Woke up at 7:30am today as I absolutely did not want to miss the 8:20am bus. By 9am, the bus did not appear and I was wondering if I had missed it since I was only at the road side at 8:15am. In the end, the bus appeared at 9:15am and I had to stand since all the seats were already taken. And apparently, someone had thrown up at the back of the bus!
The entire bus ride was uneventful and took 4 hours to reach Kunming North Bus Station. Nearing the end of the journey, someone else threw up too. Heading back from the bus station to the hostel was easy, with the quick metro services available. As I walked back, I took the opportunity to buy the limited edition KFC special burger for lunch. The prices of KFC here in kunming is rather similar to Singapore prices, at around CNY35 for a set meal.
After dining in the hostel, I lazed around and had the opportunity to chat with the lady that tended to my apartment, as well as a local who has been staying in the hostel for more than a year. We ended up going out together for dinner, and that was rather fun since it's not often that you get to make friends with locals and even have spontaneous meals with them!
We had dinner at a nearby local diner, and I had Mala Fish Slices with Rice. As there was a lot of small bones in the fish, it made the meal rather unenjoyable. Thankfully the company more than made up for it. After dinner, we strolled around the shopping area before heading to an underground mall for churros. It was their first time having it and I'm glad they loved it!
Back in the hostel, we all gathered to watch a sci-fi movie together. Being able to hang around at the lounge area and making new friends is what I love most about staying in hostels. While staying in hotels, it is so easy to be isolated from the local population and makes solo travel so much more lonely and boring. How I wish I am able to stay a couple more days here and spend more time with my two new friends. Alas, my bed, shower and fans at home await me. I can't stand the hot and humid summer weather here, and the hostel has minimal ventilation and no fans at all.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Aug 6 2017 - Exploring the Redlands
Woke up at 5am today as I had arranged for a driver to pick me up and bring me to catch sunrise. At 5:30am sharp, we left for a viewing area called DaMaKan. It took about 20minutes of driving in darkness before we reached it. Upon arrival, I stall had to hike up a small trail in the dark on my own as my driver stayed in the car to nap.
I didn't think much of the viewing area at first but as the sky started to brighten up, my perception changed. The viewing area gave a spectacular view of an entire valley plus the sun rise directly in front.
After 30 minutes of waiting, I realised that the cloud cover was too thick today and I would not be able to see the sun itself. However, I decided to fly the drone around to observe the surroundings. There were many huge wind turbines that gave the hilltops an unique character, combined with the ploughed slopes of the hills.
Some time later, a small tour group came by to catch the supposed sunrise. As they left, feeling disappointed at being unable to catch sunrise, I spotted an unique sight and told them. Thankfully, the cloud cover broke up in certain parts and the strong light rays pierced through and lit the valley below. It was simply amazing. I have seen it before, but never in such grandeur. At about 7:30am, I left DaMaKan.
We headed to the next spot, where I managed to get the drone to film me walking along the edge of the hill. Unknowingly, I dropped my phone but the earlier tour group spotted it and picked it up
Headed over to a couple more spots where the drone really shone with its aerial perspective. However, I started to understand why the locals don't find the view fascinating any more.
Reached back my room at around 9:30am and spent the entire morning and early afternoon in the room watching Masterchef Australia, the irony considering that I'm totally not into the local food here and have only ordered egg fried rice twice and shredded potatoes once in total over yesterday's lunch and dinner. Lunch today was instant noodles, but I had a tough time deciding on it as the kettle in my room was filled with cobwebs and dead insects, and a little rusty too. In the end, I decided to cook the instant noodles as I was sick of eating egg fried rice for the third meal in a row, and I didn't want to bring the instant noodles back to kunming too.
At 3:30pm, I promptly headed to the carpark as I had earlier arranged for a driver to drive me around the countryside. Driving around, the layered landscapes is starting to look all too similar. After driving to a couple of spots and flying the drone for quite a bit, we headed to the final destination to await sunset.
Sunset came late at 7:15pm instead of 6:45pm. Soon a group of noisy local tourists appeared to take typical posy shots with the sunset. They created such a din that it totally spoiled the serenity of the place. After the sun went down, it was time to head back to the hotel for dinner. Dinner was a bowl of egg fried rice and a plate of deep fried potatoes. Very basic but filling. I then spent the night in my spider-infested room and only managed to properly fall asleep at 3am!
I didn't think much of the viewing area at first but as the sky started to brighten up, my perception changed. The viewing area gave a spectacular view of an entire valley plus the sun rise directly in front.
After 30 minutes of waiting, I realised that the cloud cover was too thick today and I would not be able to see the sun itself. However, I decided to fly the drone around to observe the surroundings. There were many huge wind turbines that gave the hilltops an unique character, combined with the ploughed slopes of the hills.
Some time later, a small tour group came by to catch the supposed sunrise. As they left, feeling disappointed at being unable to catch sunrise, I spotted an unique sight and told them. Thankfully, the cloud cover broke up in certain parts and the strong light rays pierced through and lit the valley below. It was simply amazing. I have seen it before, but never in such grandeur. At about 7:30am, I left DaMaKan.
We headed to the next spot, where I managed to get the drone to film me walking along the edge of the hill. Unknowingly, I dropped my phone but the earlier tour group spotted it and picked it up
Headed over to a couple more spots where the drone really shone with its aerial perspective. However, I started to understand why the locals don't find the view fascinating any more.
Reached back my room at around 9:30am and spent the entire morning and early afternoon in the room watching Masterchef Australia, the irony considering that I'm totally not into the local food here and have only ordered egg fried rice twice and shredded potatoes once in total over yesterday's lunch and dinner. Lunch today was instant noodles, but I had a tough time deciding on it as the kettle in my room was filled with cobwebs and dead insects, and a little rusty too. In the end, I decided to cook the instant noodles as I was sick of eating egg fried rice for the third meal in a row, and I didn't want to bring the instant noodles back to kunming too.
At 3:30pm, I promptly headed to the carpark as I had earlier arranged for a driver to drive me around the countryside. Driving around, the layered landscapes is starting to look all too similar. After driving to a couple of spots and flying the drone for quite a bit, we headed to the final destination to await sunset.
Sunset came late at 7:15pm instead of 6:45pm. Soon a group of noisy local tourists appeared to take typical posy shots with the sunset. They created such a din that it totally spoiled the serenity of the place. After the sun went down, it was time to head back to the hotel for dinner. Dinner was a bowl of egg fried rice and a plate of deep fried potatoes. Very basic but filling. I then spent the night in my spider-infested room and only managed to properly fall asleep at 3am!
Aug 5 2017 - Heading to Dong Chuan Redlands
Woke up at 5:30am today as I had a bus to catch at 8:30am. My plan for these few days is to head to Dong Chuan Red Lands and stay there for two nights. And so, I left my hostel at 6am. I was wanting to take a motorcycle ride to the nearby metro station but since there was none around, I walked over. It looked really far on the map but in reality, only took me about 20minutes. The train station at DongFeng GuangChang is really beautiful inside with a circular meeting area. It reminded me of the Beijing metro, with its clinical look and feel.
After a 30minute ride, I was at the Kunming North Bus Station. Ticketing was easy since I had already done ample research and knew which bus to take. I would have to take the bus heading to FaZhe but alight halfway outside my inn. And so, I asked the bus driver to drop me off at the correct location. As the bus headed across kunming, it started to fill up with passengers. Eventually, it left Kunming and travelled along the highways. The highways spanning across the countryside often meant having to traverse tall long bridges that linked mountains to mountains. The longest of these were 800m long and each looked equally perilous with the steep drop down that approximated 400-800m.
The entire ride from the bus station to the inn that I was supposed to arrive at took 4 hours, including a rest stop of 10 minutes along a dingy roadside stall and toilet.
Upon reaching the inn, I checked in immediately and found my room flooded with water. I had to request for another room and thankfully it was given without fuss. Lunch was a simple egg fried rice settled at the accompanying "restaurant". After lunch, I arranged for a driver and car to bring me around for the afternoon, plus the following morning and afternoon. The morning drives will include sunrise while the afternoon drives will include sunset.
Turns out my driver was the inn owner's son. He drove me to many scenic places and waited for me while I explored the area with both my camera and my drone. Later in the afternoon, it started to rain. My driver spotted a rainbow as we drove on but he could not stop at that location as it would be dangerous. Such a pity, as a rainbow to accompany the colorful landform would be amazing! The rain lasted for quite a while and it also meant that there was no sunset to catch due to the thick cloud cover.
Back in the inn at about 7:30pm, I grabbed a simple meal of egg fried rice and shredded potatoes before returning to my room to spend the night.
After a 30minute ride, I was at the Kunming North Bus Station. Ticketing was easy since I had already done ample research and knew which bus to take. I would have to take the bus heading to FaZhe but alight halfway outside my inn. And so, I asked the bus driver to drop me off at the correct location. As the bus headed across kunming, it started to fill up with passengers. Eventually, it left Kunming and travelled along the highways. The highways spanning across the countryside often meant having to traverse tall long bridges that linked mountains to mountains. The longest of these were 800m long and each looked equally perilous with the steep drop down that approximated 400-800m.
The entire ride from the bus station to the inn that I was supposed to arrive at took 4 hours, including a rest stop of 10 minutes along a dingy roadside stall and toilet.
Upon reaching the inn, I checked in immediately and found my room flooded with water. I had to request for another room and thankfully it was given without fuss. Lunch was a simple egg fried rice settled at the accompanying "restaurant". After lunch, I arranged for a driver and car to bring me around for the afternoon, plus the following morning and afternoon. The morning drives will include sunrise while the afternoon drives will include sunset.
Turns out my driver was the inn owner's son. He drove me to many scenic places and waited for me while I explored the area with both my camera and my drone. Later in the afternoon, it started to rain. My driver spotted a rainbow as we drove on but he could not stop at that location as it would be dangerous. Such a pity, as a rainbow to accompany the colorful landform would be amazing! The rain lasted for quite a while and it also meant that there was no sunset to catch due to the thick cloud cover.
Back in the inn at about 7:30pm, I grabbed a simple meal of egg fried rice and shredded potatoes before returning to my room to spend the night.
Aug 4 2017 - Naigu Stone Forest
Once again, I'm back in China for a short solo trip within Yunnan province. Since I had bought an annual pass for Shilin last year November, I decided to return to visit the Naigu Stone Forest (乃古石林). I chose a different hostel this time round and it turned out to be not as good as I expected. The ventilation is bad and the room is quite cramped. In fact, I couldn't sleep last night due to the mosquitoes flying around and the lack of adequate ventilation. Thankfully, the lady staff in charge of my room is quite nice and friendly.
As usual, I took bus K9 to East Bus Station before taking the Shilin Tourist Bus to Shilin itself. In total, it took 2 hours and 15 minutes to travel from Kunming City to Shilin Scenic Area. As I wanted to visit the lesser known Naigu Stone Forest, I tried asking around the tourist centre for directions but it seemed that nobody knows about it!
As I uttered a silent prayer for someone to assist me, a lady walked up and asked if I wanted to visit the neighboring touristy sites. I asked if she knows how to go to Naigu and she said she could drive me there and back for CNY80 per round trip. She also gave me her number so that I can message her when I am done.
The 8km ride took about 15 minutes and indeed it was hidden away behind the Major Shilin scenic area. The entire area area was devoid of tourists and the only people I saw were the visitor center staff and the farmers who were planting flower saplings in the field in front of the stone formations.
It was the perfect timing to take out my drone. The weather was sunny with minimal wind. Flying the drone there gave me a perspective I had only seen speriodically in advertisements. The grandeur of the stone formations, the immensity of the land area occupied, the different shapes and sizes.
Hiking through the area took 3 full hours and it was about 7km for a single loop, up and down stairs and rocky paths. After a while, the path started involving more stairs and it got narrower. Certainly not an easy walk, especially for anyone who is not used to walking for hours. There is absolutely no amenities along the path, hence I would advise against drinking too much water.
After the entire 3 hour walk, I was back at the entrance area and seeing a beautiful field of lavender, I took the opportunities to take photographs and fly my drone around. The rain suddenly came pouring and I had to take refuge in the visitor centre, before calling for my driver once the rain stopped.
Heading back to the main scenic area was rather quick and soon I was waiting for my long-distance bus for Kunming. This time round, as I had boarded my return bus at about 3pm, I was back in Kunming East Bus Station at around 5:30pm. Being early meant I could still explore the area surrounding my hostel before it got late.
Missing comfort food, I decided to order Ajisen Ramen for dinner and it was cheap at 70CNY for a bowl of ramen, a plate of gyoza and an additional marinated egg! Since I ordered for takeaway, I enjoyed the rest of the night eating dinner in the hostel while watching a show on the television!
After the entire 3 hour walk, I was back at the entrance area and seeing a beautiful field of lavender, I took the opportunities to take photographs and fly my drone around. The rain suddenly came pouring and I had to take refuge in the visitor centre, before calling for my driver once the rain stopped.
Heading back to the main scenic area was rather quick and soon I was waiting for my long-distance bus for Kunming. This time round, as I had boarded my return bus at about 3pm, I was back in Kunming East Bus Station at around 5:30pm. Being early meant I could still explore the area surrounding my hostel before it got late.
Missing comfort food, I decided to order Ajisen Ramen for dinner and it was cheap at 70CNY for a bowl of ramen, a plate of gyoza and an additional marinated egg! Since I ordered for takeaway, I enjoyed the rest of the night eating dinner in the hostel while watching a show on the television!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)