I arrived in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, after a 12 hour train ride from Nanning. Kunming is situated at about 1800 meters, just north of a massive lake and only a few hours away from the Vietnamese border. Most western travelers who make it there are either going to or from southeast Asia. In that, I was an exception. I had planned to come in, visit the "Stone Forest" a couple hours away, and begin the long slow trek northwards. Arriving at my hostel, though, I was pleasantly surprised to find a very inviting and relaxing place, right in the heart of the city. On my first day in town, I walked around a bit and discovered that in fact, there is almost nothing to entice tourists. Instead, I spent my time swapping travel tales in the hostel over cheap beer and free pool.

Feeling a bit guilty for my laziness, I did make it to Shilin (the "Stone Forest") the following day. Guidebooks warn of the tendency for buses out there to stop frequently at tourist traps on the way. Unfortunately, there was very little way for me to do anything about this, and sure enough, my little minibus stopped at a jade factory, a Buddhist temple, and a restaurant all in the span of what should have been an hour and a half trip. Three hours later, hello Shilin.

Shilin is one of a number of extremely large fields of limestone which have been weatered away to produce areas of spires, caves and ponds. From afar, they look like nature's own stonehenge, taken to the extreme. Up close, they are a fascinating wander through hidden nooks and crannies, and up limestone peaks. As with so many attractions in China, Shilin has been thoroughly built up, effectively destroying the feeling of natural serenity that should have been present. Anyone unfortunate enough to wander into the main tourist pathways would find themselves surrounded by hordes of chinese tour groups snapping photos and herding along like an unstoppable river of humanity. Luckily, the area is large enough to provide plenty of trails which the tour groups don't hit, and following these, I was able to while away the afternoon climbing the ridges and sinking into the valleys of the area. It was a pleasant, if not great, experience, and it had potential to be much better with either less tourist traffic or a lower entrance fee.

The following morning, I managed to scrape myself out of bed (cheap plum wine and enough Spanish tourists to give me a chance to practice make for a bad combination) in time to catch the last bus north to the Himalayan town Lijiang. It was a great trip, nine hours through rice paddies, eventually leading into the first of many massive ridgelines. As night fell, the popping of my ears and the chill in the air signaled my return to high elevations. Good times await.