China - Yunnan Province 26/04/2005

Trip Journal From 26th April - 7th May 2005

We finally entered Mohan, China on the 26th April 2005. We were met at the border by our guide Li Jun Yiao, who had all our documentation. Li handed out our Chinese driver’s licenses, and our Chinese number plates. We cleared passport control and got directed to customs, where we ground to an abrupt stop, our entry into China halted until an original paper arrived from another province, they would not accept a faxed or a photocopy of the document, it had to be an original. No amount of persuasion would move the customs official. We were effectively told to go to a particular hotel , stay put until the paper work arrived, we all said it felt like house arrest…………3 days later on the 29th April, papers in place we headed north on the 213 away from Mohan beginning our China trip.

Nothing prepared us for the amazing vista China had to offer. The basic bamboo homes from Laos had been replaced with sturdy brick and stone with tiled roofs, the villages were more organized and there was no sign of the poverty we had experienced in Laos. Everything was so green and lush, as we drove through km after km of tea and rubber plantations, terrace gardening was taken to new heights with every hill in sight planted in crops right to the top, layer upon layer of crops, rice, wheat, corn, and a huge variety of veges. Photos won’t do justice to the kaleidoscope of colours that the crops produced. Every where we traveled there was such a hive of industry in the fields, people every where harvesting or replanting, water buffalo and their driver ploughing the rice paddy fields, horse and donkey driven carts carrying hay and heavy loads, peasant folk carrying baskets, heavily loaded with freshly picked produce,, sticks or anything else that needed moving, an amazing scene up every hill or around every corner we turned. Following the Bajiong River where we camped beside for the night, several locals came to visit and told us we were the first Westerners they had ever seen.

The driving here is interesting and they seem to drive with an invisible 3rd lane, with horns blaring constantly. Jo and Janet experienced it first hand when when a car tried to overtake and clipped the back of their camper resulting in some paint being removed , the car came of worse with a headlight ripped off and a big dent, but as it was at fault and with Lis negotiating Jos pocket was abit fuller.

The roads presented their own challenge, some parts reminestant of the dancing highway in Cambodia, very potholed, some of the highways were very narrow and had no shoulders, just a 30cm wide strip of concrete and then big drop offs, full concentration was required, not pleasant when we were climbing up hills, the highest elevation we have reached to date was 2600 and that was when we went to Lijiang, the closest we were going to get to Tibet. Lijiang was in a valley with Jade Dragon Mountain as a majestic backdrop still covered in snow. This was the first time we had got out our winter woolies since we started traveling, bit of a shock to the system but a refreshing change.Lijiangs old town was an interesting maze of cobbled streets, rickety old wooden buildings with canals running through it and interesting shops to browse through... Our camping spot was at the local Cultural Centre which had more shops for us to look at and in the evening we were entertained to a free show by the local tribal people.

As we continue to drive through Yunnan Provinces the views were spectacular and the progressive development amazing, 1000kms of new highway development, some parts nearing completion , some a long way to go and others competed, smooth seal, new tunnels and bridges. The existing roads along side where the new highways are going through have been let to run down so needless to say on these parts travel has been slow one day we did 155 kms and it took us all day.

At Erhai Lake near Dali, we experienced the most horrific storm. We trembled and swayed for hours on end through the night as the wind howled and gusted, at several points during the night we thought we were going to be air borne, we were both relieved to see morning and to be all in one piece. We had a great few hours at Dali visiting the San Ta Si the 3 Pagodas, some of the oldest structures in this part of China, lots of stalls so we girls ducked off to hunt down some bargains... I get to ride with John and Lynda. Every 4th day as we take turns with having the guide ride with us, our vehicle being smaller is just too uncomfortable for 3 of us. The bonus is that it gives me a chance to catch up on my diary on the computer.

It was harvesting time, wheat was spread across the roads, letting cars driving over it do the thrashing, and we drove through many Naxi villages the local hill tribe costumes still being worn by the women.

Paul really misses his European food and he’s usually on the look out for a KFC or a Hamburger place when we get to a larger town, his delight at spotting one turned into disaster when eating his burger his chair collapsed. Paul, his food and three of our drinks all crashed with him to the floor. Much to Paul’s embarrassment, doubly difficult when you cannot explain in Chinese.

Kunming the capitol of Yunnan Province has a population of nearly 4 million people, almost the same as the whole of NZ. We enjoyed being in a large city especially at night when all the neon signs were glowing, really impressive. A bonus was that we met up with Steve Larson who organized our trip into China. Steve was able to give a further insight into areas we would be traveling to later in our trip Our eyes all lit up when we spied a Wal Mart, so it was all off to the supermarket to replenish our stocks of western food and some extra treats, especially some nice fresh bead.

120kms SE of Kunming is the Stone Forest, a massive collection of graceful grey limestone pillars dotting the skyline. We hired a battery driven golf cart to take the 8 of us around the main area. As we were exploring one of the areas, Janet got whisked away and before she knew it she was being dressed in a traditional costume, we were all chuckling as we saw the sign to say a payment was required and our chuckles continued as all the guys got whisked away and got treated to some traditional customs and dancing, they certainly all looked splendid all dressed in red. The finale came when they to were asked for money….lol



We camped the night in a Sinopec Service Station very pleased to be told that we could put another 100 Yuan of Diesel in our tanks, as earlier in the day we were only able to put100 Yuan in and some Petrol Stations had no diesel at all to sell us.

Today we cross into Guizhou Province.