West Hill of Kunming

Today we wanted to walk up the West Hills of Kunming. Xiao Lin stayed home to do the housework. Maybe she knew that the walk will be long and exhausting. So we just picked up Xiao Wei who brought a boy from the restaurant where she worked with her. We took a bus and I had the opportunity to photograph interesting people.
We had to switch the bus. But the second one did not show up so we took the taxi to the entrance of West Hills. The bus was 2Yuan for each of us and the Taxi 30Yuan. Of course Süli and me payed for all of us since the boy and Xiao Wei only earn 400-500Yuan a month. And Xiao Wei did not get the money for the last working period. Besides most of the money she sends home to support the family.
At the entrance we first had lunch. My inspection of the kitchen was successful and the lunch turned out to be delicious. By 1pm we finally walked up the winding road. The special thing about the West Hills is the vegetation with fir trees, the temples and the Dragon Gate on top towards the east rim of the hills which is very steep. In former time they carved paths and tunnels into the almost perpendicular rock to connect temples and pavillons.
On the way up we visited a temple with a wonderful garden, which you can see on the3rd picture.
Finally by 4pm after 10 kilometers we reached the visitor center and took the cabin lift to the very top of the hill. It was sunny and very warm, but the shade of the trees helped us to survive.
For the next time I suggest to start at the visitor center and enjoy the narrow paths along the steep rocks and visit all the temples.
In the 4th picture you can get a feeling how steep it is. On the left side is a temple carved into the rock and in the center you see the Dragon Gate. I touched the dragon´s eye like all the Chinese people did. That will bring a lot of happiness to me.
Besides we had a wonderful view over Kunming from these sites.
Back to the visitor center we bargained to get a taxi ride all the way till the center of Kunming for finally 55Yuan. It took the taxi driver more than an hour to get there.
Of course a big Chinese dinner followed in a nice restaurant. It is always fun to eat with Chinese people. With the chopsticks you just eat from all the dishes on the table which were ordered, you share your food. After the long walk the Dali Beer was delicious.
Now it is almost 11pm and the blog for today is about to be finished.