Greetings from Kunming!

On our last entry we were spending the afternoon in the tibetan area and a morning at the Pandas. we had a great afternoon, wandering down a street looking at the stalls and watching people make different things and it was all really nice and traditional. we went down a 'snack street' and tried some of the local food such as pea cake, sticky rice balls and some sort of dried noodles. we took photos of each other trying them which are quite funny. in the evening we went out for a meal with the group and then to a few bars btu everywhere seemed really dead, even in the main bar area. then we went into this club which was packed with really trendy chinese youngsters dancing to the likes of 5ive and blue! me and daz decided to call it a night here as we felt we didnt really fit in in our cagools and scruffy clothes!

the next morning we got ready for our big train trip which started at 1 in the afternoon and we got in at 8 the next morning. suprisingly it went pretty fast and was quite relaxing despite being in a 6 bunk hard sleeper! i had my first night off the booze since i got to china and woke up feeling rougher than i have felt while drinking! maybe i am having withdrawel symptons! we checked in the hotel and then all went for brekkie and then after freshening up a few of us headed to a few local markets. after this we started feeling really tired so ended up heading back to the hotel for the afternoon to chill. in the evening we met the group for a lovely western meal and then a few of us went for massages. well, what an experience that was. it was 30yuan for an hour which is about 2pound 50! we were all shoved in different rooms, i was put in a coridoor! then they started and i cant believe how strong this little chinese woman was who did mine! she used her elbows and fingertips and used real pressure and now we feel like we have been beaten up with snooker balls! honestley we are in absoloute agony. we thought, well yes it hurt but it was probably good for us but now we arent so sure! today we leave at 2 oclock and are just trying to decide what to do this morning. anyway enjoy our photos!