[chinese blood, irish heart] - DEFUNCT: A whirlwind trip through Yunnan.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

A whirlwind trip through Yunnan.

After debating to go to Tibet and Xinjiang, I eventually settled to go to Yunnan with a friend for a 5-day power trip. I just so wanted to get away for a while now that the Games were ending. I remember glancing at the endless TV screens showing the closing ceremony in Lijiang. We went to Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangri-la (aka Zhongdian) and Kunming. Even though it was pissing rain for most of the time it was still a great trip with great company. We even met some Irish travellers! Avril from Tipperary, Michelle & Edel from Ga-ga-ga-Galway.
People were super friendly... most of the time. I mean there are always those dodgy folk who want to take advantage of tourists but we managed to pull through relatively unscathed... that goes for our wallets too! We mostly played it by ear and some of our most exciting stuff came randomly... After getting lost finding the hiking path up Tiger Leaping Gorge we were fortunate to find a van that took us to their hostel and along the way appreciating the killer views of the gorge. Other hikers we met described some horror stories along the path!

Anyway, here's a sneak preview of my photos. I got hundreds to convert and this shitty laptop can't handle it all.

Songzhanlin Temple - Shangri-la

Old City - Lijiang

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Scary-ass chairlift up West Mountains - Kunming

I officially waved goodbye to friends and colleagues last night along with L, who's also leaving back to HK today. I certainly won't miss the smoggy skies... I even got a hacking cough the moment I touched down in BJ! But I'll lament the duty of being the single producer for the entire Games! Tough as hell, time-consuming and frustrating at times. But I learned a lot. Learned how to deal with stress, working in a foreign environment and most importantly the new invigoration to seek out stories - human-life stories that deserve to be told.

I know I'll be glad to return and seeing everyone again, but that lingering feeling of change and new adventure will comfortably sink in again. Need time to think...

Here's my last Olympics video...