September 2, Day 12 - Kunming

 We are definitely in higher altitude country  - and the thinner air has begin to gnaw at our energy! With memories of our time in Bolivia and Peru two years ago still fresh in our minds, we started taking meds to combat altitude sickness. Today we struggled a bit breath-wise as we had quite a few steep steps to climb exploring the enchanting ‘Stone Forest’.  My app says we climbed 10 floors but I suspect it was more than that. Both of us trailed behind the group a little! 

The lotus flowers are quite beautiful

The Lion Pavilion offers a wonderful viewing spot over some of the Stone Forest

The Stone Forest has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and covers well over 300 sq km. Two hundred million years ago it was part of the sea bed. Over time the limestone has slowly eroded to form these intriguing, fanciful shapes. To me it was reminiscent of parts of the Kimberly which had their origins as part of a Devonian coral reef - i.e., very very old! It is also an extremely popular tourist spot.This is the territory of the ‘Yi’ people, a local ethnic group, who tend the ‘forest’. 

A popular viewing spot

People hire ethnic costumes and pose for photos

Two cuties!

Most of our group took to the rocks while we found our own way back to the entrance - oh so we thought!

It really is quite strange and other-worldly

You could hite little motor scooters and drive around

After getting lost for a while we eventually managed to get back to the group - thanks to our wonderful leader. Foot sore and a bit weary still we couldn’t resist a visit to one of the large flower market to gaze out over what seemed like acres of perfumed colour.  Vast and fragrant.

Lotus, lilies, orchids, hydrangeas and countless others - glorious

Buddha's Hand (a citrus fruit), gourds of all shapes, rose cuttings from the home of roses, many bonsai 

From simple arrangements or extravagant display pieces

According to our guide, Yunnan is the women’s kingdom but the men’s paradise because the women do all the hard work and the men do little! To be fair, once the men transported the unique tea of the region to Tibet to exchange it for horses – but no longer! The special tea of the region - Puer, grows on extremely tall trees many of which are hundreds of years old. The Yunnan men once trekked over the mountains to Tibet carrying this precious tea taking 6 or more months to reach their destination. It was a perilous journey and many didn’t return.  This route is or was known as ‘The Tea Horse Road’ (which has been on my list for a while - but now perhaps just to dream about!). Tea is a special product of this region so it seemed appropriate that we diverted on the way back to our hotel to experience a tea ceremony where we learned much about the renowned Pu'er tea of Yunnan. 

We tasted what yhe region had to offer

Learnt special tea-making techniques

This is a leaf from an old Pu'er tea tree

Again we had overreached our gustatory limits (as well as that of our feet - most days we’re walking at least 10,000 steps often after very little sleep) so finally we retreated to our hotel room for a cup of soup before falling into bed exhausted. Tomorrow we were heading further north to Chengdu in the Sichuan province.

September 1, Day 11 Kunming

 Today we had a full day of sightseeing. First we climbed to the Golden Temple, Jindian, a former Taoist monastery set on top of Mingfeng Mountain, Singing Phoenix Mountain, within a lovely park. We both panted up that hill and wandered on our own at our own pace. Then we were whisked away to an amazing living Buddhist temple complex - Yuantong, where we lit incense sticks and watched devotees reciting scripture. 

Entrance to the park and the Gold Temple

In quiet corners people were engaged in Tai Chi

Entrance to the Golden Palace complex

Entrance to Yuantong a living Buddhist temple complex - a place of pilgrimage 

The air was thick with the smoke from 100s of burning incense sticks

A Chinese Lion Dog stood guard

Deities abound throughout the temple complex

A central temple, its mote dotted with flowers and tiny turtles, surrounded by rooms for visiting monks 

We wnadered through twisting streets past tiny markets groaning with delivvcous looking fruit to finally arrive at Cuihu Park surrounding Green Lake which was just that - green. It was packed with huge blowsy lotus plants bearing glorious, mainly pink, blooms - and lots of tourists, mainly Chinese. Here we grabbed some snacks and chilled out for a little while.

We all through these were humongous grapes but I think they're green plums

A lake full of lotus plants and fish and turtles - young women dotted the edge taking selfies 

Peacocks their lucky bird

Many places we looked we saw elephants and peacocks - statues not real ones! It seems that both are found in the jungles south near the Mekong. Peacocks are their lucky bird.

The twelve core Socialist values of China

August 31, Day 10 to Kunming, China

A super train! In true Chinese fasion people line up at the allocated spot to board each carriage

Today we boarded a train to travel the recently completed 750km rail link from Luang Prabang, Laos to Kunming, China.   I was very happy to be leaving the hot humid weather of southern regions behind us for the more temperate climate of the higher altitudes of Southern China. Whizzing through tunnel after tunnel, we climbed into higher and higher country into the Yunnan Province. Because of its high-altitude plateau location and year-round mild climate, Kunming, its capital, is famously known as the ‘produce capital’ of China, a major food, agricultural, and culinary centre supplying a vast variety of vegetables and flowers to the rest of China.  Our Kunming local guide welcomed us to what she called the ‘City of Eternal Spring’ and the weather was indeed balmy.  We had arrived in Kunming.

Acres of greenhouses

Altitude almost 2000m. Lake Dian is formed in a fault line

Not far from Kunming is Dian Lake, also known by a number of other names including Kunming Lake. It is a fault lake located on the Puduhe-Xishan fault in the Yunnan province. Its nickname is the "Sparkling Pearl Embedded in a Highland". Unfortunately we didn’t get close enough to visit it.

Kunming is named for the ethnic people of the region, the Kunmi people. Two thousand years ago, this was the Kingdom of Dian and was not part of Chinaat all. Incidentally of the 55 ethnic groups that live in China today 25 are from the Yunnan province. Called ‘Spring City’, Kunming sits at an altitude of 1900m and the temperature seems to vary between 19 to 26C - perfect really. Because of the altitude we were told that the food of Dian region is spicy and oily to ensure sufficient energy. Kunming is basically a region of farmers growing 60-odd% of Chinas fresh flowers, 90% of China’s coffee and tobacco as well as corn and potatoes. 

Daisy our guide sorting out the itinerary with our wonderful leader, Kara

So much to know but so hard to get information! We had arrived in China and were closed behind the Great Firewall of China! Cut off from the rest of the world for all intents and purposes. Our guide recommended a Chinese AI app, ‘Baidu’, which we hastily downloaded and installed, then we were able to ask some of those essential questions that nag at you when you enter a new locality. We will simply have to manage to survive without Google for the next 2 weeks!  

A local restaurant for dinner on our first night

Fascinating display of fungi in a country where they have taken cuisine to the utmost in using local produce

August 30, Day 9 Luang Prabang and the Mekong

 This morning we were before the sun rose - we were joining the daily morning alms-giving ceremony, or Tak Bat. We sat on baby chairs on the side of the road waiting to give out rice and snacks to the monks who walk down the main street at dawn every morning. Ours were meagre offerings but it was a unique experience. We then dived into narrow lanes to explore the morning market before heading back to the hotel for breakfast. Our westernised breakfast was pretty bland after the astonishing array of food on offer in the morning market.

Most dwellings in the street where we stayed had shrines in front

A marvellous start to a day which promised much more - we were headed for a boat ride on the Mekong. But not before a visit to the Royal Palace ‘Haw Kham’ which was built in the early 1900s during the French colonial era. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao seized power in Laos establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic and thus ending a 600 year-old monarchy and forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate. The Royal Family was arrested and sent to brutal ‘re-education camps’ in remote, northern Laos where they died from illness or starvation not many years later. After the gentleness of these people and their culture and spirituality hearing this struck a note of horror in most of us. 

Wat Xieng Thong one of the most important of Lao monasteries  

Haw Kham, Royal Palace, now a museum 

We were soon whisked away to board a ‘slow boat’ - long, narrow wooden vessels - to journey up the Mighty Mekong. And mighty it is!  Idyllic trailing your hand in the water watching the world slide past providing glimpses into the life of people who live, or make their living, along the river.  Fish farms and fishing, produce gardens being reestablished after the annual flood waters, woodmen out sawing up huge trees washed down by the river. And of course, we made a mandatory stop to ‘inspect’ local crafts which included whiskey and wine making and weaving.   Quite fascinating. 

The riverside gardens have to be rebuilt after each flood

Massive trees wash down the river and are stranded on the bank

Refueling stations along the river

Many riverboats ply the river

The universal problem of litter spilling into the river

A riverside wine and whiskey distillery - all manner of things are preserved in the whiskey 

Magnificent mountains 

Strange fruit clustered around trunks and branches 

Floating fish and produce farms hug the banks 

The vegetation was interesting and had me craning my neck to see more.  One eye-sore however was a newish development supposedly aimed at establishing a green and sustainable area – the ‘Luang Prabang Smart City’.  And not far upriver at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Ou River near Pak Ou, there is a large hydropower scheme is under construction. I will admit to my bias as a person visiting this lovely place and feeling a sense of horror at its destruction/manipulation but I acknowledge the need of the locals who struggle.  It is a hard call. 

We diverted to a delightful restaurant on stilts opposite the Pak Ou caves for lunch. The Pak Ou caves are a group of two caves, the Tham Ting and the Tham Theung caves deep within the limestone cliffs. From the water they are dark cavities looking out from soaring limestone cliffs over the Mekong. Once monasteries, the monks had to move out after many floods prevented them receiving food, but their labyrinthine depth houses many Buddhist figures mostly made of wood. Most people walked up into the caves but I remained outside because the steps were very high to get into the first of the cave. 

Our quite idyllic lunch stop

From our table we looked out over the river to the Pak Ou caves

Beerlao was always deliciously cold

Reboarding our boat was a little challenging - slippery mud and our boat was of course the furtherest

The Pac Ou caves

It is a beautiful river

It had been a day full of unique experiences and sights. Lindsay and I finished the day by escaping the crowds in a pizza joint where we had hamburgers! and a bottle of wine alone.