Blogs from Yunnan, China, Asia - page 154

Unrest in the Southwest - foaming torrents and gurgling stomachs in Yunnan Provence. As ever we left Chengdu by overnight train, arriving early in the morning in Panzhihua, close to the Sichuan/Yunnan border. Overnight we had passed through some high mountains, with Kim's popping ears keeping her awake much of the night. We were swiftly bundled onto a dishevelled old bus ready for the tortuous eight hour trip up through the mountains to Lijiang. But first, of course, there were the usual formalities - a ten kilometre journey, which due to roadworks in this narrow and steep-sided section of the Yangzi River valley took nearly an hour. Then everyone piled off the bus (remember the "Chinese Fire Alarm" anyone?) at the bus station to buy tickets. Due to our "most favoured idiot" status some chap took ... read more

We were leaving the Tibetan Autonomous Region but not Greater Tibet yet, flying from Lhasa to Zhongdian (Chinese name, Tibetan name: Gyeltangteng). Public buses to the airport do exist, but since the airport is quite far from Lhasa (100km to the south) due to the high mountain ranges in its proximity, we preferred to take a taxi and start far earlier than we were supposed to. We already had some experience with road works in Tibet and did not want to run any risk concerning the flight. On the first kilometres the road was tarred and smooth, we once again came across the almost finished railway line that will connect Lhasa with the western parts of Tibet (the Chinese really do everything to unblock Tibet from its geographical isolation and to further integrate it into mainland ... read more

Geo: 25.925, 103.174Yunnan province is simply beautiful. We flew there from Tianjin with special half price student tickets in the New year holidays. The capital, Kunming is bright and refreshing. We'd almost forgotten what fresh air and greenness was like after so long in Tianjin! The Chinese call it the city of flowers. It certainly possesses a cleanliness and sparkle that no other Chinese city I've visited has. The weather is gorgeous. Blue skies all day and in this part of China you can actually see them through the smog! After Kunming we caught the bus up to Dali. Bus rides through this area are quite something. The scenery is spectacular, you don't want to close your eyes. It seems I had my video camera running for nearly the entire 10hr journey!! Dali is a bit ... read more

Its amazing how one song by Monty Python can be so useful. Well, its only Wazza on Holiday once again. After 3 great weeks together, Yvette has had enough and is on her way back to Sydney, and I'm stuck here on my own in the amazing mountains of Yunnan. Its a hard life. We spent the best part of the last week or so in the mountains west of Deqin, about 180km by winding, mountainous road northwest of Zhongdian. The town itself is a small, decidedly depressing settlement (although boasting a kick-arse internet centre, auspiciously enabling me to see highlights of the mighty Maroons flogging of NSW last week) in a valley feeding into the upper reaches of the Mekong, but we stayed about 10km west at the village of Felai Si, which had magnificent ... read more

The Wazza and Lynchie show is on the road. Greetings, loyal (perhaps bored, with no life?) readers from Zhongdian in the Tibetan world of China's northern Yunnan Province. Its been a busy 3 weeks or so since my last entry. After spending a delightful (sorry, I needed a new adjective but that one really does suck) week or so on Koh Chang, Thailand's next big tourist island near the Cambodian border, I met the beautiful Yvette off the plane in Bangkok for a few weeks of travelling together. She was lucky enough to be immediately whisked from the plane to an irish bar on Khao San Rd to meet pommies Phil and Ben, who'd travelled from Chiang Mai especially for the honour (or so they said...). And so, after one night in Bangkok, and the world ... read more