Day 46 Wed 18 October Simao to Kunming , Yunnan, China

Breakfast at a noodle stall in an alley near the hotel. Interesting to watch and be a part of the locals coming to eat bowls on noodles seated on little stools on the pavement.

Found an expressway, so made good progress until we are stopped by a rock slide and wait an hour in the sunshine whilst they roll the loose stones down. Very green, hilly scenery interspersed with pretty villages, terraced hillsides growing lots of tea and corn.

We reach Kunming, a city of 4million in the mid afternoon and after checking into a hotel go to sample local highly valued Pu’er tea at a tea ceremony before going to the mushroom restaurant street to a mushroom restaurant. They had dozens of varieties of all shapes and sizes, which we select to have in a pigeon hotpot. J chooses the prettiest, which turns out to be the most expensive and tastes, well a bit like mushroom. Then, with no time to spare we take a taxi to the theatre where we witness a spectacular dance show based on ethnic customs, costumes and dance, with lots of loud drumming. The show, although a bit touristy was excellent with great lighting, choreography and faultless performances by over 50 dancers, mostly from the various minorities of Yunnan. The lead dancer, Li Yinping is China's leading dancer, not small feat in a pop of 1.4b, and is excellent with a rendition of a peacock which beats any dying swan hands down. We are certain that they will get a role in the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics.

Weather 21, Sunny
Distance today 445km
Distance from start 9687km