My favourite photos

At the end of the day, I still like peace and tranquility that I could not find during this whirlwind tour of Yunnan except for the time when I spotted this small hut under a maple tree that seemed to be existing in another dimension amidst the hordes of people at the Stone Forest.

Kunming – Stone Forest

The Stone Forest in Kunming is world-famous. We saw stone formations that were once-upon-a-time under the surface of the sea. It is a good thing that despite the large numbers of visitors, the place is very well-preserved and run in a way that ensures that it does not suffer from littering and inconsiderate behaviour. The area is beautiful and coupled with the blue sky, one can only imagine that this was paradise.

Kunming – Sani minority group

For a change, I would like to feature people instead. During our visit to the famous Stone Forest, we saw many pretty young girls from the Sani minority group all dressed up in their colourful costumes with beautiful cross-stitched patterns on the sleeves and trousers. They were the tour guides and drivers of the buggies that brought us around the Stone Forest. I also saw men who were also dressed up and some of them could have rented the costumes for photo-taking. The head gear of the girls had two triangular-shaped attachments. A pair signifies that the girl is single, a missing one denotes that she is engaged and married women wear head gears without these attachments. I had a field day photographing these ladies!

Yiliang to Kunming – Jiuxiang Caves

On our way back to Kunming, we visited the Jiuxiang caves. We went on a short boat ride before entering the caves that were brightly lit. We saw rushing waters, interesting formations inside the caves and climbed a thousand steps to the exit. We took a ride on a chair-lift and wished that we could have seen these wonderful creations of nature at a more leisurely pace.

Shangri-la – Largest Spinning Prayer Wheel

From the local market we were taken to the Dukezong Ancient Town. Given just an hour to visit the ancient town, we decided to climb a small hill to take a closer look at the giant prayer wheel reputed to be the largest in the world standing at a height of 24 metres (80 ft). The view from the monastery was a refreshing change from what we saw from the bus. The prayer wheel was so huge and heavy that it took all four us to get it to move only after we heaved and pulled at the robe attached to the rail at the bottom of the wheel. We turned the wheel three times and after that took time to get blessings from the monk in the temple next to it and then to admire the view of the town from the top of the hill. When we got down to the carpark, there was very little time left to explore the ancient town. We went into the fringe of the town and found that most shops had closed. It was time for dinner and we were rewarded with a nice steaming hotpot dinner at the hotel so that we could have a good sleep to prepare for the long journey back to Kunming the next morning.

On the way to the Dukezong Ancient Town.

The giant prayer wheel on a hill next to the Dukezong Ancient Town.

Dog of Tibetan breed. The lady allowed me to take this picture.

The entrance to the monastery on the hill where the giant prayer wheel is located.

Prayers in the wind.

Such beautiful views of Shangri-La

Embossed Buddhist images on the golden prayer wheel.

A glimpse into Dukezong Ancient Town.

A last look at the monastery and the prayer wheel before setting off for dinner.

Buildings in Shangri-La are like this hotel – neatly designed.

Our sumptuous dinner.

First of a number of paintings decorating the interior of the Shangri-La airport.

Shangri-la – Local market

After our descent from Mt Shika, we were taken to a local market to experience a small segment of life in Shangri-la. Such markets are nothing new to us as we have similar ones back home. The difference was of course in the kinds of goods sold and the people in it. It was literally a walk-through the market as the guide said to us on the bus. We did not have time to stop or touch any of the market produce nor did we have time to chat up the local stall holder or to taste the food there. At the entrance to the market, a lady sat behind conical-shaped things that were really cheese. At the end of the march through the market we were herded up our tour bus to go to the Dukezong Ancient Town. It was almost five-thirty by the time we left and I could not imagine what was in store in the Ancient Town at the time except that doors would be closed or closing and people heading home for a warm meal.

Shangri-la – The high and the low

Our cable car arrived at the station on Mt Shika it was very cold. At the cable car station the staff put firewood into a very old stove so that we could keep our hands warm. Outside there was a light snow and the temperature was freezing. People who were adequately dressed for such weather and had gloves and scarves were able to take a walk in the foggy atmosphere. I was ill-prepared for this trip and had no gloves, so what I saw on Mt Shika was restricted to the space outside the cable-car station. When we got back to the coach below later, the weather was more pleasant with the setting sun casting an evening glow on the spacious landscape.

Shangri-la – Mt Shika by cablecar

We made our way from Lijiang to Zhong Dian in about three hours or more only to spend one night in this breath-takingly beautiful place on earth packing in a cable-car ride to Mt Shika at 4,500 metres (14,763 feet), a fleeting tour of a local market, said our prayers at a temple with the largest prayer wheel located next to the Dukezong Ancient Town. The next morning we were packed into the bus to return to Kunming. Another day at Shangri-la would have enabled us to see the Sontchenling Monestary said to be a smaller version of the Potala Monastery in Tibet as well as to enjoy the nearness to the blue sky and the vast grassland in a place where the sun and moon are “in one heart” – the place that is Shangri-la. Alas, that was not the case. I think one goes on package tours to sample the earth’s beautiful places and decide whether to return to a particular place on a free-and-easy trip. The problem is that there are so many places to sample and not enough time to do return trips.

Lijiang to Shangri-La(Zhong Dian)

Shangri-la or Zhong Dian was literally the highpoint of our tour in Yunnan. I was worried about altitude sickness which I suffered from in Juizaigou that had cost me some enjoyment of the place. Luckily I was spared this time because on arrival at Shangri-la our guide advised us to get two canisters of oxygen and I believed that helped me greatly. These photos were taken from the coach as we made our way from Lijiang to Shangri-la. The first few photos were attempts to capture the first turn of the Yangtze river through a window pane speckled with raindrops. The rest of the photos show the landscape with mountains and bare stretches of land in Autumn and finally, the neat rows of houses and buildings in Tibetan style, as the coach the approached the new town of Shangri-la.

Lijiang – Heilongtan (Jade Spring Park)

While reading about Heilongtan for this post, I realised that we should have had at least two hours to explore this park that is so rich in history. There is an ancient temple (Longshan Temple) that I did not see, a palace, and a famous couplet at the entrance that I had missed. We visited this park, also called Jade Spring Park when the light was fading and since I do not function very well in poor light, like my camera, I naturally was not very enthusiastic about the place. The only thing I paid attention to was the beautifully clean water that came from the Yulong Mountains looming in the distance completing the picture of san (mountain) and sui (water) in a Chinese painting.