Day 7: Minorities Lifestyle

I begin my day early as this is going to be yet the longest ride. After checking out, I walked out to my bike and was surprise to see 2 little girls squatting by the roadside. What were they doing?



Oh... Brushing their teeth.



Yunnan is the land of mountains and although I am only at about 1000+++ meters above sea level, the roads are already misty early in the morning.



Riding in the mountains would mean that I would be rewarded with beautiful sceneries but this also projected some problems for me. I am on a 125cc motocycle and so I presumed that it would be underpowered for this terrian. Well, I will never know until I try right? And so I started the engine, put on my helmet and begin my ride into the highland. Just not long after I moved off, I begin to understand why this place is called Yunnan (The cloud of the south).





The first part of my ride revealed to me that I am right. This bike is really not that powerful for uphill. I am moving kind of slow. But the constant beautiful sceneries make the slow climb worth it.







Riding through this reminds me of those Chinese ancient war movies where they lure the enemies in between the cliffs and start to throw rocks on them.



The second part of my ride was just as tiring. Although the roads are now straight, there are potholes everywhere and so I have to make sure that I avoid them. The good news is that I am now riding through villages and so I get to see their way of life firsthand. Here are some photos of the villagers I met on the streets.















I noticed that their houses were built from mud.



This little boy kept looking at me when I was trying to take a picture of the houses.



Dont care. I carried on taking more photos.



Opps.. Someone else spoted me. He seems to be quite fierce.



He walked over to me and looked at me from head to toe.



Ok, it's time to talk. I told him that I am here on a vacation and I was just talking photos of the houses as they were interesting to me. After knowing that I mean no harm, he puts on the biggest simle that I had ever seen.



After a short chat, I rode on.



The third part of my ride was the most toturing of the day. Not only was the road winding but it was also full of potholes. It took me many hours just to cover a short distance. However, this toturing segment brought me into an interesting local trading market. A place where the villagers gathered to trade wherver they have.





The roadside is their trading place and just take a look at what they have to trade. Snakes and?









A lady getting water from a roadside tap.



A young trader.



Other traders.





After a tiring ride, a smile like this makes me feel that its all worth it.



I decided that I should stop for my first lunch in Yunnan. Wonder how does the food taste like here. Got myself a bowl of noodle. It was great.



Moving off again after lunch.





There are landslides like this every now and then and so I have to be careful.



Also, there are no barriers around and so I have to be careful while avoiding all obstacles. If not, I might end up falling off the cliff.



Taking a break again.



Moving off again after the short break.



It seems to take forever to reach.



Just as I am starting to feel a little down, a sight like this brighten me up again. Its a RAINBOW!!!



Can you see it? Zooming in. Nice isn't it?



I am not well verse in agriculture. Can someone please tell me what are these for?



More views along the way.



After a long tiring and physical demanding 12hours ride, I finally reach ShiLin. It is a place of interest near Kunming. I checked into a youth hostel and had my dinner. Here are some of the Yunnan Snacks.





I am so exhasted.

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