After asking many people for travel recommendations, signs pointed to Yunnan Province being one not to miss. On Wednesday, we boarded a 50-seat flight from Guiyang to Kunming. Having a few hours to kill, we grabbed a coffee at Starbucks in the gorgeous Kunming airport and found ourselves surrounded by western travelers and enjoying the first cup of real coffee we've come across in what felt like forever.
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| Old Town Lijiang, Yunnan Province |
We took a bus from the Kunming airport to the train station. Gavin, a fellow bus rider was coincidentally on our same train. He showed us the way from the bus stop to the station, a brisk walk in the pouring rain through a construction zone as Kunming is in a period of reconstruction and the subway is in the process of being built. Kunming will be a wonderful city to visit after the work is done. Lizzy and I had decided we would rather skip it since we'd seen our fair share if construction in Guiyang. We boarded our night train at about 10:00pm and one of our roommates was a friendly college student from Xi'an. Hopefully we'll catch up with her for a meal later in our travels. The train was great, comfortable and on time as we arrived in Lijiang just past 7:00am to a woman (from the hostel) holding a sign that said, "Lizzy Douglas!"
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| Water wheel in Old Town Lijiang |
Now that we're outside of Guiyang, we are realizing that we didn't have an easy eight weeks. Our hostel, Hidden Garden Inn, is run by a delightful couple, May from Inner Mongolia and Stefan from Holland. May and Stefan have shown us so much kindness during our time in Lijiang. If we're in the common area, they bring us tea. As we were looking at train tickets, they stepped in to help with booking. They have provided restaurant recommendations for fabulous local spots and took the time to write down dishes for us to try, considerate since we cannot read the menus when they are in Chinese and we all remember the time Lizzy, Melissa & I pointed to the first thing on the menu and ended up with intestines and blood tofu for breakfast!
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| Old Town Lijiang |
Lizzy and I couldn't have asked for more gracious hosts to kick off our vacation.
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| Lijiang Architecture |
And, they even made us a coffee! I am a coffee lover so I was pleased when I learned good coffee existed in Lijiang.
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| Enjoying a coffee at N's Kitchen, Lijiang |
In Yunnan, Arabica beans are grown in the southern region of the province. Arabica beans are higher quality and preferred because they have a wider taste range while Robusta beans are mostly used in instant coffee.
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| Lizzy and Natalie exploring Lijiang |
While in Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Lizzy and I have kept things simple. We've enjoyed slow afternoons wandering around Lijiang's crooked alleys and sipping tea in tea houses while watching the world go by. At night, we hear a variety of live music pouring out of bars and restaurants, it's refreshing beginning our travels in such a vibrant place.
Tomorrow, we will head to the Tiger Leaping Gorge and then on to Shangri-La.
For now, we're enjoying a slower pace, speaking more English and simply easing into our travels.
Natalie
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