YUNNAN MAY HOLIDAY 2021
- Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, accepted in 2013 as a cultural site by UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE
yuanyang rice terraces, honghe hani, Yunnan, china 中国云南红河哈尼，元阳梯田
To eat
Rice Noodles 米线
Da Jiu Jia 大救驾 -meat
Old Grandma’s Potatoes 老奶洋芋
Crispy Fried Red Beans with Bitter Herbs 苦菜酥红豆
Rubing 乳饼 - ham
Shao Erkuai with Fried Bread 烧饵块加油条
Fresh Mint Salad 凉拌薄荷
Baba 粑粑 - bread
Yak Meat 牦牛肉
Wild Mushroom Hotpot 野生菌火锅
Paoluda - dessert
the joys of travelling in China during covid STIRCT STIRCT STRICT!
strict rules. health codes, tests and masks. temp checks and location tracking.....
as per usual I stayed in the popular hostel Kunming cloudland which has a good location, nearby a food street, a nice bar/cafe area with pool table and the bunks all have electric blankets and your get a towel and slippers to use. its 93 for a bed per night. before it was always packed with foreigners, but now, even though it was a holiday it wasn't even particularly busy with local chinese. sad to see.....
you can book on booking.com, hostelworld, Ctrip etc...
We all meet up at Kunming South bus staton, and my online Chinese friend joined us, he is from Yunnan but only 18 and sat his his GAOKAO 高考 (chinese Alevel exams/university entrance exams) a couple weeks after (YOLO) he could come because it was the same county/province and at this time they didn't filter the location app and strictly. He's called Will, his English is great and he even has a British accent to some things due to his love of British shows / movies. (FYI he got a good result in his GaoKao and is studying in Guangzhou)
we got the bus from Kunming South bus Station, there's a few different options to get there, we got our tickets and got on. there were 2 stops en route (toilet and food). no rain, very sunny and hot.
HOW TO GET THERE
Kunming bus (south bus station) to yuan yang xinjie 元阳 or train to Mengzi 蒙自 or Gejiu 个旧。
OUR ROUTE：
kunming to Gejiu 8am arrive 11(3h journey) (68RMB)
昆明南汽车站 or 昆明东部汽车客运站 to 个旧汽车客运站
from here to yuanyang county (there's buses every30mins - 1h) then another bus or taxi to Xinjie
From Xinjie, Minibus taxi is around 20RMB to go to Duoyishu village(多依树村),
15RMB to Bada village(坝达村). Easy to get it from the bus station up to the main square. we had 2 stops on route, it was dry hot and sunny. the air con wasn't amazing but beggars can't be choosers. There's not much available Transport for these areas. Buses / car or with a tour guide, not flights or trains. we stopped at the square at Xinjie which had a nice view high up on the hill and got something to eat and drink at a restaurant which was cheap, did European options and was nicely decorated.
HONGHE HANI, YUNNAN
YUANYANG Rice Terrace fields -
There are several to choose from
Yuanyang county (duoyishu, quanfuzhuang & Bada rice fields / Jingkou village) -
Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
lot of small buses / vans at Nansha bus station. Most popular areas:
Duoyishu village (多依树村; duoyishucun, 24 km),
Bada village (坝达村; badacun, 16 km),
Habo village (哈播村, habocun, 80 km),
Longshu dam (龙树坝; longshuba, 5 km),
Xinjie (新街镇; xinjie zhen).
Jingkou village.
Qingkou Hani village.
mengzi - Gejiu -
Duoyishu, especially for sunrise. Located in Pugao Laozhai village
-Laohuzui, especially for sunset. About 1h by car west from Pugao Laozhai.
we arrived in xinjie,getting out at the small square. there was a western sort of fast food restaurant that we stopped for pizza and drinks. They did a fab watermelon juice! just want you need to cool down in summer. The square if high up on the hill looking down over the countryside. We asked a local to help us take a group me, but he was terrible, an old man. his picture taking skills were abysmal.
surprisingly the public toilets were ok and there were basins in square for hand washing, new. Most likely because of Covid, but a good hygienic addictive for sure!
after the food we organised a car with a local driver who would take us to our hostel and give us a bit of a tour on the way, stopping for pics etc. 120 in total so 40 each. The total height at xinjie was 190m/6334ft. So the views are really nice!
yuanyang rice terraces, honghe hani, Yunnan, china 中国云南红河哈尼，元阳梯田
https://youtube.com/shorts/AN6kANH6e20?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/VReS2zNiY-g
https://youtube.com/shorts/2zRe4s8lXmQ?feature=share
but it was soon sunny and warm and again, our next stop was at laohuzui 老虎嘴 famous for sunset. walk down onto edge for it, with not many people there it was idylic! there was even a random bathroom hut. We chilled as the sun began to descend over the mountain. we befriended some locals and a coyote/jackal dog as Ben dubbed it. the colours of the sunset were really beautiful
It was pitch black by the time we got to the homestay, the driver help ring to find out where to go and owner came down for us, guiding the way with a torch, even though it was a main public holiday, due to Covid and the extreme travel and life regulations and precautions it was dead, with no1 really staying, suited us though! quite and more private. good opportunity for photos.
hotel / homestay was called - havre de paix duiyiwan
4 person room (2 double beds) for around 270RMB a night in total
there was a lovely hot shower & electric blanket (its colder at night especially high in the mountain areas even though it was may) we even had a little balcony area, a 3 floor farm like house among rice fields
we got a free breakfast after, but if you wanted western you paid 20. we napped first then had it before getting a car to take us to another sight, it was crzy hot by then and they wanted us to pay in so we decided to get a lift back to the main village town and check out the local market. though I did say I needed the toilet which was inside the "scenic site" and got a :"little lost" so managed to snap some sneaky pics haha.
ancient tea porter carrying packs still being used to this day by some of the elderly!!
We browsed the market full of local, the women and some men dressed in their traditional clothing of their minority groups (mainly Hani) they smoke bongs in Yunnan, I had seen before, thought apparently its just ht hold men and tobacco, but still, feels cray to see in public done casually haha. .
We got some more food in the western restaurant, they had wifi, it was air conditioned and the workers were friendly (the probably don't get many tourists during coiled, especially foreigners)
we got a car to the bus station, but it was horrid. The Speed and tasty roads had us feeling sick, during the lift in the Van to gujiu. I tried to nap it off and im glad I did as the girl in front was sick - finally helping me understannd why there were mini plastic bags and tissues in the back of the car. a horrid journey! the "cushions" were odd too. made from coffee beans?>
from here we jumped on the bus to Jianshui. hoping for a look around the ancient town and then to get a bus from here. when we arrived it was hot hot hot! anddd, no trains - ticket fails! e hadn't rebooked as we didn't know when we would get there (cars / buses in China are always slow and late) but we were lucky and organised car going to Kunming, sharing it with 2 others, when we got there will headed for the Station to return to school. The hotel I had booked online refused us saying the lame excuse "we can't accept foreigners" so I had to frantically search for a new place. we got somewhere near the airport as we were taking a flight to Mangshi 芒市 to go to Tengchong 腾冲 near the border of Myanmar, early the next morning (good news there is now a high speed train!)
