Above: At the markets.
Kim’s mother rang us at the hotel this morning. She’s always interested and excited on our behalf when it comes to our travels. She’s always giving me newspaper clippings which she had collected from a long time ago, about interesting destinations. So perhaps she is living vicariously through us.
I wanted to get some pau for breakfast to supplement the muesli which I had sitting I bed. It turned out to be a longer walk that I had bargained for. In the end I did end up with a mix of savoury meat ones and some sweet ones (red bean, coconut).
It was a full day of shopping at the Flower and Bird market and later at some shops too. We ended up with DVDs, trousers etc.
We took lunch at a Muslim restaurant. No knowing what to order, we went for some fairly typically Chinese stuff. What a pity, we saw some really good unfamiliar stuff go past afterwards. Outside, I bought some Xinjiang-style muesli/nut bar from a Muslim man from his tricycle. It was cut off a large slab on the deck of his vehicle.
Xinjiang-style muesli/nut bar cut off a large slab.
Kunming’s main tourist attraction is the Stone Forest. We had lost interest in sightseeing. And recent reports from friends say that domestic tourism has been on the rise and groups get led through with loudhailers and it’s a crowded and awful experience.
I had a haircut at the hotel in the afternoon. I had booked for tomorrow but they rang to say they were free. They had brought the barber in specially for me, for the 20 min job for which I had paid NZD2.50. The barber would have got even less after the hotel’s margin.
We went for a wander, internet and then a late dinner. In Kunming there are many modern fashion stores from Hong Kong such as Giordano and Bossini. Staff stand outside the shop on the sidewalk to clap and welcome passers-by.