Kunming

It was a great relief to fly into Kunming Airport. Mandalay Airport was large, modern and practcially deserted. Maybe the ALL SUSPECT ALL RESPECT signs had frightened everyone else away. In Kunming, we spent one day arranging our overland tour to Tibet and generally pottering around the shops re-stocking supplies and buying Hermann a jacket. We also spent a day visiting the Bamboo Monastery which has a room filled with 300 year old clay statues - all charicatures of local village people. They had very exaggerated features, bulging eyes and grotesque expressions. Quite cool really. There were more statues at the Huating Temple - including one with eyebrows any Mackay would be proud of. They were so long that they were coiled in a pile on his lap. We then hiked up to Dragon's Gate through little paths cut into the side of the mountain. We're not sure why we were supposed to touch the key stone of the gate, but everyone else was, so we did too.