Swizzy's go East!: Kunming: Easy start to our backpacker tour!

First stop on our backpacker tour was Kunming. Easiest way to get here from Shanghai is to fly, it takes about 3.5h.

Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province and consists of an old, previously walled city, a modern commercial district, residential and university areas. We had about 3.5 days to explore Kunming and its treasures.

First impression of Kunming...hmmm...... / Erster Eindruck von Kunming...hmmm.....

We stayed at the 'Home-inn' Hotel, wich is a chain of cheap Hotels all over China. The standards of the room is quite good and the rooms offer everything necessary (e.g. free water, free wi-fi, air-con) but no frills. Only downside for non-Chinese speakers, the staff at the reception doesn't speak a lot of english.

If you travel China - look out for the Home Inn Hotels! / Falls Du in China reisen gehst, dann halt die Augen nach 'Home Inn Hotels' offen

The rooms are neat and tidy / Die Zimmer sind sauber und aufgeräumt

On day one, we went walking around the central Kunming area. There was some sort of food festival going on on that day - very interesting. But other than that, we felt like a lazy start to our backpacker campaign and went back to the Hotel early-ish to watch some Desperate Housewives.hehe.... Therefore, not too many pictures from that day!

Using the local transports / Wir benutzten die öffentlichen Verkehrsmittel (Busticket: 1RMB = 20Rp.)

Don't exactly remember where we went for lunch or what we had...but as usual in China: lots of Chilli and Garlic! / Weiss nicht mehr genau wo wir essen gingen oder was wir hatten...aber wie üblich in China: Viel Chilli und Knoblauch!

The local food festival / Das lokale Essens-Festival

Pasci likes Lonely Planet! / Pasci mag den Lonely Planet Reiseführer!

Some more local delights! / Noch mehr lokale Köstlichkeiten!

The market street was very crowded...obviously a must go to for the locals! / Die Marktstrasse war sehr voll...offensichtlich ein muss für die lokalen hierhin zu gehen!

Traditional meets modern in Kunming / Traditionell trifft Moderne in Kunming

Wide variety of teas / Grosse Vielfalt an Tees

Some pretty old buildings in Kunming / Einige sehr alte Gebäude in Kunming

Snapshot during the coffee break / Momentaufnahme während der Kaffee-Pause

Mishell is learning how to play 'Jassen' (traditional Swiss card game) / Mishell lernt zu Jassen

Dunno why Mishell wanted to take this pic - study on dressing behaviour of Chinese teenage girls / Weiss nicht warum Mishell dieses Foto gemacht hat - Studie über das Ankleideverhalten von Chinesischen Jugendlichen

Oh...wow....another Pagoda - how exciting :) / Oh...wow....noch eine Pagoda - wie aufregend :)

The next day we only managed to get up at around 11ish. Our Brunch/Lunch was big variety of local dishes. Both of us were very full, so we decided that we need some exercise and walking around.

Therefore we went to the famous Kunming Green Lake Park, which is a beautifully situated park and is predominately a lake surrounded by greenery. It has a large and elaborate network of waterways and winding paths, with broad, lotus-covered pools and overhanging willows.

Before: Hungry & Excited about all the food - 'bring it on!' / Vorher: Hungrig & aufgeregt über das viele Essen - 'bring noch mehr!'

After: Exhausted & scared!!?! / Nachher: Erschöpft & beängstigt!!?!

As with all the parks we have seen in China so far, there are lots of activities going on there. Dancing, singing, bands playing and so on. It is very entertaining to just walk around and watch some of the performances!

We're wondering - where are all the retired people in Switzerland hiding? / Wir wundern uns - wo versteckend sich alle Pensionierten in der Schweiz?

Very nice landscape in the Green Lake Park Kunming / Sehr schöne Landschaft im Grün-See Park Kunming

This 'big-band' drew a lot of attention / Diese grosse Band hatte viel Aufmerksamkeit

They were singing a chinese opera....very inspireing! / Sie sangen eine Chinesische Oper...sehr inspirierend!

Pretty woman...she was perfoming some dance - very beautiful! / Schöne Frau...sie hatte einen Tanz aufgeführt - sehr hübsch!

Almost like Switzerland.... / Fast wie in der Schweiz....

After a long afternoon in the park we went to try another local speciality: Over-the-bridge nooldes which is a chicken soup with rice noodles under a very thin layer of oil where you add a lot of vegetables and thinly sliced meat.

The legend behind these noodles involves a student studying for the imperial exam (which was given once per year). He went to study on an island a short ways away from his wife and village. Every day his wife would bring him food, but because of the distance (she had to cross a bridge) the food would get cold. The student's wife figured out that by layering the broth with oil, she could keep the food hot. It was very yummy :)

Then it was time to go back to the Hotel and watch some more Grey's Anatomy (Season 6).

All the ingredients for the Over the bridge noodles! / Alle Zutaten für die 'Über die Brücke Nudlen'

Even rose petals / Sogar Rosenblüten Blätter

Whoops...and everything goes into the boiling broth / Whooops...und alles geht in die kochende Brühe

Et voilà - Bon appétite!

Pasci - skillful with his chopsitcks! / Pasci - gewandt mit den Stäbchen!

Another highlight of Kunming was on the schedule for the next day, where we planned to go to the Kunming Western Hills. In the mountains some brave fellows carved lots of Buddhist and Taoist Temples and Chambers into the mountain. Apparently it took 72 years to build these grottoes during the Qing Dynasty.

One of the main sights up in the mountains is the so called 'Dragon Gate', which consists of 3 a stone archway, a platform, a stone room and a number of sculptures, all carved out of the same rock. Very impressive and an amazing view of Kunming!

The tickets that opens the doors for us to the Western Hills of Kunming / Das Ticket dass uns die Türe zu den Westlichen Hügeln von Kunming eröffnet

Going up by cable car.... / Hinauf auf den Hügel mit dem Sesseli-Lift....

Austrian technology (chair lift) in China / Österreichische Technologie (Sesseli-Lift) in China

WOW - very steep! / WOW - sehr steil!

The Unternährer's.... / Die Unternährer's...

Mishell rubbing the knot for good fortune / Mishell reibt die Noppe für gutes Glück

Colony of 'gay-lions' / Kolonie des 'Schwulen-Löwens'

How on earth did they do this - all hand carved in the stone! Amazing! / Wie auf aller Welt haben die das gemacht - alles von Hand in den Stein gehauen! Erstaunlich!

View on Kunming and the West lakes / Sicht auf Kunming und die West-Seen

Pasci asking for the blessing of the gods / Pasci bittet um den Segen der Götter

hmmm...a lot to see up here! / hmmm...einiges zu sehen hier oben!

Well, unfortunatelly Pasci had a pressing need for a toilet up in the mountains. Rushing to the toilet he found, that there were only old school squat toilets available. Hmm...o.k. no time to hesitate since business was pushing :)

Standing over the toilet, trying to aim properly and looking down to adjust his bottom over the squat hole, his beloved Ray Ban (350CHF) sunglasses dropped out of his shirt, into the toilet bowl and down the hole! :( OOOpppps....

Pasci, brave as he is, tryed to squeeze his hand into the hole (*Eeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwww*) and feel his sunglasses, but his hand was too big to fit properly into the hole! So, the sunglasses were gone.... At least he took the last dump on them! Hehe...OOOoooops!

The roofs of the temples were beautifully decorated / Die Dächer der Tempel waren schön dekoriert

The sunglasses were gone..... *booohoooohoooooo* / Die Sonnenbrille war weg.....*booohooohooooo*

On the way down of the mountain, and with Pasci still recovering from the shock of the loss, we decided to go for western food tonight! We went to a cool Western Restaurant/Coffee place in the heart of the old town and ate some Spaghetti. After that we went to the cinema to watch Iron Man 2 - cool show!

Comfy food for Pasci / Wohlfühl-Essen für Pasci