KUNMING (VIA NANNING)
With time in Tibet in mind (at that point) I volunteered myself for a longer than usual trip from Yangshou in order to move on that day and not wait any longer.
This meant a six hour detour via Nanning in ordr to catch my 12 hour train onwards.
The bus transfer via Nanning goes smoothly (although not as expected) and after a few ‘long stands’ about 24 hours after leaving Yangshou I arrive in Kunming, that capital of Yunan province.
I don’t know whether it was my half conscious state of mind or the memories of the ood times in Yangshou, but the big city of Kunming didn’t really grab my attention and just felt like any other busy city.
I decided to be fair to the place and take some time to walk around before making my mind up. Although the Lonely Planet (my right arm in China) mentions a good night life and some sights worth seeing I decide to move on straight to Dali further west still and ever closer to Tibet.
The next available bus gave me half the day to wander around and the huge neon signs, same old department stores lead me to believe that in t
his very rare case I appear have excercised some wisdom and made the right decision. Well, at least that’s one on credit against the hundreds of schoolboy errors made on this trip so far!
After unsuccessfully discovering a 1,00 year old pagoda, I made it to the central park of the city, which although nice fails to make me want to stay past a cursory glance.
One of the (very few!) issues of traveling for a while is that common attractions such as parks, temples, lakes etc. force you unconsciously to make comparisons with the more spectacular examples previously seen. Perhaps I was being a bit unfair on the place, but although I love busy cities, it didn’t really have any character or charm meaning I wouldn’t comparing any future places to examples found in Kunming.
So, on to Dali and another 6 hour bus ride…..
With time in Tibet in mind (at that point) I volunteered myself for a longer than usual trip from Yangshou in order to move on that day and not wait any longer.
This meant a six hour detour via Nanning in ordr to catch my 12 hour train onwards.
The bus transfer via Nanning goes smoothly (although not as expected) and after a few ‘long stands’ about 24 hours after leaving Yangshou I arrive in Kunming, that capital of Yunan province.
I don’t know whether it was my half conscious state of mind or the memories of the ood times in Yangshou, but the big city of Kunming didn’t really grab my attention and just felt like any other busy city.
I decided to be fair to the place and take some time to walk around before making my mind up. Although the Lonely Planet (my right arm in China) mentions a good night life and some sights worth seeing I decide to move on straight to Dali further west still and ever closer to Tibet.
The next available bus gave me half the day to wander around and the huge neon signs, same old department stores lead me to believe that in t
his very rare case I appear have excercised some wisdom and made the right decision. Well, at least that’s one on credit against the hundreds of schoolboy errors made on this trip so far!
After unsuccessfully discovering a 1,00 year old pagoda, I made it to the central park of the city, which although nice fails to make me want to stay past a cursory glance.
One of the (very few!) issues of traveling for a while is that common attractions such as parks, temples, lakes etc. force you unconsciously to make comparisons with the more spectacular examples previously seen. Perhaps I was being a bit unfair on the place, but although I love busy cities, it didn’t really have any character or charm meaning I wouldn’t comparing any future places to examples found in Kunming.
So, on to Dali and another 6 hour bus ride…..
posted by aboutabwoy at 3:25 AM
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