Kunming

 

 

I arrived in Kunming in the morning after 12 hour on the sleeper bus from Lijiang. The ticket was 120 Yuan for a bed in the rear end of the bus. It was a kind of a bumpy tour and I did not get very much sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kunming is the Capital of Yunnan. 

Got to the Camillia Hotel and Guesthouse in the central part of town. A dubble was 120 Yuan and a dorm 30 Yuan.

 

West Hill
West Hill, Xi Shan, is one of the few scenic spots within Kunming. It's a small hill in the, as you could guess, west end on the city. You can easily go there by the local bus. There are realy not much to see though, a bunch of temples and pagodas and a lot of vendors, but it's a nice place if you want to escape from the urban traffic for some hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bird and Flower Market in the central Kunming is not just what is sounds to be. It's a nice outdoor market where you can buy all kinds of stuff, like shoes, cloth, brachlets,  and fast food. A lot of Tibetan stuff. I bought several old military Mao medals from 1949 and 1951. Don't know if its realy legal, but it's the real stuff.

As Yunnan is knowned for their minority groups, they have built a large park which shows the life and buildings of different cultures. It's called the Yunnan Nationalities Village and there you find example of  Bai, Wu, Jinuo, Naxi and other culture groups.

I visited the Provincial Museum one day. A realy boring place, and you don't need to go there. Actually, Kunming is quite boring it self. A big city like other big cities, helding some temples and mosks. By now I was realy tired with temples.

Of course, it's allways up to you what you make of it, but for me this was mainly a transit point. My plan was to go south, visiting the minorities close to Laos and Burma. But, of course, first I was going to the Stone Forest not so far from Kunming.

The Dragons Gate, Longmen, at West Hill.

 

 

Eating and shopping at the Bird and Flower Market.

 

 
Vendor at the market.