Since we made the long drive yesterday, a long sleep-in was possible today. So nice to catch up! Pick up around ten, then we headed to the Temple grounds built by Yang Ming when he was banished in disfavor from the court. Once a place of education and study, it now serves as a public park and place for dance and recreation:
bird market. My tummy not doing great, so I’m on meds and staying close to the public potty. The bird market started with just those, but has since grown to include just about anything you can think of (and some you won’t!):
yes, those are frogs splayed on those sticks…and so much more to see:
and so many fish, aquariums, flowers, electronics, tea, flowers and herbs for healing, foodstuffs, kitchenware, etc etc – and people crowded everywhere…
and we sit for lunch before heading to the airport:
I plan to eat only broth and rice, but Duan tempts me into trying a dish he eats when his stomach is upset – and it tastes somewhat like refried beans with cabbage and broth (he can’t tell me the english name of the beans used in the dish). Lance says it’s once of the best meals we’ve had. We agree that the food in the Yunnan province, and in the smaller towns and homes were by far the best.
It’s then off to the airport, where we await boarding and fly off to Hong Kong – and into our own itinerary apart from guides or other travelers. yeah!!!!!
So easy to get to the city: the airport express train, free hotel shuttle, and we arrive at our uber cool Hotel Icon. I so highly recommend it! The service is incredible, particularly when I walk up to the counter to check in and when asked how is everything, I say: bad. We want to see the famous lightshow (and the gentleman kindly escorts us to the 9th floor pool and invites us to watch and then return back downstairs to finish check in) and I realize I left my beautiful embroidery from Lijiang in the free shuttle bus waiting area. He calls the airport immediately and – yea – they find it, and we have to go and pick it up in lost and found. So we drop our bags, head back to the airport rail station and secure the treasure, then head over by subway to the Temple Street night market. It’s busy and crowded and it looks like people on every corner are eating funky seafood (especially crab with chilis). The shopping looks mostly like touristy stuff that we’re not really interested in (and we’re starving anyway), so we search around for a place to eat. Oyster omelet and chicken rice clay pot – okay, not excellent, and we’re ready to head back to the hotel. It’s been a really long day and have a lot to accomplish tomorrow.