http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Yunnan en-us Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:09:44 BST Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:09:44 BST So today an english speaking contact we had in Yuanyang I feel rude I forget his name arranged for a driver with a minibus to take us to the nearby villages. Our driver couldn't speak an ounce of english nor could we speak to him but he was familiar with the insane Chinese driving antics and the roads in the mountains so we were happy. He took us about two hours south to a remote village. W http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Yuanyang/blog-331331.html Not exactly getting lazyhellipletrsquos just say it is been quite busy recently So here is part two of our trekking adventure in Xishuangbannahellip more pictures and more funAfter nearly got our backpack leaving without us getting lost in the jungle meeting our new traveling companion Yako the dog and spending the night at Ms Shu house we were ready for more adventures A few tips http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-330999.html Pick a place ... since my last trip in Guizhou China completely last minute and unplanned I had only one thing in mind do it againChina national holidays gave the perfect excuse and three days prior we indeed picked a place Xishuangbanna here we comeAn exotic name for a destination described as A tropical and minority area far away from the rest of China. Guess the word tropical and far http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-330382.html So yesterday we took a 30 pasenger bus from Kunming China to Yuanyang China. The ride took about 6 12 to 7 hours and the last 3 hours of the trip was through the southern mountains in Yunnan Province absolutely beautiful China's southern lanscape definitely gives the Canadian Rocky's a run for its money. When we first got on the bus in Kunming I was slightly put off because our bus was cle http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Yuanyang/blog-330375.html I never really know how to start a new blog entry so I'll just get right into it forget all of the creative writing mumbo jumbo. So we are in Kunming we survived the 40 hour train ride from Xi'an. I will write another blog about that later. Back to my point of this blog entry Yesterday was my day off so in the afternoon I ventured out with a map and instructions on how to get to the nearest http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-329670.html Basically over the whole year I went to Xishuangbanna so many times because it was the closet place for tourist to Simao and it had great things to see. So I thought instead of writing about it each time I would just make on entry with all the occassions.1st timeThe first trip to Xishuangbanna was with Jayne and Amy as we went to the water spashing festival along the river banks of the Mekong Delt http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Jinghong/blog-328142.html So much has happened since our last entry. The days merge from one to the next and all of a sudden more weeks have flown by. We had a wonderful Mid Autumn Festival Moon Festival as friends from Alaska also living here came to visit with their daughter. As they like to hike about we took our first check out the neighborhood walk since arriving. As you can see from the pictures we are in an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-327045.html Day 1 Rain Rain Rain. After leaving Lijiang we arrived at Zhongdian and all it did was rain rain rain. We ended up spending most of the time in the hostel just by the fireplace relaxing to local music. We did get to see a bit of the old town but it was limited due to the rain. We did recieve news though that anotehr Gapper would becoming to join us.Day 2 Rain rain rain. Again all it did was rain b http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Zhongdian/blog-325958.html Day 1We left Lijiang in the morning and headed to the start of the Tiger Leaping Gorge. We knew we had to pack light but also with enough food and water to support us which meant we left the bulk of our luggage at the hostel in Lijiang. We set off at an easy pace in the morning and decided to do the high course instead of the low course. We were joined by Clancy another Gapper and two English sp http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Tiger-Leaping-Gorge/blog-325951.html Day 1 We took a bus that afternoon into Lijiang and we were a bit disappointed when we arrived because it looked like everything was underconstruction but then we later realised we were in the outskirts again like what happened in Dali so we made our way to the MCA hostel which was without a doubt amazing It was clean had a great view of the whole of Lijiang and great staff and other people http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Lijiang/blog-325945.html Day 1 2 After the horrible 5 squashed trip from Kunming we finally arrived in outer Dali not old city Dali like we thought so we caught a taxi to the hostel which was great value for money except that the hot showers weren't working. So the next day we recieved a refreashing cold shower but it was good because the weather was extremely hot and it looked like a sweaty day ahead of us. We walke http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Dali/blog-325943.html Wersquove been in Kunming for 3 weeks now and I think that I can say that wersquove seen a lot.I thought Irsquod give you a quick over view of what wersquove seen before we leave for Guilin tomorrow. If you'd like to see 2 parents and 2 kids on the same moped driving at high speed across a crossing supposedly for humans then wersquove got it here or if you want to see a live chicken http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-325549.html HELLO AGAIN FROM KUNMINGAnother week has passed and due to Monday being a National Holiday for Mid Autumn Festival which actually falls on Sunday Sept 14 we are enjoying a 3 day weekend. Actually it is almost 4 days for us as I only have one class to teach on Friday which ends a bit before 10 am. As for my classes I am slowly beginning to get to know all my students which collectively equal http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-322948.html Kunming enjoys a pleasant climate and does its best to live up to its title of 'the City of Eternal Spring'. Whenever you are planning to go the temperature is always pleasant. With its convenient transport links in and out of the city Kunming welcomes and sees off tens of thousands of tourists every day. Kunming is the focal point of Yunnan minority culture. Some 26 ethnic minorities such as Yi http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-321836.html Kunming after life gifts and getting married 9 SeptemberOn Sunday whilst we were trying to find a public park on the map we discovered a small working temple in a very built up residential area by the side of the train track. The jewel of a temple was hidden by the surrounding area and the only give away sign from the outside was the front gate and temple name above the door written in tradi http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-321432.html We have finally made it to Kunming. Juneau seems like a very distant memory but our departure almost didn't happen. Luckily our friends Kathy and Tim helped get us out the door and to the airport with only moments to spare. I will forever be in their dept for making me buck up focus and get our suitcases packed.Our flights were on time and uneventful. Thankfully. It allowed us to sleep and re http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-320793.html Pas de photos ou presque pour cette entre j'ai eu la flemme.Le but dsormais est d'aller le plus vite possible Dali puis Kunming. Le matin nous prenons un bus avec la jeune anglaise pour ShangriLa. Il pleut et il fait froid et dire qu'au dbut nous comptions remonter le col de la veille ce matin Le trajet en bus est classique avec des chinois qui crachent par terre et d'autres anglais http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Dali/blog-320181.html Le rveil Feilai Si est splendide le soleil se lve et claire les montagnes en face de nous. D'ailleurs tous les minibus et taxis en route vers les lieux touristiques s'arrtent dans le hameau pour prendre des photos. Nous n'avons pas le temps de prendre un petit dj le minibus qui doit nous emmener nous attend dj avec la corenne et le couple d'tudiants chinois qui partagent les frais a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Mei-Li-Snow-Mountain/Yubeng/blog-319267.html 3oth August 08 Kunming Something to write home aboutI love Kunming. We arrived at 5am on the night sleeper coach from Lijiang just before the city began to wake. As our taxi drove across the city the roads were empty and dark. I like a city that sleeps. As daylight broke we could see our new surroundings in the dawning light from the window in our room which is on the 12th floor of the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-318973.html Shangrila Shangrila actually means ldquoDiqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecturerdquo.I have been there many times when I was very youngbecause my dad is a geologist and that region ia very rich in mineral resource. Shangrila has changed a lot because of tourismand the book ldquoThe Lost Horizonrdquo. This http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Shangri-La/blog-318814.html Voil donc la suite de mes aventures dans le nord du Yunnan. Je rappelle que nous sommes a Quiatou et que nous venons de terminer le trek des gorges du saut du tigre. Dsol pas beaucoup de photos pour cette entre j'ai laiss Nenez en prendre avec son appareil.Aprs quelques minutes de busstop un bus s'arrte et nous sommes partis pour 2h de route. Nous ne comptons pas rester longtemps Shan http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Shangri-La/blog-317957.html 27August 08 Buying bus tickets for the first time. Although Irsquove been learning Mandarin for some time now Irsquom still painfully aware of my language inadequacies and my basic toneless Mandarin skills. Chris has always been good at languages and is way ahead of me with his Mandarin skills and this puts me in a position whereby I let him do all the talking because hersquos better at http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Lijiang/blog-317510.html Tout d'abord une description de Lijiang s'impose car cela fait un moment que je mentionne ce nom. Il s'agit d'une petite ville du nord du Yunnan situe a 2400m d'altitude qui avait du tre laisse a l'cart de la modernisation du pays et qui donc avait garde un quartier ancien. Connaissant les chinois il est fort probable que cette ville soit tombe en dcrpitude puis compltement restaure v http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Lijiang/blog-317243.html I'm currently in Chengdu Sichuan province after spending about a week in and around Yangshuo admiring karst peaks and educating myself on the differences between various Chinese local beers. The train ride here from Yangshuo Guanxi province took almost 24 hours but like most Chinese trains it was actually remarkably comfortable and I even managed to get a good nights sleep.I started writing http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/blog-317184.html Kunming againPulled back from the brink.Many years ago in South Africa when I was still jogging regularly I experienced some chest pain every now and again. The doctor I consulted suggested I should visit a friend of his a specialist heart surgeon. I assume Xrays were taken although I canrsquot remember that and on the strength of what I told him it was decided to widen a narrow coronary a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-317063.html Chengdu to Lijiang is a 22 hour bus journey. The bus winds its way up down and around all of the mountains in between the two places and it should be a relatively easy journey except in monsoon weathers where there can be land slides and in the winter where the roads become impassable. Our journey started normally but five hours into it we were stopped behind a traffic jam. We could see traffic http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Lijiang/blog-315899.html So finally I get round to writing my first blog entry for China. My flight out of here leaves in four days but obviously I've been busy getting that changed to a more suitablesensible date.By now I have my sights set on staying here for a while to do some teaching but my first taste of China wasn't that positive. I had read in my guide book that the chinese border police occasionally confiscat http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/blog-314992.html Well I finally found out how much I'm going to be teaching and it's going to be really easy I teach 6 hours a week only on Thursday and Friday afternoons teaching oral English to PhD candidates. Then I have four or five twohour lectures over the whole semester on English essay writing for MA candidates. Overall I'm probably going to need lots more to do with my time so I'm thinking ab http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yunnan/Kunming/blog-314592.html