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February 19, 2011

Travels in Kunming

by Robin Groen

Our Chinese honeymoon was to be in three parts: Kunming, Lijiang and Chiang Mai (ok, that one’s actually in Thailand).

Kunming was our first stop. It’s the capital of Yunnan province in south-west China with a population of about six million. We stayed in the centre of the city at New Era Hotel which was the best hotel either of us had ever visited. It was also a great base from which to head out into the surrounding mountains and to historical sites.

One of our first visits was to the Dragon Gate, an ancient site which features in Kunming mythology. The only problem was that it was on the side of a mountain. A long way up. Cue several hours of careful clambering and near-misses as other visitors (and their pets) navigated the same path. Some parts of the trek felt very dangerous but the views were worth it. A stop-off afterwards in Da Guan Lou park helped to cool the feet and the nerves.

Another day took us to The Stone Forest, an amazing and huge natural grouping of rocks which look as though they’ve erupted from the earth. Parts of the forest felt prehistoric and untouched by the passage of millenia. I’d never seen anything quite like it … and nor had the hundreds of other tourists. One downside of visiting some of these attractions was the enormous coach parties that would arrive and almost take over. However, we were always able to separate ourselves and enjoy the sights relatively peacefully.

Without a doubt, the highlight of our time in Kunming was our visit to Jiuxiang which houses astonishing caves, supposedly the largest in China. It also has an immense gorge which you can travel by boat and underground twin waterfalls. The caves were illuminated, sometimes in an almost hallucinatory manner. The sheer scale of the place took my breath away … quite literally at some points. After viewing 40-foot stalactites, I learned that the next cave was just a mere 700 steps away (400 down then 300 up!). Monica seems to be part mountain-goat as she was rarely fazed by any ascent or descent, jumping and running while I did my best to keep up.

Next stop: Lijiang!

Kunming city, the Dragon Gate and Da Guan Lou park



The Stone Forest



Jiuxiang

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