Mystical Yunnan and Mongolia and the Gobi Desert
June 12 -- July 7, 2013
A scant 12 days after we returned from our United Kingdom trip, we headed the other direction for Overseas Adventure Travel's Mongolia and the Gobi Desert with a pre-trip to Yunnan Province in SW China. The originally scheduled post-trip to Lake Baikal in Siberia was cancelled due to transportation problems. Most of us on the main trip were disappointed with this development.
We found China to be reasonably civilized, especially in the cities, and the food turned out to be very good. Mongolia, on the other hand, is definitely a third world country that is progressing slowly toward modernization. They are working hard to increase tourism. Improving the food would be a place to start. Both countries have beautiful land - mountains, lakes, forests, etc. We enjoyed both.
Wed., 6/12 - Fri., 6/14 - Denver to Los Angeles to Beijing to Kunming
We left Estes Park after lunch and flew United from Denver to Los Angeles. Our luggage was booked through to Kunming, China. After a five-hour layover in LAX where we met some of our OAT pre-trip group, we boarded Air China for the 12 1/2 hour flight to Beijing, China. The Beijing airport was new for the 2008 Olympics and was quite nice. We went through customs and then got another Air China flight to Kunming, China. Not surprisingly, four of the six in our group, including both Marge and me did not have our luggage in Kunming - it was still in Beijing. To make a long story short, our bags were shipped on the next plane to Kunming and arrived at our hotel by 7:30 that same evening.
Chinese flag
Chinese license plate
We were met by our China tour guide at the airport. His name is Ye Ji Lu. One of his schoolteachers called him Johnson so that is what he uses as his given name. Our driver's name is Mr. Lee.
Our group of six - five women and one man were driven to the Hua Xi restaurant for lunch. (By now we had already eaten five meals since we had had any sleep.) We sat at a round table in an upstairs room of what must have been a monks cell originally. There was a large lazy Susan in the middle and we were served ten different dishes, one at a time. We were given forks but all of us used the chopsticks and learned that we were to eat out of the small bowl and use the small plate (saucer) for bones or anything that we didn't like. There were lots of leftovers but we learned that the uneaten food is served to pigs. On the way out we saw the bucket with our leftovers.
After a little rest, we met in the lobby for a short walk around one big block to get acclimated. There is a lot of traffic, almost half of which is electric mopeds and cycles. We went inside the Sheng Ai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. They make herbs etc, into medicines. We were interested in the variety and process. We recognized Ginseng flowers and roots and cross sections of deer antlers.
A local market in Kunming
A local market in Kunming
Sheng Ai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional medicinal preparations
Dinner tonight was inside the old walled city. We entered through a gate that still remains from the Ming dynasty. There are 1000 year-old pagodas at the east and west ends of the square with phoenixes at the top, supposedly to warn the citizens of impending danger like floods.
Dinner was another round table with lazy Susan and a number of dishes. We had pork with plums, duck with an interesting sauce, "green vegetable" which is like bok choy, rice, tofu, some kind of fried puffs, and melon as dessert. It was another interesting experience.
East end pagoda
Old boat in front of a restaurant
Chinese beer with an NBA sponsor
Interesting appetizer
Dinner on our lazy Susan
Sat., 6/15/13 - Kunming - Marge's Birthday
In the morning we drove 1 1/2 hours to the Stone Forest. Tall limestone pillars make up the forest and the short ones are referred to as stone teeth. There are 350 square kilometers of these formations. The park is soon scheduled to become a UNESCO Heritage Site for its unique geologic significance. The local indigenous people, Sani (or Yi), run the park now. The girls are in traditional dress and are around to answer questions. If their headdress has two upstanding "horns" they are unmarried and looking for a mate. Married women put the "horns" flat over the top.
We rode an electric train to the start of a path that led into a mass of these pillars. It is Saturday and so very crowded it was nearly impossible to get around. We got off the crowded area and walked up to a high spot with a view looking out at the forest. It is amazing landscape.
Stone Forest Visitor Center
Informative map
Stone Forest - welcome sign
Stone Forest formations
Stone Forest formations
Traditional Sani dress for an unmarried woman
Very crowded
Stone Forest karst formations
Stone Forest karst formations
Stone Forest karst formations
Stone Forest karst formations
We ate lunch within the park at the Build Stonehenge Restaurant. It was another round table with a lazy Susan and ten dishes with fish, tofu, chicken, veggies, soup, rice, and fruit. The dishes have all been different and there is always something each of us will really like. Marge, however, would rather that the fish lying on the platter would stop looking at her!
Interesting sign
What do you think that is?
Back in Kunming, Johnson took us for a short walk in Green Lake Park. It is a large city park filled with people of all ages. It is a place for group dancing of traditional types. Players and amps are set up all over and we must have watched a dozen different activities around the park. In the mornings people come here to join a Tai Chi group before going to work. It was again very crowded, but very organized.
Green Lake Park - entry
Green Lake Park - kid having lots of fun
Green Lake Park - traditional dancing
Green Lake Park - playing traditional instruments
Green Lake Park - playing traditional instruments
Tonight all of us went to dinner and a cultural show. Dinner was the usual ten-plate lazy Susan offering. We walked to the theater through a Muslim neighborhood with a mosque and coed school. The show was Dynamic Yunnan: The Grand Original Native Song and Dance Ensemble. Yang Liping, the choreographer, auditions young people in the province to select the members of this showcase company. The story line of this show was the dawn of life - the Sun, the Earth, Homeland, and Pilgrimage. The epilogue was a magnificent solo by Yang Liping, the Spirit of the Peacock. At age 56 she has amazing body control and used hand motions depicting a peacock's head. I hope I never forget her performance. The group dances featured several Yunnan minorities - Jino, Hani, Jinpo, Wa, Dai, and Yi. It was a wonderful program - the best of this type that we have attended on any of our tours!
Stage set
Yang Liping - the Peacock
These are a staple in the bathrooms of the Chinese hotels in the larger cities (Kunming, Beijing). Not sure exactly what the gas mask is for, pollution, I suppose. There was a large assortment of condoms to choose from.
Condoms and gas masks
Kunming was a new experience for us. There is so much traffic we could never navigate anyway but on foot! All of the motorbikes and mopeds are electric, not gas, and you don't hear them coming. Cars and buses seem to drive wherever they want. Sidewalks are crowded and half the women use umbrellas for shade - watch out for your eyes! No one seems to know the word yield. I guess this is the way to survive among seven million people. No one seems to use turn signals in town or when changing lanes. They just inch into traffic and force their way through. Drivers seem to accept this and no one honks or shows road rage. On the highways cars and trucks seem to ignore lane lines and drive down the line to be able to veer right or left.