Executive Summary - Yunnan Province (Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge)

• Saw: Kunming city centre, Dali Old Town, Torch festival, Lijiang canals & wells, Tiger Leaping Gorge, waterfalls and bamboo forests along the trek, fields of corn & sunflowers, 4.5 million stray dogs & cats, a chicken's head being cut off (dinner!), marijuana growing freely around the gorge

• Did: Found Lonely Planet Tibet!, took a wild rickshaw ride from the bus station to hostel in Dali...in the rain, watched DVDs recovering from mild cold, watched Naxi people making jewellry and weaving scarves, trekked Tiger Leaping Gorge over the course of 2 days, paid a local man 8 kuai to take photos at the top of the gorge, watched Mama Naxi shout unintelligible things at newcomers to the hostel ("No bed mama number 3, no mama, you go mama number 2, go tiger tomorrow, you say go tiger tomorrow now no go tiger no eat"), searched unsuccessfully for a massage, searched unsuccessfully for tampons, searched unsuccessfully for a mobile phone recharge card, searched unsuccessfully for a cooking class, searched unsuccessfully for a flight to Chengdu from Lijiang, drank tea for 4 hours with a lovely Belgian couple, watched Mama Naxi mop the carpet...

• Ate/Drank: Across the bridge noodles, Naxi bread, Naxi goat's cheese sandwich (I like goat's cheese but...), Mama Naxi's communal banquet, Yunnan style eggplant, congee for breakfast, pumpkin soup at an Aussie-run hostel (mmmmmm), tragically passed up Coopers at hostel due to illness!

• Favourite part about Yunnan Province: Gorge trek, hands down!

• Least favourite part about Yunnan Province: Navigation of simple tasks and public transport becoming increasingly difficult...or is the same level of difficulty but is increasingly irritating

• Life-altering revelation which has contributed to my search for universal truth: 'Butternut pumpkin' and 'Broad bean' are very difficult to say without showing your teeth or giggling