Our MH flight back to KL was in the afternoon. Our morning itinerary after checking out of the hotel was a tour to the Kunming Flower Market. Pakdokter had been there some years ago when pakdokter came for golfing with the Lake Club guys. And the flower market did not make much of an impression! So pakdokter was not expecting much from this tour actually. But it turned out that the tourism folks in Yunnan and Kunming has really 'pumped-up' this place. It is now a sprawling complex 10 to 20 times the size it was years ago. Apart from the original Flower Market - one gets to tour a hall exhibiting Yunnan Coffee - with a chance to taste their many flavours and buy the ones you fancy. There were other halls showcasing cookies, cakes, crafts, souveniers etc etc. It was like a MAHA Expo ( Malaysian Agriculture Expo).....
Despite some hiccups, pakdokter's Yunnan tour turned out quite memorable actually. For readers planning to explore Yunnan - here are some reminders and advise:
1. bring cash - credit cards not commonly accepted especially outside Kunming
2. hopefully in the future -toilet facilities would have improved, otherwise consider ?diapers...
3. food - especially for strict Malaysian Muslims - should consider bringing along bottled sambals, serundings etc. Even their Muslim restaurants offer dishes strange for pakdokter's palate. Too oily and too spicy...
4. Yunnan is a vast region to explore. Pakdokter spent 11 days and that was about as short as it should be. The packages offered by Malaysian tour companies like the Reliance etc are usually a 7-day package and would be too short. And a lot of time would be in the bus traversing the mountains and countryside. It would be very tiring and pakdokter imagined you would see very little. With no choice of restaurants or food - you would be stuck with what the company has arranged. As such you may end up eating little or nothing ( as what pakdokter learnt happened to the group of Malay teachers which our guide in Lijiang, Ms Beautiful Goose, told pakdokter..).
5. But if you enjoy colourful native culture and history - Yunnan has a lot to offer.
' kuih kertas' being made at the Flower Market..
freeze-dried roses..
fresh flowers at the Flower Market
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