Yunnan: Lijiang, Dali and Shilin
Door: Feng
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Feng
08 Augustus 2007 | China, Guilin
Finally, I found some time to update the blog. I don't have alot of time so I will start immediately. My last update was about my first day in Lijiang. We didn't do alot the next day. We just walked through the streets, made some photos with great views and got on the bus to Dali in the noon. There are actually two Dali cities. One called Dali old town and one is called new Dali. New Dali also goes by the name of Xiaguan. So this is quite confusing. Once we got near one of the Dali's, I noticed by looking at the road signs that the tickets we bought was to the new Dali. I woke always-sleeping-Jacky up and told him about this. He seemed to be pretty sure that we were heading for the old town. So he told me to STFU and he went back to sleep. I didn't mind to see him admitting to be wrong for the one millionth time. So he did and we took a converter scooter-taxi-thingy 20km up to the same direction we came from. Nice!
At Dali we arranged an hotelroom and sightseeing for the next day at the restaurant were we ate. It seemed that the whole family was in the tourism business. The food was pretty decent and the hotel was new and comfy. So the plans for the next day were promising. We got picked up by the restaurant owner's daughter and her boyfriend. They took us to a cable car place, which would go up to the mountain to some famous cave scene. The cave wasn't that interesting but when we got out, we could see the great view of the famous Erhai lake. This was definately the highlight. We made some nice photos and got back down. We didn't had much time because our bus to Kunming would leave at 4pm. So they brought us back to Dali, where we had an hour left before the bus would depart. Jacky decided to get a foot massage and I decided to check out the town. Actually we checked out the beginning of the city center the night before. This wasn't very enchanting, so we didn't feel the urge to spend alot of time in the city. But when I checked out the rest of the center, it seemed that we might have misjudged the place. It's actually a very nice town with alot of ancient architecture and a very warm atmosphere. I can say that I like it better then Lijiang. Mainly because the streets are wider, so it feels less crowded. I didn't liked the fact that I had to rush through the city. So I guess that I will have to come back some day to take my time. The busride to Kunming took us about 5 hours. Once we got back, it was time to get some rest.
The next day was planned for Shilin. This is the place of the famous Stone Forest. We could arrange the transportation on the same day because this place is just a two hour drive from Kunming. We met some German backpackers on the bus. They were planning to stay in Shilin and so they brought all their luggage. The entrance fee of the stone forest was 140rmb, which is one of the most expensive fees I have ever seen in China. Why does it cost this much? Isn't it supposed to be a natural phenomenon, freely to be seen by everyone? It got pretty clear once we entered. There were roads, gardens and pavements everywhere. It looked like a tiny amusement park of stones. Just this whole commercialized setting made this visit not/less worth the effort. It seemed that the German backpackers agreed with us, because they were on the same bus back.
We had to hurry once we got back coz our plane to Hangzhou would leave within two hours. We picked up the rest of our luggage at the hotel, got some diner and rushed to the airport. Another end and another new beginning.
At Dali we arranged an hotelroom and sightseeing for the next day at the restaurant were we ate. It seemed that the whole family was in the tourism business. The food was pretty decent and the hotel was new and comfy. So the plans for the next day were promising. We got picked up by the restaurant owner's daughter and her boyfriend. They took us to a cable car place, which would go up to the mountain to some famous cave scene. The cave wasn't that interesting but when we got out, we could see the great view of the famous Erhai lake. This was definately the highlight. We made some nice photos and got back down. We didn't had much time because our bus to Kunming would leave at 4pm. So they brought us back to Dali, where we had an hour left before the bus would depart. Jacky decided to get a foot massage and I decided to check out the town. Actually we checked out the beginning of the city center the night before. This wasn't very enchanting, so we didn't feel the urge to spend alot of time in the city. But when I checked out the rest of the center, it seemed that we might have misjudged the place. It's actually a very nice town with alot of ancient architecture and a very warm atmosphere. I can say that I like it better then Lijiang. Mainly because the streets are wider, so it feels less crowded. I didn't liked the fact that I had to rush through the city. So I guess that I will have to come back some day to take my time. The busride to Kunming took us about 5 hours. Once we got back, it was time to get some rest.
The next day was planned for Shilin. This is the place of the famous Stone Forest. We could arrange the transportation on the same day because this place is just a two hour drive from Kunming. We met some German backpackers on the bus. They were planning to stay in Shilin and so they brought all their luggage. The entrance fee of the stone forest was 140rmb, which is one of the most expensive fees I have ever seen in China. Why does it cost this much? Isn't it supposed to be a natural phenomenon, freely to be seen by everyone? It got pretty clear once we entered. There were roads, gardens and pavements everywhere. It looked like a tiny amusement park of stones. Just this whole commercialized setting made this visit not/less worth the effort. It seemed that the German backpackers agreed with us, because they were on the same bus back.
We had to hurry once we got back coz our plane to Hangzhou would leave within two hours. We picked up the rest of our luggage at the hotel, got some diner and rushed to the airport. Another end and another new beginning.
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