Stairway to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

17 July 2013 (Wednesday): Mt Yulong (玉龙雪山) - Lanyuegu (蓝月谷) - Shuhe Ancient Town (束河古镇) - Black Dragon Pool (黑龙潭)

Chronologically, I'm supposed to blog about Lijiang old town first but since we ended up staying longer in Lijiang, I'll fast forward and blog about Mt Yulong first. =P Even though I'm against following tours in China, we actually took a day tour for this Mt Yulong trip. My original plan was to go there ourselves but mom kept looking for tours while we were walking around Lijiang old town the day before and found this travel agent. After comparing the price to what we would have spent if we went ourselves, the price of the tour of 320yuan/pax was actually quite reasonable (provided no hidden costs). So for the convenience, we decided to take the tour and it turned out to be a good choice coz we were lucky to have a good tour guide and there were no hidden costs. So it's a win for this tour. =) However, I'm still against following tours coz the probability of getting a good tour guide is low. =P I'll share more about this in the next post. 

We were told that our tour guide would pick us up from our hotel at 7.10am but our tour guide (小魏) was already waiting for us by 7am. First impression - pass.  =)

Along the journey to Mt Yulong, I started getting worried coz it was very cloudy and we could hardly see the mountains at all. Not a good sign coz the weather could really ruin this entire trip. It would be such a let down and waste of money if we went all the way up the mountain and see nothing but mists. 

The good thing about following this tour is that we were able to skip the queue at the ticket office and went straight to the cable car entrance. But when we arrived at the cable car entrance around 9am, there was already a long queue coz all the tour groups arrived almost at the same time. See the visitor counter? We were already the 1781st visitor for the day. For independent travelers, it's better to go later to avoid the crowd. 

That's what we saw along the cable car ride. NOTHING but mists...we're so doomed!! =.=
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and after the 10 minutes boring ride...
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Tadaa...clear blue skies with no mist?!?! Wow...what an unexpected surprise!!! Lucky us! 

Quickly took some pics of the clear mountain before it got misty again. =P Btw, even though this 'snow' mountain is supposed to be capped with snow all year round, the effect of global warming (mainly caused by the huge amount of Chinese tourists coming here over the past few years) have caused the snow line to increase. That's why we see no snow but rocks. =P

There were tourists-friendly steps from the cable car station at altitude 4506m to 4680m. Even though 174m sounds very short and easy, it was actually a lot more difficult to hike due to the high altitude. Fortunately, the weather was very nice when we were there. 

Spectacular view from high up!!

The mists that come and go. =P

Breathtaking misty-cal scenery. =) 

Last stretch of steps before reaching altitude 4680m!!

Stairway to 'heaven'...lol!!

After hiking slowly for 40 minutes, we finally arrived at altitude 4680m!! The highest altitude I've ever been. It was very misty when we got there so we could only see the stone and a few topless guy showing off their fats and making the background of my pics look ugly. Dude...it's not even cold, what are you trying to show off? So annoying! =.=

Waited awhile for the mist to clear off a lil'. That's the best we could get coz we had to rush back downhill to gather with the tour group. I would have stayed longer to take more pics if we had more time but I think 2.5 hours is quite sufficient. 

Notice many people wearing 'red' jacket?? There are two 'essential' items that all tour groups encourage tourists to buy/rent before going up Mt Yulong...oxygen & winter jacket. I guess you'll only see this trend in China. I've been to the Alps in Switzerland and hiked Mt Kinabalu, nobody ever mentioned about getting an oxygen tank. Anyway 'just in case', we bought an oxygen tank in Lijiang old town for only 20yuan (as compared to 60yuan at the shop that the tour brought us to). Luckily we didn't rent the winter jacket like what most other tourists did coz the weather really wasn't cold at all. These people ended up lugging their jackets as they walked up all those steps making them even more tired and they probably thought it was altitude sickness so they kept breathing from the oxygen tank...lol!! Personally, I don't think its necessary to get these, just bring a windbreaker during summer, follow your own pace and walk slowly, you'll be fine. =)

Last few pics before we took the cable car down. See the contrast between the pics taken when we first arrived and these pics?? That's why I say the weather could really ruin this trip. We were very lucky to be able to see clear blue skies. =)

The mist added some cinematic effect to our cable car ride. Looked as if we were entering another 'paradise'...lol!!

Tour group lunch = cramping with all other tour groups for lousy food. Instant noodle is actually a much better option at times like this. =P

Our next destination, Lanyuegu is actually part of the entrance fee for Mt Yulong but we had to pay an additional 50yuan/pax for this green eco-car. Kinda pricey for this hop-on-hop-off ride with only 4 stops but we've got no choice. The place was too big to finish walking within an hour. 

Hop-off the eco-car, snapped some pics, hop-on the eco-car...that's all we did...lol!!

This place is actually pretty nice for photos with the blue water and mountain as the backdrop. Guess what's behind this tranquil scenery??

PEOPLE!!! A LOT OF PEOPLE!!!!! Grrrrr....I really hate crowds!!!! =.= We actually spent more time queuing for the eco-car than sightseeing. Worse still...it was raining...arghhh!!!

Country roads, take me home...oh no no I'm not going home yet...lol!!

Next destination...Shuhe Ancient Town. The effect of high altitude was kicking in so dad & I decided to rest and have a drink instead of walking around. 

Our tour ended at 4.30pm and we were dropped off at our final destination of the day...Heilongtan Pool. This place used to be the best place to get a view of Mt Yulong and its reflection but our tour guide told us that the pool is already dry. I can't really believe how this is possible until I saw it with my own eyes. This dry and cracked lake bed really spoils the view...how disappointing!! 

Aight that's all for now, not very effective blogging over this long weekend. =.= Still 3 more blog posts to go for this trip. Anyway, next post...Shangri-la.

One Day in Dali

With just one month gap since my last China trip, I took off on another cuti-cuti China trip to Yunnan province last month. As I've mentioned before at the beginning of the year, this year is gonna be my visit China year and Yunnan is one of the places that I wanted to visit. I can now proudly say that this travel resolution is mission-accomplished. =) I've definitely put my 2-year China visa to good use by visiting 17 cities within the past 1.5 years...Yangcheng, Suifenhe, Yanji, Pinghu, Moganshan, Huangshan, Nanjing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing, Nanning, Guilin, Yangshuo, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-la and Kunming. =)

14 July 2013 (Sunday): Penang - KL - Kunming (昆明) - Dali (大理)

Airasia had a sale when it launched its Kunming route last year but we only managed to grab the cheap tickets for one-way. We were hoping that there would be another sale later on but the price kept going up so we decided to go ahead and buy the tickets in May. Guess what, AA had a sale for its Kunming route 2 weeks after we bought the tickets, we could have saved RM200/pax...so annoying! Anyway, our total flight cost for this trip was RM460/pax.

My travel buddies. =P Our 'interesting' itinerary for the first day...traveling by different modes of transports...flights, metro, public bus, and train...lol!!

Arrived Kunming Changshui Airport at 4.55pm and we were still 25km away from the city. Being budget travelers, of course we chose the cheapest option. Took the Line 6 metro from the airport that goes directly to East Bus Station for 5 yuan/pax. The subway is still new so it's very clean and empty...a very pleasant 22 minutes ride. =) It would be so much easier to get into the city by metro when all the lines are completed in the future.

After getting off the metro at East Bus Station (东部汽车客运站), we took public bus no. 60 to Kunming Railway Station (昆明火车站). The bus was packed, no air-con, cost 2 yuan/pax and the journey took 1.5 hours. Luckily we managed to get a seat...that's when being kiasu is good...lol!! 

Learning from last trip's experience, I planned this trip with more flexibility and booked only 3 nights of hotel out of 10 nights. Initially, my plan was to find a hotel and spend a night in Kunming before taking a bus the next morning to Dali. I knew that there are overnight trains from Kunming to Dali but the tickets are usually sold out so I decided to plan for the safest option. However, instead of looking for a hotel, we decided to try our luck at the train station and after waiting for about half an hour, we managed to get 3 overnight train tickets that leaves at 9.58pm to Dali...woohoo!! 

The only tickets available for us was soft sleeper, the best-in-class coz it has 4 bunks in each private compartment. Our soft sleeper ticket costs 150 yuan/pax...slightly more expensive than the hard sleeper but that's the best we could get and we saved on one night of hotel. I was kinda excited to finally get to travel in a sleeper train...lol!! We were quite lucky that our 'roommate' was a quiet and clean university student traveling with his friends for summer break. We bumped into him again few days later in Shangri-la, tell me about coincidence...haha!! 

15 July 2013 (Monday): Mt Cangshan (苍山) - Erhai Lake (洱海) - Dali Old Town (大理古城) 

After spending a night on the train, we finally arrived at our first destination-Dali at 4.50am. It was too early and there was no public bus to the city yet so we waited around the train station till 6.45am to catch bus no. 8 (1.5 yuan) to the West Gate in Dali old town. The bus ride took about 40 minutes and thanks to our kiasu skill again, we got to sit for the whole journey...haha!! =P 

Our hostel...Dali Lily Pad Inn. It's not located in the old town but it only takes 5 minutes to walk to Dali Old Town. There's no TV & air-con in the room but can't expect too much for the price of RM68 right? =P

There are basically only 3 things to see in Dali...Cangshan mountains (苍山), Erhai Lake (洱海) and Bai Minority (白族). I wasn't planning to go up the mountains but since we arrived Dali earlier, we decided to take the Gantong cable car (感通索道) to go up to the mountain. 

I didn't do any research on Mt Cangshan prior to the trip so we just followed the hostel's recommendation and paid 100yuan/pax for this trip. =P 

The weather was nice and cool...perfect for walking but it wasn't a clear day to take nice pics of the entire Dali valley from the mountain.

There's supposed to be a waterfall at that blue pond with clear water but we didn't have the luck to see that...how disappointing. =P

Hiked for 15 minutes up a bunch of steep steps to get to this viewing point. What an unexpected workout...lol!!

After spending about 2 hours 'chilling' on the mountain, we decided to go downhill to Dali old town to grab some lunch. Finally, a clearer view of the scenery and Erhai lake. 

Dali Old Town...kinda similar to West Street in Yangshuo and Lijiang old town but it's not as crowded here. After the last few trips to China, I'm starting to dislike crowd. If given a choice, I will never travel to China during peak season. The huge amount of Chinese tourists really spoils the charm of quaint places like this. =.= 

The weather was getting hot after lunch so we decided to go back to our hostel to rest before cycling to Erhai. All of us ended up passing out and slept for the entire afternoon. I got lazy when I woke up at 5pm so instead of cycling, we decided to take public bus no. 2 for 1.5yuan/pax to Caicun Pier (才村码头) to see Erhai lake. The scenery along the way was beautiful...green fields, blue skies, white clouds...that's why people say that Dali is a perfect place to relax. =)

Saw these 2 cute dogs playing in a shop as we were walking to the pier. Good life huh!

If it wasn't because of the scorching hot sun, I could sit here for hours enjoying the scenery. Initially I wanted to go to another small fishing village on the opposite of this pier called Shuanglang (双廊) which is a hidden gem to enjoy the tranquility of Erhai. But coz we were short of time and I read that there are construction of guesthouses going on everywhere in this village as it's getting more commercialized, I decided to give it a miss.

This is where you can enjoy the panoramic view of Erhai lake FOC. =) Pardon my lousy editing skill. I didn't know how to take panorama pics with SIL's camera. =P

The pier is actually pretty small and there were some locals fishing there so it wasn't easy getting this empty spot for my 'models' to take these pics without getting any other tourists into my frame...lol!! =P

Some of you must be wondering where's my 'signature' jump shot. It's not that I didn't try...but this is what mom captured...hahaha!! I didn't even wanna try using timer coz it's impossible to stop the other Chinese tourists from walking right in front of my camera. =P

We didn't wait till sunset coz the last bus leaves at 7pm and the sun doesn't set till about 8pm. Last few shots before bidding goodbye to Erhai.

The South Gate of Dali old town...one of the task location for China Rush 3. =P

Wu Hua Building (五花楼) lit up at night. These pics were taken before dad & I 'pokai' (literally) in this building. Dad tripped on the beams across the traditional doors in that building and as I tried to hold on to him, we both fell epicly on the streets with people surrounding and watching us (not helping)...lol!! We decided to head back to the hostel after that and stopped by the bar street to get some ice along our way back.

The result of my epic fall on one knee. Luckily mom brought her knee guard so I wore it for the rest of the trip. =P I was afraid that both our 'injury' would affect the trip but fortunately, both of us had strong bones. Or else our trip would be totally screwed..haha!!

16 July 2013 (Tuesday): Dali (大理) - Lijiang (丽江)

Went up to the top floor of the hostel to take some pics of the three pagodas and the mountains before checking out from our hostel at 7.30am. 

The scenery along the way to Xiaguan train station. We were the first to get on the bus so we managed to secure our seats again...haha!! See how packed the bus was!! =P

Our 9.27am train to Lijiang. It's cheaper (34yuan/pax) and faster to travel by train as compared to bus to Lijiang from Dali. Since the journey was only 2.5 hours, they used the hard sleepers bunks as seats so that they could fit more passengers. As usual, I was watching shows on my ipad throughout the journey. =)

Sat on the left side of the train to enjoy the scenery of Erhai along the way. I'll continue blogging about Lijiang in the next post. Stay tuned! =P

Happy Birthday Dearest Ah Ma!!

28 July 2013 (Sunday): Grandma's Pre-Birthday Celebration @ Ming Garden Restaurant

Whoopsie...I'm falling behind with my updates. That's what happens when you go on a vacation and return with a pile of work waiting for you to complete. =.= Hopefully I'll get some effective blogging done over this long weekend. =P 

Mom and her 2 sisters planned this b'day celebration for grandma a few months back. Grandma's birthday actually falls on Aug 2 but we decided to celebrate her birthday one week in advance to accommodate everyone's schedule. Coincidentally, my 2 younger cousins came back from Taiwan for summer break so the timing was perfect. Both my aunts' families also traveled back to Penang for this luncheon. =) The last time we threw a big b'day party for grandma was 4 years ago so it was good to get everyone together again to celebrate grandma's 84th birthday!   

Happy 84th Birthday Ah Ma!!! Stay healthy and happy!! =)

Mom arranged for a photoshoot session at a photo studio and that explains why we were all dressed up in traditional outfit. 

We weren't supposed to take pics in the studio but I was 'pro' enough to snap these pics without being caught...lol!! 

We've only got the hardcopy of these pics so here are some of the not-so-clear pics that I took with my camera. 

Last but not least...this interesting photo...1999 vs 2013. =P