Pics from Kunming, Yuanyang and Dali

Hello, here's some pics as promised. The first one is of the view from our hostel in Kunming. It looks out over the (unfortunately named) "Golden Arches" in the city centre. The view was mesmerising, especially at sunset with a beer. It's a pity about the pollution, but after the rain it seemed to dissipate a bit.



Here's us at the Shi Lin, the Stone Forest near Kunming. It's a UNESCO Heritage site, so it was a pleasure to visit since it was clean and had toilets and everything. It was a bit of a strange experience to have to share a National Park with so many thousands of other tourists, but we found our own few minutes of peace and quiet by waiting in the one spot for for the gap between tour groups.



Below is a spectacular view of the rice terraces in Yuanyang, to the south-east of Kunming. They were difficult to reach, and there wasn't much else in the town but rice terraces, but it was certainly worth it. The drizzle was almost constant during our stay, but I think these terraces could be amazing and almost other-worldly during a good sunset


This is one of the towers along the old city walls in Dali. We (stupidly) paid Y$2 to go up there and found out that it wasn't much more than a tacky tea-house nowadays, but at least you could get an idea of the views they would have gazed at all those centuries ago. Note the hordes of Chinese tourists in the foreground.


And finally, a photo just for fun... I snapped these two reclining in the back of a truck while on a bus. How you could possibly relax as a passenger on Chinese roads is beyond me, but I suppose these guys were locals.



More pics to come - I have found a reasonably quick internet connection here in Luang Prabang, but it's on a mac so I'm struggling with a few things. xox