Been 1 month + since I blogged. Been really busy and tired these days because of work. But hey! Thank goodness there's something called CNY holidays!!! Every year during CNY, my family will travel and this year, we went to China, Yun Nan for our holidays. Finally took a break from work! :D
Gonna share some photos I took in Yun Nan now. Be prepared for more photos than words below xD
Day 1
We followed ASA tour during this trip. Took Silkair flight. ✈
Reached KunMing international airport at abt 6+pm and had dinner at a restaurant near our hotel -- Longway hotel. So basically, first day has like no events on the itinerary, just dinner. Kinda wasted hahaha.
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| When we arrived, the sun was alrdy setting |
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| Dinner |
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| Lohei with the tour lol |
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| Longway Hotel |
Day 2
Headed for 轿子雪山. That snow mountain has an altitude of 4223m. To be honest, it really wasn't easy to conquer the mountain. We went up to only 3000+m but alrdy, I could feel the breathlessness. The tour guide asked if we wanted to continue going up but I was so reluctant because I wasn't just breathless but also hungry. LOL.
The breathlessness was actually due to the lower oxygen levels higher up the mountain. The mountain guides also sold oxygen tanks to those who really cnt take it lol.
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| Highest and lowest temperature for that day |
We first took their cable car up the mountain, followed by their "recycled bus" which does not have any exhaust pipe fixed to the bus. After that, we continued hiking up the mountain, eventually reaching the 3533m mark.
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| The blue sky is so beautiful!!! |
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| The corn tasted super good! Fresh from their soil. Very sweet. Pardon me for my face hahaha |
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| How the locals sell their produce |
The food was pretty great here too!!
After checking in to the kampong's motel, we headed to 东川红土地 to catch the sunset and the beautiful scenery. I swear the view was magnificent. Although the backdrop alrdy looks super good in pictures, I'm pretty sure it was 100x beautiful-er in real life and I'm not even trying to exaggerate here!!!
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| Sunsetting view |
The different coloured ground of soil and grass makes the whole view so beautiful. It was amazing. To top it off, the sky was pretty blue as well!! There was totally no edits made on these pictures.
Day 3
We woke up at 6.30am to catch the sunrise at another area of 东川红土地, AKA 七彩坡. In order to catch the sunrise, we even skipped breakfast first. Snap pictures, then go back for breakfast. The pictures below show how the sun plays a major role in changing the kind of colours you see of the soil. It was very very beautiful. All pictures below are unedited as well. The sun kinda made those pictures look very tumblr-ish. A very unforgettable experience indeed. :)
Simple yet delicious
After breakfast, we went to another observatory platform to observe the scenery from another view. This observatory platform is called the 落霞沟.
Then we headed for another long bus ride to TanDian in Kunming for lunch.
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| Bought QQ星 drink at a nearby convenient store near our lunch venue! cui face, pls ignore it hahah |
After lunch, was our first 过路站. 过路站 is a shopping destination that is compulsory for all tourists as long as you are on a tour. I honestly don't like it but since we are on a tour I had no choice but to go also. TSK. It was tea testing lol.
Had dinner afterwards and then we stayed at the same hotel once again, Longway hotel. Since our hotel was located near to a night market, we shopped at the night market that night right after dinner. Not much shops were open that day as it was 初二 and many were still having their CNY holidays.
Day 4
First destination after breakfast: 九乡. That morning was crazy. We had to wake up at 5.30am and get ready by 7am in order to avoid jam because Chinese citizens enjoy free road trips and entrances to destinations during their CNY holidays until 初八.
Although we managed to avoid jam en route to 九乡, it was already filled with Chinese citizens when we reached the place.
九乡 was actually a popular destination to many tourists, regardless of domestic or international tourists, because it was actually the place where Jackie Chan filmed 2 of his movies -- 神话 & 大兵小将.
We first took the boat and have an outdoor view of the natural mountains that were formed during an earlier quake that caused the formation of the lake between the mountains on 2 sides.
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| This lake was formed as a result of the quake |
We then entered the cave. It was so crowded and the walking distance was pretty long. I was actually quite sian already because it was so crowded that you don't even have to walk and you'd actually still be moving. And it was very sian because every photo you take, you wouldn't fail to capture random humans at the backdrop...
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| Water terraces |
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| Closer view of the stacked terraces that are filled with water |
Actually I think this is a beautiful cave as all the rocks are natural and non of them are man-made. The only man-made parts were the lightings and the stairway for humans to walk. This destination would have been made better if we were to avoid peak period like CNY.
-LUNCH-
Next destination: 石林
Took their battery car to the area where the natural stones were located. 石林 is also known as big maze because the park is really big, of about 40 acres. It is also approved by UNESCO as one of the world's Geological Park.
All the stone that you see at the backdrop are not man-made. Approximately 270 million years ago - during the carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era - the region was a vast expanse of sea. Over time, the movements of the lithosphere gradually caused a retreat of the waters and the rise of the limestone landscape. Due to constant erosion by the elements, the area finally developed into the present-day appearance.
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| Naturally occurring stone that looks like a bird standing on top |
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| It was said that this was an eagle but honestly I just can't see it LOL |
We headed for 罗平 九龙瀑布. It was yet another beautiful natural waterfall.
Bought the flower head crown from the roadside stall there. It was actually pretty affordable, only @ RMB 10, which is about 2 bucks SGD! They actually sell the flower head crown made of real flowers too @ RMB 5 only but I didn't wanted to buy the one made of real flower because I'm pretty sure that will only last for a day and after that all the flowers will start to wilt~ lol.
After lunch, we headed for 油菜花园. This time, we weren't that lucky because there was a super long jam on the way to the garden. When we reached the place, the driver couldn't even find a parking lot to allow us to alight and take pictures. In the end, the driver had to resort to dropping us at the side of the jammed roadway to allow us to take pictures while he took care of the vehicle, carrying the risk of him getting 3 demerit points for doing so. Although not everyone was keen to alight at the roadside to cross opposite to take pictures, my mum and I did because it will be a pity if we missed the beautiful sight!!
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| Entrance to the garden |
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| SO MAJESTIC! THE WHOLE AREA IS YELLOW AND GREEN. That's basically all that you can see! :) |
📷: Mom
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| Our dinner that night @ 罗平 |
Day 6
Went to 七彩云南 that morning. Nothing much there tbh, at least not something I would buy for my age. Tour guide brought the group to the silver shop and some herbal shop. I wasn't at all interested so I had their Mc Donald's Taro Pie!! It was soooo good!! RMB 11 for 2 Taro Pie. How I wish Singapore has Taro Pie too. Apple pie is getting boring already.
Took some photos there for memories although I bought nothing there except for that Taro pie hahaha.
Had 过桥米线 for lunch that afternoon. After that, we headed for 官渡镇 @ KunMing which is a site rich in their history.
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| Can you see the mosque? |
According to the tour guide, this area was actually dominated by the Chinese Muslims in the earlier days. As the government needed the area for further development later on, the Muslims staying there had to be "chased off". However, the Muslims were unwilling to move. As a result, the government had to trade their terms with the Muslims by giving them each a Condo to stay in.
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| The cotton candy is soooo fluffy! |
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| Spot the bird and the bicycle |
Then we past by another shop, where the man made Doraemon using real flour! It looks very real and cute!
I'm sorry if this is disturbing but this picture depicts how 阿昌族 give thanks during their religious festival.
Day 8
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| Doraemon sculpture |
Our tour guide also bought us the famous 眼镜粑粑 which is China's version of Singapore's 油煎粿. It was circular in shape and I think it tasted better than the Singapore's 油煎粿 because the crust was thinner and crunchier.
Had a special dinner that night. We had our own personal steamboat pot. Although mostly vegetables on the table, the soup is really nice!! As I'm typing this now, I'm getting really hungry LOL.
Had a walk at the night market nearby once again.
Day 7
That morning, we went to 少数民族村. It is basically an attraction that shows ethnic minorities in China. Some common ones that we managed to watch them perform/ visit their religious site were 阿昌族, 景颇族, 回族 & 藏族.
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| That area was also filled with seagulls |
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| Our guide giving detailed explanation |
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| House of the 阿昌族 |
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| Place where the different races performed |
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| Tibetan ethnic group is made up of majority Buddhist. The tour guide introduced to us Sky Burial in Tibet. I was interested so I went to youtube on Sky Burial video but kinda regretted afterwards because the part where the 天章师 had to chop the corpse into 108 pieces before letting the vultures eat the corpse was kinda scary x: |
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| There was an ethnic group made up of majority Catholics but I couldn't remember the name of the ethnic group x: |
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| Muslims in China |
That noon, we had lunch and then, headed off to 西山.
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| Can you see the colour differences between the 2 lakes??? |
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| It is believed that touching the "ball" at the top and passing the 龙门 will bring the people good luck. It was really crowded there |
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| Can see the whole island of KunMing. So amazing! |
Day 8
Just in a blink of an eye, it was already day 8, which is our last day of the whole travel. There was nothing much planned for day 8 except some shopping destinations -- Jade and Silk. Not very interesting but no choice, have to go. HAHA
I wouldn't blog much about day 8 but I think this trip was really not bad. Except for the toilets that were mostly smelly and had no doors. China really has very beautiful sceneries and I wouldn't mind going 张家界 next because I know they have very beautiful lakes and mountains!!!
Thank you for taking your time to read through my blog posts and I hope you had a great CNY holidays too!!!
Photo credits: Mostly Dad and Jie, except the 油菜花 pictures that were taken by my mother.
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