15 May: Kunming

We were lucky again, after an early train arrival (before 8am), to be able to check into our rooms immediately this morning at the Camellia Hotel.

After a shower, we took a stroll to what seemed to be a central pedestrian shopping area in Kunming (but real shops and an awful lot of familiar brands, not touristy shops). We found what I think was the Bird & Flower market nearby but, really, it was not great. There were plenty of pet stalls that just broke my heart. So many gorgeous little bunnies in tiny individual cages, or loads of bunnies in larger cages with barely any floor space for all of them :( I so wanted to cuddle them and take one home. Can't wait to see my 3, little do they know the cuddles they are in for - haha. They will be so annoyed :)

And not only bunnies, but birds, lots of terrapins, even crabs! Hedgehogs, squirrels, chinchillas, kittens, bearded dragons, scorpions and spiders!

We found some lunch and then made out way back to the hotel. I tagged along on a trip to The Loft, which was supposed to be some kind of arty area with galleries, but it seems it's not open on a Sunday. So we wandered around the area a little. And I'm almost sure we saw a very old Chinese lady who had lotus feet!

There really is not much to do here in Kunming. There is the shopping area (about a 2.5km walk away, apparently) but it's not really my kind of shopping. I did go for a wander around our hotel in the opposite direction to where we'd gone this morning. Nothing terribly interesting. We seem to be in real-life China and no longer touristy China. And I'm just not that interested in Sporting goods or Appliance stores. I was again amazed at how their shops selling the same products all seem to be clustered together, I can't imagine how it makes good business sense.

Another interesting thing we've seen is these outdoor areas that look like parks, but instead of swings and slides, they have sort of gym equipment, but made out of metal like park-stuff would be and all brightly painted.

We went out for our final Intrepid Tour Group dinner. It was sadly, I think, one of the least enjoyable meals we've had this trip (comparing against other meals in similar Chinese restaurants, not the awful hot-pot or instant noodles we've been eating on the trains). Usually we struggle to finish the communal meal our Leader orders but, this was clearly more Westernised because it was the first individual portion sized food I've seen in any of the traditional restaurants here.

We did go for a drink at another spot afterwards but none of us are really big drinkers although the drinks here are really weak anyway.

It wasn't a late night at all. Although my roommate and I did end up chatting in bed till about 11pm. It's weird for me to think about the differences between the end of this trip and my last one. This time I'm looking forward to getting home to someone and last time I was leaving someone behind.