Departure Day
Day of departure. Hooray – I’m finally going on a holiday! Our Yunnan adventure officially began today as we left Singapore, filled with excitement of what awaited us.
Although our flight was scheduled for 12:40pm, we were instructed to meet our tour leader at the airport by 10am. For large group tours (20 pax and above), a tour leader is assigned to help with check-ins, coordination, and logistics – which honestly makes everything a lot smoother.
Once check-in was done and boarding passes were collected, we were free to roam. First of all, who can resist taking photos with the sunflower field display at the departure hall. Reminded us of our Mae Hong Son bike trip, where we saw REAL sunflower fields rolling over hills – still one of my favourite travel memories.
Flight was smooth – a quick 4 hours flight to Kunming. A nap, an in-flight meal and we are almost there. We touched down at Kunming and were picked up by our China tour guide KK before heading straight to dinner
First Meal in Yunnan – Steam Pot Chicken at Fu Zhao Lou
Dinner was at Fu Zhao Lou, a restaurant famous for its steam pot chicken soup – and yes, it lived up to the reputation. The soup was light yet deeply flavourful, and the stir-fried rice cakes served alongside were equally satisfying.
There were many more dishes that followed, but I didn’t manage to take photos of everything. First, I was too busy eating. Second, I’m really not the type who photographs each dish before eating. Very much the opposite. Once food is served, forget about pictures.. hah
And I must say, one big upside of joining a package tour is you never have to think about where or what to eat. You just sit down and eat whatever is served on the table. You also don’t have to worry about the quality and quantity. Quality is definitely guaranteed if they are to be included in the itinerary. Quantity – always too much. Hilariously, one of our tour group members actually counted: 13–14 dishes in a single meal!
And it wasn’t just this meal. Every meal we had for the next seven days had at least 10 dishes. Wow…. with the variety to try and taste different dishes, you’re bound to find something you love. I’m a big fan of Chinese cuisine and not a fussy eater at all – so honestly, everything was yum.
Checking In & Exploring Kunming at Night
After dinner, we headed to our hotel for the night – Horizon Hotel Yunnan, where we’d be staying for just one evening.
The view from the hotel was lovely, and the location was fantastic. We were told there was a lively night market and food street just a short 10-minute walk away. We dropped off our luggage back in our room and went straight out to explore the nightlife.
Unfortunately, it started raining heavily midway through our walk. So instead, we grabbed some beef skewers and beers and headed back to the hotel room to rest for the night
That’s our first night in Yunnan. Tomorrow we leave Kunming and head to Dali.