Elane arrives and is very apologetic, Lily (guide from Lijiang) didn't send a message advising I'm on an earlier flight so she wasn't expecting me until 10.30pm. Very glad I got on an earlier flight!! Because I was delayed the driver had gone home so we head upstairs to the departures area to try to get a taxi. Not easy when you have 'traffic police' telling the drivers they can't pick us up. At last one agrees, suitcase is in the boot then the 'traffic police' bounce. They take photos of the license plate and get documents from the driver.....all the while shouting who knows what. The driver told us to wait, he will be 3-4 minutes but after a while Elane heads over to work out what's going on. While they're both away I notice at least 3 groups of people getting into taxis that had just dropped people off, clearly because the 'traffic police' are tied up with us they get away with it. Bit of excitement for my arrival.
Finally we are on our way, Elena tells me both she and the driver got told off and the driver had to pay RMB 100....eeks. She told me not to worry about it, so ok I won't but I do feel bad he had to pay a fine.
We arrive at the hotel (Crown Plaza), major luxury compared with the last two nights and any other time still very nice!! Elena gets me all checked in then I'm on my own, which suits me. Walking into my room I could be anywhere in the world - huge plus is the comfortable bed.
Monday (May 12, 2014) I have a wee sleep in, no crying babies woke me in the night which was great!! After washing my hair (a huge luxury....) I head down to breakfast. A few communications problems I finally get my poached eggs. I'm now set for the day.
We leave the hotel at 9am and drive about an hour and a half to The Stone Forest or Shilin. I find the drive interesting - always something new to see.
On arrival at The Stone Forrest the first stop is the bathroom, these are super plush (and very clean) compared with the others I’ve been in this trip, and have small TV's in each stall. It helped me to realise which way to stand which is handy!
We have to get in a golf cart to take us to the entrance, seems a bit strange to me but hey ho.
We have about an hour and a half wandering around Stone Forrest; definitely an impressive site. Thankfully in places it was cool. A nice break from the heat of the sun.
After exiting the Stone Forrest site there are numerous restaurants touting for our business, I'm open to where we go and given both Elena and the driver (Mr Wong) want to eat I know it will be good and fingers crossed not tourist prices.
I'm half way through my fried rice when I pluck up the courage to ask Elena what something is - part of me doesn't want to know! Thankfully its potato, a little strange having potatoes in fried rice but hey ho.
From here we drive about 30 minutes to Jiuxiang Caves; I'm surprised how warm it is after being in cold Lijiang. We get on a canoe type boat (sits around 10) for a small trip up and down the river. Very touristy but looking at the rocks is nice, and at least it’s col.
It's now time to get out of the sun :) and head indoors to visit the Caves.
Walking through the caves it reminds me of my time in Guilin (doing exactly the same thing). Wouldn’t say they are anything to write home about; other than the Twin Waterfalls. Twins being special in my family.
After watching a small show, with 6 locals dancing, we begin the long hike up - 336 stairs! Definitely got the heart rate up; thinking I deserve a beer later.
At the top of the stairs there is a ski lift to take everyone up the mountain to the exit - haven't been on one of these for ages. The last time I believe was when I was in Switzerland a few years ago. Good views of the countryside.
We arrive back into Kunming at 4.45pm; thankfully the majority of the one and a half hour journey was traffic free.
I chill in my room for a bit before going out for a brief walk - had wanted to find somewhere to sit and have a drink (to be my first since arriving in China) but had no luck so returned to the hotel bar instead. Definitely not cheap but cheaper than Singapore prices!
For dinner I ate in the hotel, feeling quite tired and just couldn't face going out again.
Tuesday (May 13, 2014) is a nice relaxed start time of 10am so I take my time. For the second morning in a row I have other people sharing the same table as me at breakfast - this time they had already set down their food so they remained. I made the mistake of saying hello in Mandarin and they starting to talk to me.....whoops, sorry but I can’t reply and actually have no idea what you are saying.
Elena is late because she was unable to get a taxi, then an accident on the highway - I'm happy just relaxing in the lobby.
We drive around 30 minutes to Western Hill (which is also known as Sleeping Buddha Hills); it's a very hot day so I'm a little worried about the 6 + km hike up and the fact you can’t stop along the way to buy water. Elena asks a lady how long it takes to walk up.....3 hours is the reply. Surely not??!
We begin the walk up, which is all on asphalt; passing numerous people. It’s going to be a quick trip! Our destination is Dragon Gate which built on a cliff is literally at the top of the mountain. The views of Dianchi Lake and Kunming city are spectacle – you can see for miles and miles.
After coming down from Dragon Gate we stop for lunch, Elena gets chatting to two Chinese guys who want to join us for the walk down. As long as they can keep up with us that’s aok with me.
I've lost count of the number of people who have made a comment about how well I use chopsticks - those 5 years of boarding school really paid off!!! From memory it was every Monday night we had to eat with chop sticks; we also had to eat fruit with a knife and fork. Anyway I digress.
It's a quick one hour trip downhill. I keep zig zagging to stay out of the hot sun. Mr Wong (driver) is very surprised how quickly we walked up and that we walked down again. We did have the option to take a chair lift down (which the majority of people do) but I declined, much preferring to walk.
I can't believe my time in China has come to an end (next stop the airport); I've been so fortunate to see and do so much in my 4 days here. I've realised again how difficult it is to get around if you don't speak Chinese.
I had a lady immigration officer checking my documents; all was going well until a man came over (perhaps her supervisor) and started to look at my passport. I got the awful feeling he thought it was a fake....thankfully after a few minutes he returned it to the lady and off I went. How I would have got myself out of this is anyone's guess!
Will I come again (to China) - no plans at this stage but you never know. One thing is for sure I am keen to know what China will be like in 10-20 years.
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