Things have been pretty hectic and I finally got around to sort through the photos from the trip. Since I was traveling alone I brought a relatively compact setup consisted of a Pentax K20D, FA 31mm, DA 12-24mm, and DA 18-250mm that all fit inside the trusty Pelican Case.
I flew from Hong Kong to Kunming (昆明)for 12 days of unknown territory.
I visited the Yunnan Multi-cultural village for the 20+ minorities in the region, at first it was really interesting but then soon I realized they used the same props everywhere….
A lake that was apparently very beautiful. Now it is covered by algae from the fertilizer run-off. They have many boats running around filtering out the algae….
Hiking up to the Dragon Gate (é¾é–€) with all of my stuff….very nice once you get past the very crowded and touristy places.
An old man selling bird sounding toys, I bought one for 2 RMB to try at the mountain top!
Breakfast in Dali (大ç†) consist of rice cakes, congee with fried dough, or spicy noodles.
We joined a half-day tour and experienced some bird fishing. They bring back the big fish and get rewarded with little ones they can swallow.
Why is the tour so cheap? Because they keep bringing us to stupid stores to buy rocks, jade, dried tree bark….
Some sort of Dragon Cave….I never understand why they have to light the interior with so many different colors!
The beautiful plains in Dali with the mountain ranges in the back.
I met up with other lone travelers with similar schedules. Very interesting crew but they learned to tolerate my broken Mandarin.
At the 3 Pagoda. The park is really big, takes about 1 1/2 hr to walk all the way to the end.
Many layers of Buddhist temples, each increasing sacred.
The Dali old city during dusk.
We went horse back riding. No training or safety equipment and off we go. Galloping with a pelican case was a bad idea…..
At the markets buying fruits, I guess not many tourist cross their path so they were very excited to be photographed.
We finally arrived in Lijiang CIty (丽江市). Settled in an inn in the middle of the old city, I got to wander around a lot and buy the local snacks!
Part 2 will follow shortly on places like Lijiang, Shangri-La, Meili Snow Mountain. Stay tuned! Now I have to get some sleep, have to catch a flight in 3 hrs.
Comments 4
I don’t even know what to say, Sam. These are unreal. What a gorgeous trip.
Yeah man, the scenery is amazing (Looking forward to Part 2 already!). Such fun times…I think we had one of those bird toys when we were kids eh? I want a pet cormorant too!
Pelican is can both a blessing and a curse, I guess you just can’t have it all.
Great Photos! I actually wanted to go to Yunnan when I went to Asia this spring, so I’m really happy to see some shots from there. Hope you’re having an excellent time!
“Some sort of Dragon Cave….I never understand why they have to light the interior with so many different colors!”
To break your white balance :P