After eating BBQ at a place with meal worms, pig feet, and whole intestinal tracts on display we started interspersing shots of tequila and mixed tonic drinks with over-competitive games of ping pong.
At the hostel a group of Chinese drivers were playing pool and after buying them a shot of tequila GANGZI (a person) bought us two bottles of watered down gin. While we drank we met a foreigner who lived in Kunming and told us horror stories of Laowai beatings occurring within Kunming's KUNDU bar district. With these thoughts in mind we set off to find said district and offer the Chinese a different point of view on the foreign devils.
Everyone we talked to howled with laughter when we told them we were CHANGSHAREN (people who lived in Changsha [this terminology is reserved for those who are native to a given region]) We finished the night with more BBQ and philosophical conversations. All in all it was a great night.
C. Johnson
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