Nanda & Nathan The Travellers: Kunming 昆明

March 15,20-22, 2014 ---- On March 15th, our direct flight from Taiwan to Kunming arrived around 3 p.m. and we got on an airport shuttle bus #2 going straight to Kunming Train Station. We reached the train station within an hour and stored our luggage there because we had an overnight train to Lijiang that night. We also went to pick up our reserved train tickets at window#1 and bought return tickets to Kunming on March 20th.

After all these had been taken care off, we still had several hours before our night train departed, so we got a taxi to take us to Yuantong Temple. The taxi driver refused to use the meter and asked for 50 yuan for the fare that would normally cost only 15 yuan on the meter, but Nathan and I didn't know and agreed to it. Well, being ripped off on the very first day!

The temple was already closed when we got there, so we told the taxi driver to take us to Green Lake, which is located not too far from the temple. Green Lake was kind of dirty, but the evening dim light made it look pretty. There were a lot of people playing music, dancing, and doing exercise in the park. It was a nice stroll because the weather was perfect, a little dry but breezy. At dinner we had great "Tai" food at one of the restaurants at the lake and then took a taxi back to the train station, ready for our next adventure.

March 20-22, 2014

After traveling in Lijiang, Shangri-La, and Dali, we took an overnight train back to Kunming and arrived in the morning of March 20th. Luckily our hotel was only a 5-minute walk from the train station and they allowed an early check-in at 6:30 a.m., so Nathan and I were able to shower and get some rest before exploring Kunming. Also, I had a really bad cold and coughed like crazy, and the air pollution and people smoking cigarettes everywhere had made it worse, so I really needed a rest.

After gaining some energy back, we headed to Yunnan Stone Forest. It was a very long bus ride! First we had to take a city bus from the train station to the East Station, and then we bought a bus ticket to Stone Forest. The direct buses to the Stone Forest leave regularly and take only an hour to the destination, but they take longer on the way back.

Stone Forest is very beautiful and worth a visit. There were shuttle cars running between the ticket office and the park entrance (3 k.m.) and inside the park itself. Nathan and I walked around to all the main parts, and somehow we found a special way that led up to the the top of one of the stone pinnacles, so we could see the entire park from there. After getting tired of wandering in the rocky forest, we hopped on a shuttle car and had a park tour to the parts that are too far to walk to. It was really nice!

The next day we went back to Yuantong Temple. It's a Buddhist temple in Chinese style like any other temples in China, but in the back of the temple was a Thai-style Buddha statue situated in a Thai-style building. I was surprised to see that they had some connection with a temple in Thailand.

The next place we went was Western Hills. I didn't know much about the place other than that it offered a cool walk on the mountains. The gondola ride across Dianchi Lake was nice, and the open-air lift was fascinating. It would have been much nicer if the sky was clear so that we could see the view of the lake and the city. Unfortunately, that day was super hazy and we couldn't see much.

At the gate we each got a free portable audio guide in Chinese (I don't think they have it in other languages.), so we just followed the guide map. I think we made a great decision to first take the lift up and then walk back down to the gate; otherwise, I would have had to drag my weak, sick body to climb all the way up to the end. Along the walk ways there were many interesting stop points, and the audio guide gave lots of information on each of them (I actually understood only one third of what I was being told.). Overall, it was a nice place to visit.

During the last two days of our trip in Yunnan, I was glad to stay in Kunming Jinjiang Hotel. It's located in the most convenient spot; right in the middle of the city, 5 minutes from the train station, and the airport shuttle buses stop right in front of it. The hotel also had good and affordable room services, lots of nice, fare-price restaurants, and many amenities for guests. On top of that they allowed an early check-in at 6:30 a.m.! Nathan and I just had dinner there both nights we stayed because I was really sick and didn't feel like going out in the crowd. Definitely a place to stay if we ever go back to Kunming!