u/EvangelionIce

This is a continuation of my other post in this sub (First Solo Hike Outside PH) 😅

I went on an 8-day trip to Yunnan, China to celebrate my 24th birthday! 🎂

I’ve been wanting to go to China for the longest time but I tried doing solo trips in other countries first before going here, I guess to gather the courage na rin siguro? Because I thought it was difficult to travel around China, especially ‘pag walang kasama, pero that wasn’t the case naman pala in my experience.

All in all, I want to really recommend going to Yunnan if anyone in here ever wants to plan a trip to China, especially if you’re more into cultural and nature side of trips instead of staying in the city.

My breakdown of expenses for this trip is:

Round trip Airfare - Manila -> Guangzhou -> Yunnan
PHP 16,578

Travel Tax
PHP 1,620

Chinese Visa
PHP 2,898

Guangzhou Layover Hotel (1 night)
PHP 1,796

Huang Garden Inn - Lijiang Old Town (7 nights)
PHP 8,354

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Day Tour
PHP 4,658

Half Day Inn - Tiger Leaping Gorge (1 night)
PHP 3,685

China E-SIM
PHP 1,215

On-the-ground daily expenses (food, local transport, clothes, souvenirs)
PHP 36,721

My total expenses
PHP 77,525

The food & hotel is actually cheap here, hotel palang super mura na compared to local destinations and sa food I think cheaper pa nga compared to Taiwan a lot of times, I just splurged on my hotel and food because I deem it as non-nego in my travels. For 8 days in Yunnan, kayang kaya na yung 45k-55k budget/person, cheaper pa if may ka-share ka sa hotel expenses, and depending din on where you’re going. To add, any itinerary is flexible here, there are high-speed trains kasi going to other cities so you can take the morning train and have day trips on the neighboring places like Dali. There are too many destinations to go to and I actually wasn’t able to explore everything I wanted kasi andami ko na napuntahan sa Lijiang Old Town palang.

Personal opinion but for the destinations you shouldn’t miss, it’s definitely Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (They usually have snow all year round, also watch the Impression Lijiang Performance!!), Lijiang Old Town, and Hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge Trail. The rest of the trip you can cater to your preferences! 🏔️

My first hike outside the country! 😅

Spent a week in Yunnan, China, and was able to visit one of the most beautiful hiking trails in the world (Tiger Leaping Gorge). For this trail, the locals would recommend that you stay the night in a tea house, then continue the climb down in the 2nd day.

Overall, I’d say the hike is beginner-friendly naman, the most intense part lang is the start of the hike, they call it the 28 Bends (28 zigzags na paakyat).

First half of the hike you’re surrounded by tall trees kaya kahit naka-layer ka okay lang, second half of the hike is medyo open trail na pero maulap naman here kaya ‘di mo ramdam yung init, di tulad ng Mt. Mariglem or Batulao.

Bonus also if you guys are around Yunnan, make sure to visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. It’s not really a hike per se but you will still climb more than a thousand steps in their snow capped mountain with great views!

Would definitely recommend this trail for people who wants to try hiking in a different country 😁

Camera used: Fujifilm X100VI

My first hike outside the country! 😅

Spent a week in Yunnan, China, and was able to visit one of the most beautiful hiking trails in the world (Tiger Leaping Gorge). For this trail, the locals would recommend that you stay the night in a tea house, then continue the climb down in the 2nd day.

Overall, I’d say the hike is beginner-friendly naman, the most intense part lang is the start of the hike, they call it the 28 Bends (28 zigzags na paakyat).

First half of the hike you’re surrounded by tall trees kaya kahit naka-layer ka okay lang, second half of the hike is medyo open trail na pero maulap naman here kaya ‘di mo ramdam yung init, di tulad ng Mt. Mariglem or Batulao.

Bonus also if you guys are around Yunnan, make sure to visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. It’s not really a hike per se but you will still climb more than a thousand steps in their snow capped mountain with great views!

Would definitely recommend this trail for people who wants to try hiking in a different country 😁

Camera used: Fujifilm X100VI

Just warning everyone here to be cautious of buying food from Prelude and to be diligent in checking the quality of the stuff you consume.

I’ve been suffering food poisoning symptoms since June 17 pa, after I ordered the menu item above. I only ate 2 meals that day, I ate Happy & Healthy with someone for lunch (we ordered the same thing). For dinner I got Buttermilk Chicken, hours after that I became nauseous and started puking and had the worst stomach cramp of my life, this continued for about a week (until now). So from June 17 to now I’m still bedridden. The person I ate Happy & Healthy with didn’t suffer from food poisoning.

My gut is strong as hell too, I regularly eat unlimited oysters from Wantusawa in Poblacion and wala naman effect sa’kin, so for me to be bedridden for a week, I can’t even imagine how they prepare the food they serve. I wish I had pictures of the burger but it was noticeably burnt, they might have been using old oil or something but the fried chicken part looked really dark, parang double fried na.

There’s also a similar post here in subreddit of a student who got food poisoning from Prelude so I wasn’t the first victim.

Nakainom na criminology student, 2nd offense na to, may video din kahapon na nangharang ng truck at naghahanap ng away.

Felt like the dude deserved first place, felt bad a bit, he was also malding in chat. I was sure he was gonna win and I got into a losing streak until I started moving my Ezreal around; he wasn't able to melt through my tanks on time.

I probably only won because of my artifacts but then come on, it's a 4-star two cost champion buffed with another augment, I genuinely can't conclude if this is just the result of a positioning diff.