Golden Temple

Today Matthew and I got directions for going to the Duonan Flower Market. By the time we were ready to go it was after lunch and we realized that to see the flowers we would have to really get there as early in the morning as possible. As a result we decided to go to the Golden Temple instead. This was not on our list of places to go and in someways wouldn't have been except for he weather. It has been cloudy and overcast. We want to go to the Western Mountain and the Stone Forest when it is sunny and clear. This may not be possible unless the weather changes.

We got to the Golden Temple late in the day. It was a long hike up into the gardens and then to the temple. The temple is made from bronze, one of the reasons it is so special. They tried to make it look like a dark wood and it is pretty impressive when one knows what it is made from. Just seeing the temple as a temple is not all that impressive. The walk up the mountain however, was quit a hike. There were so many stairs and people carrying double sided baskets. I would not have made it up if it was me carrying the basket. The gardens at the temple were also very pretty.

I have heard but am not positive that Yunnan is one of the only other place besides the Appalachian Mountains that have red pink rhododendrons. They also have the more common white rhododendrons which are also very pretty. I don't know if I have ever seen the white rhododendrons before even though they are the more common.

In the park there was also a bell tower. We walked to the bell tower and got there just as it was closing. As a result only one of the outdoor lookouts was open. The view was pretty amazing. We could see out over the city and gardens. We started making our way down to the cable car down the mountain after seeing the bell.

We walked around for quite some time finding that the orchid and cactus gardens had already closed. It looked really pretty so it is a little sad we couldn't go in. We walked through the Camellia garden but most of the flowers had already bloomed. The Camellia is the flower of Kunming.

We wandered our way to the cable care down the mountain only to find out that the price was much higher than we had originally thought. It was supposed to be something around 20RMB and it was double that. We decided it wasn't worth it and to just walk back down the mountain.

By the time we got down to the Western gate and were ready to leave on a bus my knees were wobbling from all the stairs. I wore my new pants and they are really comfortable so I decided to get another pair. This time I got a lighter color and a little longer. She says she can have them before we leave next Monday.

Matthew and I tried a new restaurant, The Box. It is a western style place but not one we have been to. We got a pizza which was pretty good and I got a fresh lime juice. It was sweetened. I think it may be the best juice I've had the entire trip. Well, the orange juice at the Prague is pretty good but I did like the lime.

After dinner we went to the Hump Hostel and the little markets near there. We started by walking through looking at the jade to see if they had any teardrop earrings. I saw some on a TV program Jinpeng was watching. They weren't being advertised, one of the characters was wearing them. I didn't find anything and all the vendors don't like it when you can't tell them what you want. Also, they don't like it when you know what you want and they don't have it.

After searching the market and not finding them we went up to the Hump to find out about tours to Shi Lin, the Stone Forest. They had a tour guide included but not the freedom that Matthew and I wanted so I think we will try and go by ourselves.

We took the 107 bus back and stopped at Wal Mart to pick up some last things we might need. Than back to the apartment and bed so we can try the flower market again tomorrow.