Kunming

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The airport in Kunming just opened in June 2012, so it's modern and easy to navigate. The ATM that I found near the exit didn't work for me (nor for my friends), though. There is apparently a train that connects to the new airport, but I walked to the front to buses just outside the main entrance. The helpers / attendants of the buses spoke some English and were able to help me; plus, the tickets themselves were in English and had clear maps as to what all the stops are. I took bus #1 to the city center and followed my directions to walk to the Fairyland Hotel on Beijing Rd (not a bad place -- 28 dollars for a room for 3; see Tripadvisor ratings).

Mike and Cindy were waiting for me at the hotel. After weeks of struggling to impose myself on groups in Thailand, it was immediately nice to have

The half hour journey to the city center was pleasant enough. The superhighway is newly-constructed, and city officials have planted tens of thousands of new trees to offset all the construction. The city center is pretty non-descript; there are hardly any buildings with traditional chinese architecture. They've all been razed to make way for progress. Even some of the older communist style apartments seem to be in their finals days, as modern skyscraper apartments are being constructed throughout the city. Some of the main roads -- wide, and lanelessly gray -- are under heavy construction to build high speed trains above them. THe intersections are total chaos, but people drive pretty slowly, so it's possible to run across. Electric motorbikes make it surprisingly quiet, but they creep up behind you on sidewalks, and I never got used to thinking horns were for me while walking off the road. There are very few restaurants, as I suppose people have little expendable income.

The second time I came to the city I stayed at the HI hostel near the Green Lake. Being near the park was definitely nice, but the area is pretty far from the airport.

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Photos

Electric Mopeds
These seem to have mainly replaced the bicycle, and they're just as silent, and just as much on the sidewalks.