Outside Green Lake Park
Today we visited the Stone Forest, and we actually saw some sun, and no rain all day! The Stone Forest is 300 square km, and our guide said it would take a month to see it all. We sure felt like we saw a lot after 90 minutes of going up and down lots of very slippery stairs. It was quite spectacular, and, as we approached the tourist area, there are stones strewn about the landscape, gradually becoming more and more concentrated. It reminded me of The Neverending Story. Sebastian did an impressive amount of walking and climbing, and got a really impressive amount of attention from all the Chinese tourists. At one point he must have had 10 people taking his photo at once. Jerry said they all thought he was a girl! I was amazed at how people would just walk up and pick him up or pull him out of my arms. He did not like it at all.
I experienced my first squatty potties at the Stone Forest, and again at the hotel restaurant we ate lunch at nearby. I didn't mind the squatting part so much as the stench. Eww. Glad I brought my own tp, and hand sanitizing gel is a must!
On our way back to Kunming, we stopped to explore a local village for a while. Tripp and Sebastian wiped out going down a muddy hill, as Tripp said, they "buttboarded down pigpoop hill" (but slightly more vulgar). The locals here were enamoured with Sebastian too, and we had a gaggle of village children following us. Another group of children came out and said, "Hello! Hello!" over and over, and redoubled their greetings when we responded. Everyone seemed very happy, despite the poverty. These are families that have their livestock living underneath their homes. One old woman invited us for tea, but before we could respond, our guide declined for us. It would have been interesting, but Sebastian was exhausted. I felt sad that we might have insulted her by declining.
Tonight we are having dinner with two other adoptive families that we met yesterday.
Enjoy the photos. Tomorrow is Gotcha!
Yes, I am going to eat this bee...
...and I am going to like it!
Stone Forest
Carp
You can't really see it here, but there is Chinese graffiti on the rock.
Chinese Village
Corn drying on rooftops
Pagoda from Village
Cat
2 comments:
Hey Uf!
Following you all closely. It's so exciting. I was telling a patient at the hospital today all the ways in which a family can grow... and yours was her favorite story! kisses to you all, love car-lIE
He is precious!! I LOVE the picture with the big smile in bed. Congratulations,
Tina
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