Earth Laughs in Flowers

We were supposed to join the couple shared the ride with us to the mountain for drinks, but the both of us were so tired that our nap became a 12-hr affair.

With our backpacks we had to walk to the bank before hailing a taxi to bring us to the bus station. Everything was fine just that the seats we a little cramp but as usual, we slept during the journey.. Surpised that we can still sleep after the 12 hours sleep we had the nite b4? well.. don't cos there is nothing we can do but sleep.

After reaching Dali's old city, we were approached once again by tons of people that offering lodging, transport etc etc. Decided on a horse carriage to bring us into the city and he introduced his friend's guesthouse to us. The owner quoted us Y50 but as the horseman told us Y40, the owner was presuaded by his friend to charge us Y40. Its cheaper, cleaner, and nicer than the one we stayed in Lijiang but the only sad thing was that there's no heater for our beds or the room. We also arranged to hire another of his friend's car for the day to bring us to places. One thing good about such places is that they have lots of guesthouses owned and run by families. Its often safe to stay and is a cheap option too, however, this is not the same for cities. So the rule is... in cities stay hotel, in rural areas, stay guesthouse. Moreover, as they have their sources for anything and anywhere you want to go so it makes the travellers' life easier. Thus on this day we went to 3 places of interest. First, a traditional Bai style house where there's a performance, introduction of tea, dressing, art etc etc. Entrance fees is Y50 each. Ohh before that, the guides (driver and horseman) took us to eat a very traditional lunch, common throughout Yunnan- Mian Xian and Mee Xian. Cheap and good cos its only Y2 each bowl, and its spicy!!!

After that, we went to this Tian Long Tong. For fans of the drama serial, Tian Long Ba Bu, this is where the Shen Xian Jie Jie lives. The entrance fees is Y68 each. It consists of a cable car ride up the cave, a personal guide, a long hike through the mountain and down it, a walk to see Sangguan Hua- a flower that's so hard to cultivate, and then tea-tasting. After the tea, it was too late, so the guides brought us to a mini tie dye factory which is actually the house of a Bai family. This method of tie-dye is a traditional of the Bai people. In the past, the cloth are mainly just blue and white but now there are other colors too. Sheena bought a skirt and I bought a pants. Wanted this cloth so much but I've no idea where to display it hence decided on the pants instead.

Next activity- horse riding up Cang Shan. Its no joke okies... up and down is about 15km and almost 3 hours. Sheena's horse is much younger (4 yrs old), full of energy and descends quickly, gave her a big shock. It loves to fart too hence me and my poor horsey has to suffer as we were behind her. My horse is sooo lazy, hates to walk faster and love to eat, however he is a very exprience horse thus led the way down. He know that when there's alot of stones on the fall, he will kick some away b4 walking. However, he took me bashing through some tree branches as he likes to take the difficult path at times, such as going up and down a slope instead of the flat path next to it. After reaching the top, there is a temple known as ZhongHe temple and a few waterfalls. As it was too late, we only managed to go the small waterfall.

The horse-ride is certainly a highlight of the entire trip, it was so fun although we did end up with aches and bruises. Oh yah, we went to a Jade Shop as the driver gets to earn Y10 for every group of customer he brings there, and the manager of the shop keeps talking to us. We bluffed him that we are from Johore instead and in the end, he charged Sheena Y100 for a jade bracelet thats supposed to be Y300.

Dinner was western food and it was soo unsatisfying that i was sulking after that. We met this huge group of people at the cafe too, seems like the ya ya papaya kind and from their conversation, I figured out that they should be actors and crew members.

After that, we headed for Xiagan train station to catch our sleeper train to Kunming. Think Sheena is traumatised by the train cos of some people we met. I was fine with the train though i must admit that its not the best place to sleep. Have to be careful too. The people that shared the cabin with us are from Beijing and from their jacket, we figured out that they are police. Understands English but speaking it is a different thing.

Arrived at Kunming at 630am but by 5am, there's people getting ready, long queues at the basin and toilets. Relatively clean.

Got a taxi to Camilia Hotel and stayed at the Youth Side, cheaper but still expensive! Y120. Oh.. I nosebled the min i got into the room. think cos the weather is too dry and nose too blocked. As sheena didn't get a wink at all on the train, we decided to take a nap before goin to Shilin, the famous stone forest but u know what......... our nap toook toooo long! hahahaha

Did nothing much but walked around Kunming city. Quite like most cities just that the things are very expensive. Full of flowers in bloom too. We went to Carrefour and bought some stuff, but Sheena was the happiest with her buy.. Jay Chou's latest album at a third of the price in HK.

Its our final day and deciding that we should not jus come Kunming n not do anything we decided to go Green Lake Park. Nothing there but birds and ducks! So we left early and we to get our hair washed because our hotel had a little crisis that morning, we gotten some treatment done too but decided not to publish those picts as we look like mushrooms+strawberry shortcakes. The pipe for the hot water wasn't working. THUs we couldn't bathe and wasnt in time for the freee breakfast. The hotel staff gave us a simple breakfast to make up for it.. but it was so simple. Anyway, took the hotel shuttle to the airport and gotten a back massage. The price was Y40 for 30mins but we bargained and got it at Y30 for 30 mins. Later from Shenzhen airport, we managed to find a mini bus that goes Luo Hu, Y20 per person.. yahoo!!!!! can save $. Met an Indian dude on the bus and his mandarin was like... wow!

Okie that's the gist of what we did for 6 days. This is going to be a looooooonggg entry. I've gotta fly!!! time for physio. =)