Nicholas Quirke was leaving Guilin and making his way to a city which he had previously, though very briefly had a fateful brush with in 2018. (See Blog post In The Realms of Kafka) He was taking the train across country to Kunming for an epic 7 hours. He did not need to depart until 3 pm and made the most of his morning by visiting the ancient city. He was walking but on the walk came across a scenic area which seemed an inviting opportunity to see the hills close too and as it was free he changed his plan. Of course he hadn’t really taken into account that what it meant was climbing! Once again the temperature was blistering and as he weaved through the vegetation, observing many rock formations, temple remains and Buddhist carvings in the stones he began to regret his decision it was beautiful but rivers of sweat were soaking his shirt and the higher he reached the more exposed to the sun he was. Of course the views were wonderful and the effort in reaching the pinnacle, was worth it. Though it really was a pinnacle and he was so unnerved by being so unprotected he forgot to take any film of the moment. He had also intended to have lunch At a Buddhist vegan restaurant but the climb had taken longer and he had no time as he had to get to Guilin North train station. It was a 7 hour train ride so he Had to get himself some snacks. He got to the station ok and found his coach and seat easily. It was a journey through some lovely scenery, but by the time he got to Kunming it was dark. The subway which took him close to his hotel was 16 stops and nearly an hour to get there, he annoyingly miscounted and got off a stop too early but as the train was not till 11.30pm he decided to leave and get a didi. It was pouring with rain and a thunderstorm had started. There was a car already waiting. The car pulled up at the hotel but the driver thought there was something wrong and ended up taking him across the road and dropping him off a 3 minute walk away which meant he got wet anyway. He checked in. Checked the night view and went to sleep.