Kunming

Kunming was to the final leg of my journey. The 20 hour train ride in the overnight couchette/sleeper was to be the final train leg. I thoroughly enjoy train travel and especially the overnight trips. They are a great way to wind down, enjoying both the countryside at a leisurely pace and also a chance to just sit back and read, eat, play cards and chat without any worries. It's also a great time to catch up on blogs and to also for the next few days and their activities.

Our group arrived in Kunming early on Sunday morning. Kunming is located far into the South of China, very far inland from the Pacific Ocean and not all that far east of the Tibetan Plateau. It seems the further south you travel in China, the more relaxed the pace is. Kunming is another Chinese megacity of 6-7 million people. The air here in Kunming was cleaner, the traffic more peaceful and the pace of life slower. I wouldn't compare it entirely to the West, but it is as close as I've seen it so far in China. Kunming is very ethnically diverse. There are 26 different distinct Asian ethnic groups that reside in the area. It is not far at all from the borders of both Laos and Thailand and has a sub-tropical climate that they call an "eternal spring" both due to the low latitude and also the city's elevation (6,200').



On our final day, our group took had a local driver take us out into the countryside to see the Stone Forest, which was recently named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The "forest" is made up of colorful limestone ride spires that reach up into the sky. Most of the rock spires were of various light colored shades of blue. The spires were a bit surreal and reminded me of fake-painted toy rocks...maybe a creation you mind find in a theme park. The park was crowded, but most of the groups were guided and we quickly broke off to explore the windy and twisting paths among the maze of spires on our own. Once we got off the main trek, it took over an hour to find the path back to the throngs of tourists. In one of the main assembly areas, there were ethnic dances and music being performed by some of the locals dressed in colorful costume.



That night, our group of five got together for a delicious final meal and to say our goodbyes. We had clear, blue skies that evening after an afternoon thunderstorm and it was perhaps the only time on the trip we could see the bright blue sky from the clouds or the smog. Kunming certainly was a pleasant one day stopover.

Ahead of me, I had a grueling day of travel ahead of me. I left the hotel at 5:30a on Sunday, taking a flight from Kunming back to Beijing (over 1000 miles and 2.5 hours). I had to clear Chinese customs and recheck my bag again. The flight back over the northern polar regions was another 13 hours. Which also followed more US customs checks and another security bag rechecking in NYC and then a final leg to Atlanta after a 4+ hour layover in NY. My flight didn't make it back into Atlanta until 11p the same day, all daylight and covering 30 hours from the time I woke up in Kunming. And yet, I still had the four hour drive back to Knoxville.