Shilin: Ashima & Aheige
May 16, 2009
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Described as a "superlative natural phenomena" and "a masterpiece of Earth's evolution", Shilin was inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site in 2007. Here u can find a massive sea of rocks and stones! Videos ahead, turn up your volume!
While searching for the toilet, we stumbled across this...
Unobstructed view of Shilin at 狮子亭 (Lion Pavilion)
Imagine this place used to be a sea of water. All these pillars of rocks were formed 270 million years ago (!) during the carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era where bacteria and algae were the only life forms. Dinosaurs and animals don't even exist then! No wonder it's lauded as the First Wonder of the World! After zillion years of transformation, this karst topography was formed by constant movement of the lithosphere which caused the water to subside and allowed the limestone cliffs to rise.
First major mishap happened here when I stubbornly tried to climb up the slippery rocks and had difficulty getting out :x
All the tour guides were dressed in traditional costumes like this. We overheard them narrating stories regarding these rocks and although the stories are just legends, make-beliefs and tall tales, it was more interesting than just looking at the dead boring rocks. So the cheapskate me suggested we follow behind and eavesdrop!
It's amazing how nature carved these animals out of rocks
Thumbs up!
Spot the cat?
The piece of rock behind me resembles the heart. The surface feels cold and smooth.
小石林 (Little Stone Forest)
All the tour guides were dressed in traditional costumes like this. We overheard them narrating stories regarding these rocks and although the stories are just legends, make-beliefs and tall tales, it was more interesting than just looking at the dead boring rocks. So the cheapskate me suggested we follow behind and eavesdrop!
It's amazing how nature carved these animals out of rocks
Thumbs up!
Spot the cat?
The piece of rock behind me resembles the heart. The surface feels cold and smooth.
小石林 (Little Stone Forest)
石林美不美??!!
Ashima is a beautiful and brave Sani girl who fell in love with Aheige but cannot marry each other. The story was written into poems and made into a film in the 1960s. This stone pillar resembles Ashima dressed in traditional Yi costume with a kerchief on her head and a bamboo basket on her back. She stands gracefully, looking up and far away.
The suggested tour time was 2.5hrs but we decided to make the best of the 140 yuan by covering as much as we could. So we ventured off to the periphery of the forest and stumbled upon this second panoramic view of the whole forest from the top. There was no one else there, the wind was great, and I felt like I had the whole view to myself.
That's the idiotic us live in action reporting from Shilin
What if this is the only way to get to the other side? Wouldn't bigger size people be trapped inside the forest?
The outskirts is a getaway from the main scenic spots which is so crowded and noisy :S
母子偕游 (Wandering mother with child)
漫步从容 (Calm Wanderer)
Farmers live here too
Dancing
中国人不是东亚病夫!!!
That's the long horizontal line across the rocks I slashed using my water bottle
I grabbed a chicken burger from Dicos for breakfast as I anticipate we wouldn't be able to eat anything at Shilin. Since it's our last day in Kunming, rs wanted to eat his favourite noodles at Lao Dian Wei before we leave. We had this fried rice called 老干妈炒饭 and 10 小笼包 which was just meat bun with no juice inside.
The Hump discriminates Asians
Oh my god, Hump sucks
Bus no.3 was the only bus we took in Kunming
On our way to the train station
We had already bathed and brushed our teeth at the hostel so that when we board the train, we can just jump into bed and sleep!
The train ride from Kunming to Dali is 8hrs 32 mins for 90 yuan. Even though it's slower than the bus, it's smarter to take the train cos we save a night's accommodation!
To my relief, this train (only 2 decks) was better than the previous train we took from Chengdu to Kunming. It was more comfortable and most importantly, the people sleeping in the same section as us don't smoke. But the queue at the toilet was horrendously long and I was damn pissed I got cut queue. Lesson learnt: There is no such thing as queuing in China and to get to the toilet first, stand right by the door!
Bye to Kunming and Hello to beautiful Dali!
Oh my god, Hump sucks
Bus no.3 was the only bus we took in Kunming
On our way to the train station
We had already bathed and brushed our teeth at the hostel so that when we board the train, we can just jump into bed and sleep!
The train ride from Kunming to Dali is 8hrs 32 mins for 90 yuan. Even though it's slower than the bus, it's smarter to take the train cos we save a night's accommodation!
To my relief, this train (only 2 decks) was better than the previous train we took from Chengdu to Kunming. It was more comfortable and most importantly, the people sleeping in the same section as us don't smoke. But the queue at the toilet was horrendously long and I was damn pissed I got cut queue. Lesson learnt: There is no such thing as queuing in China and to get to the toilet first, stand right by the door!
Bye to Kunming and Hello to beautiful Dali!
1 comments
the pic of u squeezing thru the rocks reminds me of a similar pic you took in in yr 3. you were squeezing though the aki students' proj thing that was blocking the floral path in yr 3. same pose same angle. also not everybody can squeeze thru!
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