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!
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| The lotus flowers are quite beautiful |
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| 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’.
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| A popular viewing spot |
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| People hire ethnic costumes and pose for photos |
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| Two cuties! |
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| Most of our group took to the rocks while we found our own way back to the entrance - oh so we thought! |
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| It really is quite strange and other-worldly |
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| 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.
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| Lotus, lilies, orchids, hydrangeas and countless others - glorious |
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| Buddha's Hand (a citrus fruit), gourds of all shapes, rose cuttings from the home of roses, many bonsai |
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| 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.
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| We tasted what yhe region had to offer |
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| Learnt special tea-making techniques |
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| 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.
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