May 18, 2006 - Across the Bridge

This isn't a story about trekking, it's a story about food. To really experience this land far far away, one must partake of "Across the Bridge Noodles", and the best place is Jiang Brothers Restaurnat in Kunming. ... I didn't have a clue what to do so I just wandered into the restaurant.This isn't a story about trekking, it's a story about food. To really experience this land far far away, one must partake of "Across the Bridge Noodles", and the best place is Jiang Brothers Restaurnat in Kunming. ... I didn't have a clue what to do so I just wandered into the restaurant....

May 12, 2006 - China - Kunming

After finally arriving arriving in Kunming I shared a taxi with some Czech girls to a hotel that had been recommended by someone in Yangshuo. ... Kunming itself is a small (just 4 million) city without too much of historical interest but it's fairly relaxed and pleasant enough to wander around for a couple of hours. ... It rained most of the time I was there so I replaced my old and broken umbrella I bought in Bangkok and spent most of my time sat in cafes drinking coffee and reading a Graham Greene novel I found in a nearby bookshop (secondhand at £7 - I guess they have no foreign language bookshop competition).After finally arriving arriving in Kunming I shared a taxi with some Czech girls to a hotel that had been recommended by someone in Yangshuo. ... Kunming itself is a small (just 4 million) city without too much of historical interest but it's fairly relaxed and pleasant enough to wander around for a couple of hours. ... It rained most of the time I was there so I replaced my old and broken umbrella I bought in Bangkok and spent most of my time sat in cafes drinking coffee and reading a Graham Greene novel I found in a nearby bookshop (secondhand at £7 - I guess they have no foreign language bookshop competition)....

Apr 13, 2006 - Jianshui - Kunming, China

We spent another day in Jianshu, three days in all, and saw the largest Confucius temple out side of his home town. This morning we got up and caught a bus to Kunming, as usual we waiting only about 15 minutes fr the next one. ... Now we are in Kunming, the capital of the province. ... We went to Happy Fish, an all you can eat restaurant in the guidebook, which took some finding as there were only vague directions, and we had to try to pronounce the Chinese name to ask directions.We spent another day in Jianshu, three days in all, and saw the largest Confucius temple out side of his home town. This morning we got up and caught a bus to Kunming, as usual we waiting only about 15 minutes fr the next one. ... Now we are in Kunming, the capital of the province. ... We went to Happy Fish, an all you can eat restaurant in the guidebook, which took some finding as there were only vague directions, and we had to try to pronounce the Chinese name to ask directions....

Mar 24, 2006 - Kunming, China

Hi! The new photos are from two destinations in mainland China - Guilin and Kunming. ... After Guilin, we flew to Kunming, another huge Chinese tourist destination. ... Its on a plateau 6K feet above sea-level and boasts perpetual "spring-like" weather.Hi! The new photos are from two destinations in mainland China - Guilin and Kunming. ... After Guilin, we flew to Kunming, another huge Chinese tourist destination. ... Its on a plateau 6K feet above sea-level and boasts perpetual "spring-like" weather....

Dec 18, 2005 - Kunming, China

A couple of flights later, we landed in Kunming. ... The city looks a touch more built up than Lhasa, and it is apparently also the gear-capital of China.A couple of flights later, we landed in Kunming. ... The city looks a touch more built up than Lhasa, and it is apparently also the gear-capital of China....

Dec 9, 2005 - Back to Kunming and off to Thailand!

With that decision made, I left Dali Wednesday night on the night train back to Kunming (the largest city in the Yunnan province (southwest China) and where I needed to be in order to buy an international plane ticket (travel agencies in smaller cities can't book international tickets). ... Kay and Matthias were also heading to Kunming (Kay to go to Guilin and Matthias to Hong Kong before heading back to Germany), so I joined them on the public bus to the train station. ... And once we arrived in Kunming, we shared a cab to the Camilia Hotel. ... On our way to the mini-bus, we passed the oldest of the mosques in Kunming. ... After the Temple, we headed back to central Kunming (Kunming is a very big city - from the mountain, it felt like looking out at Los Angeles from the Hollywood Hills!). ...

Dec 6, 2005 - Yangshuo - 2

We took a night train on Sunday night from Guilin to Kunming. ... and the hard sleeper was incedibly cramped - to put it nicely!! After that 19 hour train, we spent the day wandering Kunming, which is a pretty large city. ... After 2 taxis (the first apparently didn't know where he was taking us, so he dropped us at a random bus station and told us we were at Yunnan University), we arrived in a great college town-type area of Kunming. ... We had a FANTASTIC dinner at a restaurant called Manna (if you ever find yourself in Kunming, let me know. ...

Nov 16, 2005 - Kunming / Hong Kong

Hallo allemaal ! We zijn weer terug in Hong Kong ! Van Dali de bus naar Kunming. ... We dachten dat we een ticket hadden gekocht wat ons razensnel naar Kunming zou brengen. ... Het ticket werd ons zo wel verkocht ( in 4 en half uur in Kunming, minibus, supersnel. ... Na 7 uur stonden we in Kunming. ... Kunming is een grote stad en we willen zo snel mogelijk naar Hong Kong. ...

Sep 11, 2005 - Kunming (Yunnan Province)

i write the 11th of september being in Kunming but thats a lie really, as this day will be spent entirely on the trian till 630 tomorrow morning, what a killer, but its the only real way to get round this monster of a country. ... Monday 12th September We pitched up in Kunming at around 630am, with no hassle from touts or anything, im loving that about China they dont hassle you at all compared to the Vietnamese. ... So we hit the town to have a look around, Kunming has a much more relaxed atmosphere about then the other big Chinese cities I passed through and its a perfect temperature reminds of English summertime. ... Went to one of the 500 sports shops in Kunming and bought a new Nike jumper ready for some Tibetien cold nights, it was made in China so dirt cheap. ...

Jul 18, 2005 - Photos from mainland China!

Am now back in Kunming, Dali was brilliant, v relaxed and chilled. ... We met some cool Canadians in Kunming, Shawna and Mel, and we travelled to the Stone Forest (shilin) together then on the sleeper bus to Dali. ... We hired a minibus and a driver/guide who took us around the lake - Erhai Hu to the various pagodas/villages and markets that lie around the edge of the lake, Wase market was definitely an eye opener! (see photos).Am now back in Kunming, Dali was brilliant, v relaxed and chilled. ... We met some cool Canadians in Kunming, Shawna and Mel, and we travelled to the Stone Forest (shilin) together then on the sleeper bus to Dali. ... We hired a minibus and a driver/guide who took us around the lake - Erhai Hu to the various pagodas/villages and markets that lie around the edge of the lake, Wase market was definitely an eye opener! (see photos)....

Jul 15, 2005 - Kunming

Kunming wasn't that bad, I actually quite liked it for such a big city and walked about it for a few hours on Saturday during the day. ... I found myself going to the zoo here, partly accidentally as I was looking for an ancient temple that is in the same park and thought that it might be in the zoo grounds.Kunming wasn't that bad, I actually quite liked it for such a big city and walked about it for a few hours on Saturday during the day. ... I found myself going to the zoo here, partly accidentally as I was looking for an ancient temple that is in the same park and thought that it might be in the zoo grounds....

Jul 14, 2005 - Kunming and the train journey from hell!

The first 7 hours of that train journey was absolute hell, and I'm not exaggerating. At about 2 AM, we had had enough, and Nico went on a massive mission to the other end of the train - having to climb over all the bodies in the aisles and push through throngs of people, and eventually he managed to get to a guard, and upgrade our tickets to hard-sleepers, it took him another 20 mins to get back to me, and due to the amount of people in the carriages there was no way we were gonna get our packs down the aisles, so took all the valuables out of our bag and left them in our carriages and went down to our sleeper carriage - it was like a palace compared to before! After that, the hours just flew by, and we arrived in Kunming at about 1 pm the next day. ... Today we went to the Stone Forest at Shilin, basically just huge rock formations sticking out of the ground, it was pretty amazing.The first 7 hours of that train journey was absolute hell, and I'm not exaggerating. At about 2 AM, we had had enough, and Nico went on a massive mission to the other end of the train - having to climb over all the bodies in the aisles and push through throngs of people, and eventually he managed to get to a guard, and upgrade our tickets to hard-sleepers, it took him another 20 mins to get back to me, and due to the amount of people in the carriages there was no way we were gonna get our packs down the aisles, so took all the valuables out of our bag and left them in our carriages and went down to our sleeper carriage - it was like a palace compared to before! After that, the hours just flew by, and we arrived in Kunming at about 1 pm the next day. ... Today we went to the Stone Forest at Shilin, basically just huge rock formations sticking out of the ground, it was pretty amazing....