Honghe, Shiping & Gejiu
by Walter, Australia / New Zealand (April 02)
Honghe by Walter
Ratings by criteria :
| Charm | Scenery | Parks | Culture | Minor. | Market | Relax | Fiesta |
Cost |
AVER. |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ? |
5 |
11.00 |
Brief description & comments : A mountain-town above the Red River valley, after which it is named.
What to do : Internet, eating, sleeping. Generally a rest-stop en-route to somewhere else.
What you may not like : Climbing the hill to town, if you're on a bike.
Where to stay (guesthouses) : Cheap Chinese hotel in the 'main square' at the top of the hill. Ask around, it's hard to find. Y20/night, but the bathroom facilities are a joke. If you stay a couple of days, it might we worth daring a shower, otherwise don't bother.
Where to eat (local food) : Small restaurants, or street-vendors at night. Standard Chinese setup.
What to see/visit : Amazing views off the top of the mountain, some 'old town' architecture. Nothing particularly noteworthy.
Communication (internet, tel, etc) : Internet all over the place, Y3/hr. Seems amazingly reliable, given that roads in and out of the place aren't.
Other practical addresses : Apparently you can't change USD here (and foreign-supporting ATMs are probably non-existent), so even though it's a 'big' town in the area, don't plan on getting cash here (legally).
Transportation information : To HongHe, type : Bike!, Duration trip : 9 hours, Schedules : Start early. I got moving around 5AM.
Additional comments on transportation : Landslides are common. There were at least four (4) when I did it - it would have been a long wait in the traffic-queues. This was around April.
Itinerary advises : No ice-cream / drink stops for quite a while in the middle of the route - carry enough water to get you through!
Additional information : Can be hard to find the road out of town to the North. Simply go down the hill to the northwest, then loop back southward for a few metres, before turning North again. Confusing!
Shiping by Walter
Ratings by criteria :
| Charm | Scenery | Parks | Culture | Minor. | Market | Relax | Fiesta |
Cost |
AVER. |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ? |
4 |
12.00 |
Brief description & comments : An ancient lake-side town.
What to do : Climb the pagoda on the hill to the east of town (the park is called HuanWenGongYuan), for a good view of the lake to the north-east, and of the city back to the west.
What you may not like : It's all flat!
Where to stay (guesthouses) : No guesthouses that I found - plenty of hotels though, so you should be able to get a decent room fairly cheaply. Say, Y50 for a swanky double (my option), or Y30-40 or a simpler room. As always, you need to bargain.
Where to eat (local food) : Standard deal - small restaurants everywhere. They're big on the 'buffet' style here - pay flat rate, and pick from a selection of dishes with rice ... Y2 or Y3 per meal.
What to see/visit : Wander around the north-eastern part of town. There's some old streets and architecture, and a comfortable old park with songbirds, old people playing games and dancing, etc.
Communication (internet, tel, etc) : Plenty of Internet... Y2/hr, usually rounded to the nearest Y.
Other practical addresses : The Xinhua bookshop is hard to find, and has a fairly poor selection compared to Kunming. If you're after maps, this is still the best place to look, though. It's hidden in the Northeastern section of town - ask for 'Xin Hua Shu Dian'. The bus stations are located on a parallel street to the main east/west artery, one block north.
Transportation information : To Pu'er, Price : Y53, Type : Bus,
Duration trip : ???, Schedules : At least two per afternoon, on weekdays. Varies day-to-day, ask at the bus-station.
Frequency : At least daily. / To JingHong, Price: Y90, Type : Bus, Duration trip : ???,
Schedules : At least two per day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. Varies day-to-day, ask at the bus-station.
Frequency : At least daily.
Additional comments on transportation : Cheap food at the westernmost bus station!
Additional information : Nice, wide, tree-lined streets. Fairly laid back, but you can still get everything you need here... cheap Internet, obscure medicines, etc.
Gejiu by Walter
Ratings by criteria :
| Charm | Scenery | Parks | Culture | Minor. | Market | Relax | Fiesta |
Cost |
AVER. |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ? |
3 |
10.00 |
Brief description & comments : Mainly industrial town atop a large mountain. At the centre of town is a relatively large lake, across which unpleasant winds sometimes blow. Quite a few minority peoples around town...
What to do : Not a lot. Apparently, there's an temple to the southeast, however I didn't indulge.
What you may not like : The wind off the lake, the lack of decent vegetarian food (I spent over a day searching!), and the boring layout of the town.
Where to stay (guesthouses) : No guesthouses that I found - plenty of hotels though, so you should be able to get a decent room fairly cheaply. Say, Y50 for a swanky double, or Y30-40 or a simpler room (my option). As always, you need to bargain.
Where to eat (local food) : Well, there's some decent snack stalls on the lack at the centre of town (southern end of the lake), but other than these the cuisine leaves a lot to be desired. I dare not recommend anywhere I ate!
What to see/visit : Circumnavigate the lake. Do it at a leisurely speed and it might take most of a day.
Communication (internet, tel, etc) : Plenty of Internet... Y2 or 3/hr, usually rounded to the nearest Y.
Other practical addresses : The bus station is to the north of town. Just walk north along the main north/south artery to the west of the lake .. it'll appear on the western side of the road. Local mountain-bike shop is just inside the 'park' area, across the road to the south of the lake... they are right in to 'trial' biking, but have a good stock of foreign parts (Shimano, Moya).
Additional information : Fairly laid back, but little to do and terrible vegetarian food.
