December 2015 – three pairs of pants

31 December 201526 January 2018

Day 108 (Thu 31 Dec): Guilin to Yangshuo

I like the Chinese. Not only are they generally kind and friendly, they keep telling me I’m pretty. I’m self-aware enough to know roughly where I sit on the ugly-beautiful continuum, so it’s somewhat baffling and surprising, but I’ll live with it. Maybe China has different criteria (i.e. a western look).

Airport-like security at bus stations is fairly pointless: I threw my backpacks into the machine but kept my bumbag on me; and one time, those who were presumably supposed to be monitoring said machine were playing cards. It’s just not scaleable. If London did things the same as here, nobody would ever get anywhere. It dawned on me that, at some point, TfL may tighten security so I should appreciate the ease with which I can move around now.

Waiting for the bus, I spotted a street snack that I hadn’t seen before:

I’m not really a pizza girl, but these were simple, crispy and tasty:

Bad driver. Really bad driver – he went too fast, made bad judgements and, most significantly, took risks that were simply unnecessary. For instance, stuck behind a slow construction lorry (of which there are lots due to the huge amount of building going on), he pulled into the centre of the road to start overtaking. It was clear that there was no way he’d get past before the oncoming bus reached us. But no matter, he was going to try. He pulled out and beeped his horn aggressively. The other bus gave a long, hard blast on the horn and then, two-thirds of the way into the manoeuvre, our driver finally acknowledged he wasn’t going to make it and retreated back behind the lorry. Oh, and the whole thing took place on a bend. Bad, bad driver. Sam’s artistic score: 2; Rudy’s technical score (remember he’s a professional driver): 1 (only because he didn’t actually crash, but it’s just a matter of time).

Tried to distract ourselves from the imminent danger by looking at the beautiful terrain:

Finally, we arrived. To hordes of women trying to sell tours:

Markets are nearly always interesting and Yangshuo’s was no exception with cockerels:

Ducks:

Hard-working employees (or maybe he was the boss):

And, unfortunately, unscrupulous traders. Don’t try to overcharge us for oranges – we know the going rate and will take all our business elsewhere if you try to scam us.

Walked through the town:

Back to the restaurant where Rudy had left his backpack (not a light traveller like me – perhaps I can teach him a thing or two about this travelling lark), where the kind lady owner sorted a taxi to our hotel at a decent price for us. Thank you 🙂

Into the limestone karsts we drove (not literally, obviously), past monkeys who had been dressed up and were being used for tourist photos – the Chinese seem to like and approve of this; it breaks my heart to see the animals degraded so.

And on our evening walk round this little village we met Ma Ma Moon, the matriarch of Moon Hill and its closest village. Speaking ten languages (including Flemish, which Rudy was most pleased, and surprised, about), she’s grown up in these parts. With a fire in her eyes, she was engaging, enthusiastic and entertaining. And over seventy years’ old.

Back at the hotel, we finally sampled a local delicacy: fish in beer (served with home-grown veg and endless supplies of rice):

Another interesting day, but not that exciting. Time in SE Asia didn’t go for long without interesting, exciting or amazing things happening. But China’s different. It’s organised and touristy, although those tourists are now Chinese rather than western. The experience is simply being in the country and observing the melting pot of western and Asian cultures. Without speaking the language, it’s difficult to get under the surface, to find out what the Chinese think of China, how they feel about their lives, their hopes and fears. Next time. Next time I’ll learn some of the language. Watch this space 🙂

30 December 201526 January 2018

Day 107 (Wed 30 Dec): Kaili to Guilin

China is building. Lots. And fast. Cranes and rubble are everywhere – big cities, small towns, ethnic villages. It’s a country on the rise, quite literally with all the buildings changing the skyline (but Chinese investments ended the year down, so something else is obviously going on that I can’t see).
Nine-and-a-half-hour bus journey from Kaili to Guilin through more limestone karsts that look almost handmade:

Here they don’t move mountains, but just break them down if they get in the way of the relentless building programme. Literally break them down.

I’m not sure whether you can see it on this pic, but the trees were in lines again – Buddha was obviously a very neat chap:

Boarded the bus to see these little ‘uns in our seats – I told you Asians board a bus and immediately start eating:

As predicted, they started puking not long after. Is this some kind of ancient ritual, handed down from generation to generation? With the amount of food their father had with him, it would appear so.

Barking from below gave away the dogs in the hold, but they had better prospects than the hounds on this passing lorry (was that subtle enough?):

Arriving in Guilin, we were accosted by the usual groupies, found a hotel and were led to our room. The key didn’t work. This isn’t unusual- we seem to jinx these electronic keys. Again and again he tried the door, each time being greeted with the universal noise for “I’m in charge, and there’s no way I’m letting you in”. He paused. The door opened from the inside and a middle-aged man was standing there. He smelled strongly of alcohol. A lady arrived and everyone chattered away in Chinese. Eventually we were taken to a different room, complete with optional extras of ladies’ and men’s’ underwear, a copious supply of condoms and the necessary emergency breathing apparatus. The whole experience was very surreal.

29 December 201526 January 2018

Day 106 (Tue 29 Dec): Kaili (Xijiang minority village)

I was ready for it this time. Ready for the tourist circus with separate tickets, buses and golf buggies, and souvenir shops. Xijiang is thought to be the largest Miao village, famous for its embroidery and silver ornaments (they believe silver can dispel evil spirits).

Evidence of the tourist dollars flowing in included a brand new basketball court, paved walkways and lots and lots of construction.

As expected, souvenir stalls lined the streets, with some very attractive wares:

However, some houses away from the street did look as though they’d been authentic at some point:

And here’s an authentic Miao village traffic jam:

It was impossible to know what was authentic, what was tourist-dollar-fuelled authentic, and what was completely manufactured.

Snacks were abundant, including a globule of something made from smashed rice:

Saliva wasn’t able to break it down, so Buddha knows what happened when, after several months of chewing, it hit my stomach. I don’t think I want to know, actually.

Only Chinese explanations in the museum, but it had a display of agricultural tools that was interesting due to their similarity with English manual tools.

And then another bus to the viewpoint which, despite the grey weather, afforded great views across the “village” (which, as you can see, seems to have expanded to almost “city” proportions):

An attempt to get off the beaten track didn’t quite work, but revealed interesting paths up through the houses on the hillside:

Animal welfare is still a major issue here: these donkeys were being loaded up with as many tiles as their carriers could take with little regard for their well-being:

An interesting little instrument (this one was kind of in tune – you’re welcome to play it when you next come round):

In a refreshing break from the norm, she charged me 10% below the advertised price (and an advertised price is a refreshing change in its own right) and then, as an afterthought, threw in a free book of tunes, too. Fanku!

Then back through the tourist turnstiles (authentic Miao turnstiles obviously):

To an overcharged noodle soup (he giveth and he taketh away):

Back in Kaili we wanted to get to the train station to check times and prices, but how to communicate our destination to the taxi driver at the front of the queue? I showed him an old train ticket (which he, and everyone else we tried, kept trying to take off me like it held the meaning of life) and Rudy even drew him a train. Five minutes later he twigged and, instead of just using the meter (hooray for the meter), he showed two fingers (palm down, to be fair): 20 yuan. It had cost 8 to do the opposite journey last night. Why do they have to try it on all the time? We laughed and walked off. Several other drivers couldn’t, or didn’t want to, understand our destination. Further down the queue, a driver got it straight away and simply assumed we’d use the meter (hooray)… but he was third in line and sent us back to the first driver. Oh for Buddha’s sake. We gave up and wandered further up the street… when one of the motorbike drivers who’d watched the whole shenanigans tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the bus stop over the road. The number one bus went to the train station. Two yuan each. What a gem – thanks, mate:)

Turned out the train would take 27 hours (bus was 8 hours) as we had to double back and wait for a connection. Bus it would be then.

28 December 201526 January 2018

Week 15: Travellers’ tales

Chinese food

Chinese food is nothing like what you get in Chinese restaurants/takeaways at home – it’s much spicier, uses less meat that’s cut into small pieces, sometimes involves cheese and fried egg (which I’ve never seen in England) and is much, much less gloopy (this is A Good Thing). Fried rice is the only dish that is similar. When I return, I’m going to China Town in London again – to see it through fresh, more experienced, eyes 🙂

Toilets

We need to talk about toilets. Sorry, but if I have to go through this, you’re coming with me 😉

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I never thought that the toilets in China would be worse than those in the poorer SE Asian countries I’d already visited. And it’s not just the facilities, but the social norms that have really challenged me. Their lack of privacy is astonishing and disconcerting (although does support what one of my piano teachers had said about never returning to live in China because of the lack of personal space – everyone expects to know everything about their neighbours’ lives). It brings new meaning to the phrase “public conveniences”:

But worse than this is the lack of hygiene. As you can see in the first photo, there’s a channel that runs along/around the room over which people squat. Every minute or so, a jet of what I assume is disinfectant is squirted along the channel. But the, er, “heavier stuff” doesn’t always “go with the flow”, so to speak. So you’re usually presented with the remnants of someone else’s breakfast. Euwwww! I’m not that squeamish but this is gross. And it’s not just the communal loos, either – this is what I encountered when I popped to the loo on the waterfalls tour:

28 December 201526 January 2018

Day 105 (Mon 28 Dec): Anshun to Kaili

Making the most of our Hilton experience and still not feeling 100%, we had a lazy morning in our room and an eleven-course buffet breakfast:

At the train station, a young lady pushed in front of me as I entered the turnstile lane… And then realised she’d gone down the wrong side. I backed out and went the right way so her rudeness backfired. We both saw the funny side of it 🙂

Buying tickets for the 2pm train, the clerk pointed to some writing in red on his screen, looked mildly concerned and then offered me the 1646. When I confirmed I wanted the earlier train, he again pointed at the red writing. Problem was, it was all Chinese to me. Context gave away nothing, either. Turns out it was unreserved seating and it was busy. But, seeing our backpacks and western faces, once again the Chinese came into their own, making room for us to get ourselves comfortable:

It was just like being on the train home from London 😉 Except that smoking was allowed. Albeit only between the carriages. But it was still extremely unpleasant, especially for someone with an allergy. But apart from that, it was fine and after a main stop an hour or so into our journey, loads of people got off the train so we had a comfy seat the rest of the way. The carriages themselves were comfortable, large and clean:

Three times the (kind and friendly) guard cleaned the floor during our journey. That’s three times more than I’ve seen the floors of South West Trains being cleaned in the years that I’ve been using them. England, please take note.

Small hillocks defined the terrain:

In one town we passed, those in the way had been removed, leaving a chalk-coloured mound.

Train travel is quick and efficient – China has the money to go through mountains and over valleys:

Arriving in Kaili we went in search of a hotel. All full. Out came the Lonely Planet and, two taxi drivers later, we were stood outside their recommended hotel. It was shut. Pants. We wandered again. Full. Full. I began to wonder if this was the tourist effect in reverse: language difficulties (nobody speaks English here) make us too much hassle. Eventually we found somewhere. Small, damp and smelly, but dry. To bed early, tired and looking forward to our trip tomorrow (and, hopefully, a nicer hotel!).

27 December 201526 January 2018

Day 104 (Sun 27 Dec): Anshun (round town)

Lazy morning as a sore throat was rearing its ugly thorns, the highlight of which was during Amanpour’s interview with Samantha Cristoforetti, the woman who’s just broken the record for the longest stay in space by a female (a very inspirational woman by all accounts): Amanpour was asking her about life in space “millions of miles away”; Samantha smiled a little and gently pointed out that she was about 400km from the earth’s surface, before then answering the question!

Then off into the city for an afternoon walk.

Anshun’s Confucian temple was very quiet and the soft, piped music gave it a gently calming, rather than empty, atmosphere:

Wandering through the backstreets we were taken under the wing of a lady walking in the same direction who showed us to the market:

Sausages:

Dumplings:

Weighing our lemons, with the universal signal for “ten”, which I’m pretty sure was a special tourist inflated price (unusual round here):

As we entered a plaza, we were amicably accosted by a young lad who’d just sat an English exam and was keen to talk and share photos:

I was slightly surprised at some of the views he expressed (who’d taught him to “dislike the Japanese because they killed many Chinese in WWII”? We gently explained that it was a long time ago, and we should be friends now), but he was very talkative and engaged (although we politely declined his request for our contact details).

Too poorly to go on the bouncy castle (pants 🙁 ), we watched a young lad kick off his gambling addiction (very surprised at the toy slot machines and suddenly became aware that I’d never seen anything like this in England, and probably for good reason):

And another jacket slogan – I don’t think the old man wearing it understood what it meant:

Then back through the bustling market:

With tempting wares:

And a stark juxtaposition of contrasts:

And Rudy sharing his happiness with the locals (we were the centre of attention as we made our way through the market and pretending I’m invisible (I wish) just makes me seem rude, so I’m trying to act the part, taking lessons from Rudy):

An impressive chili haul:

And lots of street-side butchers that took me back to my childhood:

They’re making duvets, on the street:

Then back to our hotel on the illuminated (they like their coloured lights do the Chinese) lake:

Where Rudy discovered the dressing gowns. Although he struck me as the dressing-gown type, apparently it was the first time he’d worn one, and enjoyed playing to his reflection in the TV. Several poses later, he was satisfied. It was sometime before I could stop laughing.

26 December 201526 January 2018

Day 103 (Sat 26 Dec): Anshun (Huangguoshu Waterfall)

Rudy was lapping up the attention. “Anyone else want a photo with me?” he asked, causing a small frenzy of excitement amongst the assembled crowd of smartphones. People were queuing up to have their picture taken with him:I was slightly out of the way, doubled up in laughter at the way he was enjoying playing the crowd. When everyone had had their turn, he pointed to me, “Anyone want a photo with her?” Another burst of excitement and two old ladies push past the crowd and grab an arm each. Problem was, I couldn’t stand up because I was laughing so much:

I still can’t get my head round why someone would want their photo taken with me.

Eventually, photo opportunities exhausted, the small crowd dispersed. Rudy had a big grin on his face: “I could get used to this.”

“I couldn’t.”

It started at Tianxingqiao Scenic Zone, our first stop, with two Chinese students who’d kindly pointed us in the right direction amidst the unintelligible place that the bus had dropped us. When others saw them having their picture taken with us, they wanted in on the act. It took us ten minutes to get through the entrance barriers.

After our Stone Forest experience, we were better prepared – for lots of separate tickets, golf buggies, thwarted expectations, formal walkways. And crowds.

It was beautiful but “staged”, although it did mean that we were able to see parts other beers can’t reach:

It was done sympathetically, but totally over-engineered. And over-thought. For instance, the blurb here explained we were looking at “a fairy landing, showering and dressing”:

What do you mean “it looks like a tree?” Look again. Yes, ok, still looks like a tree.

And the language was very flowery:

I wondered if this was a cultural thing, helped along by the pictorial (and very beautiful) written language.

As ever, English translations were always welcome, occasionally amusing:

… And whilst sometimes something was lost in translation, I thought this one gained something in translating:

I duly resisted the urge to frolick.

Sometimes it was difficult to know what was natural and what was man-made:

And then we saw the stone waterfall deeper into the colossal caves:

Natural, surely. Incredibly impressive – the sheer scale of them, stalagmites and stalagtites and the cavernous insides. I did feel that the coloured light show actually detected from their beauty, but that’s how it was.

After the first option to exit the park (we took the longer route), the crowds disappeared and it was very pleasant.

Never seen a waterfall like this before (Yinliamzhuitan falls):

Then the golf buggy back:

… where we bumped into the students again who led us to a taxi for the ride to the main waterfall. “Grand escalator” read the signpost at the entrance. I was intrigued as to their interpretation of the words – a cable car, or pulley system, maybe? – but I wouldn’t find out until later.

At 77.8m high and 101m wide, the Huangguoshu Falls are “Asia’s number one waterfall”. It was, indeed, very impressive even outside the rainy season:

Best of all, we could go behind the waterfall (the “Water Curtain Cave”):

… where we saw our two student friends who were going in the other direction:

Sitting outside for a quick rest, a man came up in front of me, looked me straight in the eyes, and pointed alternately to me and him. I was ready for it this time. But it didn’t stop there – he also wanted a photo of me with his (rather baffled-looking) eldest daughter. When Rudy pointed at his youngest child and tapped his knee, the chap couldn’t believe his luck. Happy family portrait, with two very perplexed children (the youngest burst into tears soon after):

And then the gentle walk back:

… to the “grand escalator”. It was, um, a grand escalator: “the longest sightseeing escalator in the world” at 340m. Nestled into the forest. Absolutely nothing had been lost in translation:

After numerous visits to National Trust properties, I’ve got used to having to walk through the gift shop on the way out. This was an entire village:

By lucky coincidence our student friends appeared to join us on the buggy trip back, so we were able to join them in the taxi to where we thought we’d get the bus back to Anshun. Five minutes later we arrived at Doupotang Waterfall:

They wandered off, leaving us to explore the small site in our own time. Only then did it occur to us that these fortuitous meetings may not be entirely coincidental. They were looking after us. Subtlety, unobtrusively, reassuringly. As we approached the exit, they started lingering at the various attractions so we all got to the exit at about the same time. On the bus home, they told us the bus would be going to the railway station (we’d come from the east bus station), which is where we left them. We couldn’t thank them enough, but they just kept shyly saying, “You’re welcome”.

Once again we were touched and humbled by the kindness of the Chinese people.

25 December 201526 January 2018

Day 102 (Fri 25 Dec): Kunming to Anshun

Merry Christmas, everybody 🙂 Christmas is not so all-consuming here, a funny mix between shopping, a gentle festive vibe and business-as-usual. Which was lucky as it turned out to be a travel day. So we “rode forward” on the metro:

… to the (very busy) train station.

A totally chilled day watching the world go by (well, China anyway), through the changing landscape:

… fuelled by copious quantities of coffee (by my standards at least, which means I got through almost one teaspoon):

Learning my lesson from train travel in Vietnam, we booked the soft sleeper, and had the cabin to ourselves. Result 🙂

Staff were very willing and helpful throughout our journey, but they didn’t seem to fully appreciate that we didn’t speak Chinese. So we rolled with it: after clearly signaling that we had no idea what she was saying, and getting a response of a friendly smile, nod and further instructions in Chinese, Rudy preceded to have a conversation with her, with neither understanding the other (“Ah,” said Rudy, holding the disposable slippers, “one on each foot, yes.”). I was crying with laughter. Maybe you had to be there.

The journey whizzed by all too quickly. We really didn’t want to arrive.

But I’m glad we did because Rudy had booked the Hilton. Awesome Christmas present. Thanks, Rudy 😀

But first we had to get there. Taxi driver didn’t understand “Hilton” (isn’t that a universal term, especially if you’re a taxi driver with a Hilton in your city?), and couldn’t read a map (!). Within moments, a young lady had stepped in to assist with her basic English, and even tried calling the number on my booking. Five minutes, and about a dozen locals later, we were on our way through Anshun.

Welcome cookie. Never had a welcome cookie before. I knew I was going to like this place 🙂

amazing views:

Full-size swimming pool with jacuzzi:

Gym and yoga studio also helped. Add into the mix a bath, rainfall shower, tonnes of toiletries, a mini bar, kettle and the comfiest bed ever, and I was one very happy bunny. Even the most independent, go-with-the-flow girl need a bit of luxury sometimes 😉

After a long, hard swim and long, gentle jacuzzi (where I had a long conversation with Bruce, courtesy of the app on his phone), I disappeared into the ladies’ changing rooms… followed by one of the attendants. She proceeded to take care of me: providing more towels than I knew what you do with, turning on the shower and adjusting it to a nice temperature, escorting me to the sauna when I was done (which I unfortunately had to decline due to time constraints) and keeping an eye on me whilst I got dressed (which was rather disconcerting, but done with the best of intentions). Cotton buds, hair dryer and three different types of hairbrush were provided, too. I emerged exercised, relaxed and beautifully clean and remembered how much I love swimming. Only a piano was required to compete the set and I figured a place the size of Anshun may have one somewhere. But I was very happy with the home comforts so far and food was higher up the agenda.

As we walked over the bridge into town, we saw the dancing fountains… and were spotted by the locals. More photo requests as Rudy tried to video, and we duly obliged. “You’re starting to like all the attention, aren’t you?” I asked Rudy. “Yeah, it’s great,” he replied, “I’ve never been this popular in Belgium!”

We spotted it at the same time. I couldn’t believe it, and Rudy knew what was coming. “May I play?” I asked the assistant; she nodded and signalled to the piano.

It was quite late by the time I’d had my fix and, the Asians being early eaters, our dinner options were limited. But we struck lucky. After perusing the menu of a street cafe…

… we pointed at dishes others were eating, and signalled how many of each!

Christmas dinner (the peas were amazing, and the first I’ve had all trip):

Then back to the hotel, fed, tired and happy, for a sleep in a big, comfy, warm bed. Today was one of the most memorable Christmas days ever 🙂

24 December 201526 January 2018

Day 101 (Thu 24 Dec): Kunming (round town)

Vodafone World Traveller. It caused much stress and wasted time at the beginning of my trip, but has now come into its own – I spent hours on the phone for just £5. And it meant I could access mobile data which was so much faster than Wi-Fi. It also meant I could finally upload some photos without the WordPress app crashing. Then out into the city:

… to the train station. With my passport. Airport-like security seemed to be kidding the public as none of the staff seemed to be paying much attention to what was going through:

But we got our tickets:

And the metro back – I noticed that they use plastic cards which they recycle (London Underground please take more):

Another odd jacket slogan: “School kills”. Odd – I’ve always found education to be life-enhancing rather than life-terminating.

East and West pagodas were the nominal target for the afternoon but, like the metro, were still under construction. So we had mango sorbet and a strawberry shake instead and then wandered back slowly (stopping occasionally for people to take photos of us – we’re still the main attraction in town, which for the camera shy doesn’t sit easily, but I’m slowly getting used to it), past fur sellers (I assume it’s real, but I can’t tell the difference):

… lots of police and the army:

Something was obviously going on, but I couldn’t tell what.

This translation perplexed me somewhat:

And to the supermarket. When we emerged, the place was heaving. Heavy traffic (with “right on red”causing utter chaos, not helped by the fact that scooters seem to be immune to the few traffic rules they have):

Why the crowds? Maybe it was because it was Christmas Eve, but there’s only a nominal nod to Christmas here – a few banners in hotels/shops, some Christmas music and the odd street vendor selling white fur-lined red hats. I guess I’ll never really know.

23 December 201526 January 2018

Day 100 (Wed 23 Dec): Kunming (Stone Forest)

But why can’t I take the subway to the bus station? The map clearly showed a metro line from the station near our hotel to the terminal. Ah, I see. Because it’s not built yet. Right. I suppose that’s a pretty good reason. The number 50 bus it’ll have to be then. Only the number 50 bus never turned up. All the others, but no number 50. In that case, we’ll just take a taxi. What do you mean it’s too far? You’re a taxi driver for Buddha’s sake – it’s your job. Ah, what you mean is “it’s too much hassle”. Right, OK.

Luckily, the lad on reception at our hotel was switched on. So with our phone apps translating, we finally made it to the bus station. An hour and a half behind schedule. But then the challenge of finding the actual ticket office… Eventually we were on the express bus to the Stone Forest. And it took forty minutes less than planned to get there. Or so we thought. Dumped in the car park, we had no idea where to go. Come on, China, help us out here.

Ok, so now we take a golf buggy to the ticket hall. It appeared we were dropped at one end and picked up at the other. But the ticket office wasn’t in between. For some reason only the planner understood, the ticket office was the other end of a plaza on the other side of the road. Twenty minutes later, tickets in hand, we made our way back to the buggy station to catch one into the park. What do you mean we need a separate buggy ticket? Why didn’t they offer that at the ticket office? Better still, as 99.9% of people take the buggy (it’s a fair distance into the park), why don’t you just add the costs together and sell me one ticket?

So we went back to the ticket hall across the road, to a separate ticket counter that looked exactly like the previous one and bought a separate golf buggy ticket.

I’d arrived at the park with expectations. It was only when they were thwarted that I became conscious of them. Natural wonder over a few square kilometres, so that means entrance ticket and then wandering around trails and going off-piste into the semi-wilderness. Wrong.

The natural wonder has paved walkways, signposts and, wait for it… a “ring road”. No, I’m not kidding. Yes, my heart sank as well. I had to revise my expectations and try to enjoy it for the tourist circus that it was.

But it wasn’t that bad. We got the golf buggy a couple of stops round the park and wandered away from the main road:

The Stone Forest of Yunnan was made a UNESCO geopark in 2004 due to its “representative karst features” and “outstanding scientific and aesthetic values”. Formed 270 million years ago over four major geological time periods it is “one of the world’s most spectacular examples of humid tropical to subtropical karst landscapes”. Unsurprisingly, the dolomitic limestone karsts in a “diversity of shapes and colours that change with different weather and light conditions” reminded me of Ha Long Bay:

Karst pits are formed by water dripping on the rock, whilst the “discontinuous fissures” (the cracks that you can see running between the strata) are a result of an “easily soluble component on the limestone with uneven composition”. I’ll leave Dad to explain this one, but I think wheat they meant was that there was a soluble layer in the formation of the strata that has decomposed quicker than those around it, leaving the cracks.

I also learnt that the earth has existed for 4.6 billion years, and liked the table showing the various geological periods (I think I’m a scientist at heart):

I’m definitely a User Experience specialist, though and go through life noting all the potential improvements. For instance, the many maps throughout the site didn’t use the same orientation: sometimes north was up, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right. It was like one of those spatial awareness tests.

Once we’d explored we did a complete circuit on the golf buggies. It took ten minutes. This explained why people were already leaving when we arrived – they must have arrived, got on a golf buggy, got off at the central tourist circus and then gone home. Each to their own.

Food was available at the central tourist place, which was welcome – although this looks spongy it’s actually got a consistency not dissimilar to tofu:

Just caught the next bus back to Kunming and off to the train station in the less savoury part of town (“Sam, keep going – you’ve stopped on prostitute corner”):

… to book a ticket out of the city. It was heaving – long queues at each of the ticket counters (not many people using the automated machines, the opposite of most stations in England), with each transaction taking ages (which explains the long queues). And in front of each counter was a turnstile – another reminder of the Chinese culture. I had a flashback to the queue for the sunset temple near Angkor Wat – they had specific staff stopping people queue-jumping and all those I saw who tried to push in were Chinese. You just wouldn’t need the barriers in England. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten that you need a passport to book tickets here. Mission aborted. Staying here another day was an easy decision.