Moving on to Yunnan

Flying via Kunming

We woke at before 0500 and got ready for our 0700 flight. On the way, I tried getting money from the ATM again after having failed a few times last night.

At the stop for the airport bus, we were accosted by a taxi driver who offered a ride to the airport for the same price on a shared basis. Even though a fellow-passenger was a cop, it didn’t deter the driver from going off the highway using the on-ramp to save on tolls.

It was a quick flight 1h flight on China Southwest Airlines B757 to Kunming where we had a two hour transit to Lijiang. I tried the ATM at Kunming airport during the transit but it wasn’t working this time due to lack of receipts. I was nearly ready to do a cash advance which would incur a fee and a 3% commission. But fortunately I was alerted to another ATM at the international terminal.

Highland old town

It was a quick 50 min flight on the same airline but on a B737-300 to Lijiang. The flight was nearly empty, which was unusual. The flight would have been a little shorter but they seem to have allowed for a roundabout routing on the approach into Lijiang, landing around 1050.

Lijiang has an elevation of 2400 m (7900 ft) and is set close to some stunning mountains.  But what we are looking forward to visiting first is the old town.  We took the CAAC bus from the airport into town. The land along the way seemed more fertile than Tibet, with terraces and buffalo.

In Lijiang we had booked a standard room at the Lijiang Yunyan Hotel located just outside the gate of the old city. They had no standard rooms left and forced us to pay for a suite. We protested and they agreed to give us a suite for the standard price.

But as the room wasn’t ready yet, we went for a walk.  In the old city we found several homestays and hostels. We chose a very atmospheric but simple one called Shuang Shi (Double Rock) Inn. After a quick lunch at Old Town Guesthouse we collected our bags from the Yunyan Hotel and headed to the homestay.

The hotel wasn’t upset at losing our business. I think we had a discounted rate and they were happy to not give us the suite for that price.

We went for a good exploration of Lijiang Old Town. It was probably the only place in all of China that I’ve ever visited that had ambience. Lots of old wooden buildings, clear running streams, plenty of colour banners and quaint shops. And it’s not very far from new town where big mobile phone shops abound.

We tried to stop for a cuppa tea but it was rip-off at NZD10 per pot. We opted for ice-cream instead.

For dinner, we ate at a restaurant called Mishi. The food was OK but expensive. The fishcake seemed to be made from tapioca or other root vegetable. The food was more presentation and style than substance.

With the early wake-up, it was an early night to bed as well.