DAY 3

We left our apartment in Yinchuan on Sunday afternoon to take an overnight train to Xi'an where we went immediately to the airport and caught a plane to Kunming, Yunnan.  Yunnan is a province in southwest China just above the Burma/Myanmar border.  We are MUCH warmer here than we have been so far this winter.  Kunming is called the city of perpetual spring (or something like that).  We buy it.  You would too. 

We got to have dinner last night with Mr. and Mrs. S.  K went to highschool with Mrs. S (before she was Mrs. S) and for those of you that remember, she was the gal who sang at our wedding.  It was great to finally meet her husband.  They are finishing up a stint studying language here in the city of spring.  It was a fun reunion.

This afternoon when we got tired of prepping for grad classes (which start on Monday) we went out in search of some culture.  The place we are staying has character but as for culture it is a hippie backpacker hang out on the roof kinda place. We like it....it's cheap and it's in the center of town.  Our cultural outing was to a tea shop where a professional tea guy prepared sample pots of tea for us to sniff and sip.  We bought some of our favorites.  N thinks one is reminiscent of alfalfa and something a cow might deposit in the alfalfa field.  Sound appetizing?  K heartily disagrees.  It's "earthy."

Tonight we're taking a train north (still in Yunnan) to a little town called Dali known for its scenic vistas and historic architecture.  Supposedly there is a lake shaped like an ear.  Who doesn't want to see that?

So we are three days into a trip we expect to take about 44.   Stay tuned every now and then to find out where we are and what we're doing.  Happy trails to us.