If every city has its own temperament, Hangzhou is gentle and shallow, while Yunnan is fantasy and free. The pure and beautiful scenery of different colors is the driving force that attracts you to move forward and explore.
In the past three years, I took my baby to travel to Yunnan 5 times, but at most I only visited 1/2 of the total area of Yunnan. The beauty of Yunnan is not limited to Kunming, Lijiang, Dali, Lugu Lake, Fuxian Lake, Shangri-La, and Xishuangbanna. There are also Luoping in the golden flower sea, Bamei in Xanadu, Puzhehei in Qingqiu prototype, Yuanyang in millennium terraced fields... The mountains and rivers in southeastern Yunnan are full of poetry.
In the Spring Festival of 2019, I went to Yunnan again. I flew directly from Hangzhou and rented a car in Kunming for an 8-night and 9-day self-driving trip on the southeast ring road of Yunnan.
The average daytime temperature of the places visited during this trip is 22-28°C, which is very suitable for enjoying the sunshine and warmth in the southwest from the cold Hangzhou during the Spring Festival. Except for Yuanyang and Xundian, which are slightly higher in altitude (about 2000 meters), other areas Both are around 1000 meters, so there is no need to worry about the elderly and children's rebellion.
Due to the relatively primitive infrastructure of the section from Luoping to Bamei and the section from Puzhehei to Yuanyang, there are provincial roads, township roads, many mountain roads, sharp curves, and slow speeds. The driving time is 5-6 hours, and the daily driving time in other places The time is only 3-3.5 hours, the overall self-driving intensity of the line is not high, and you can easily enjoy the scenery along the way. However, there are many mountain roads and poor road conditions along the way, so a 4WD off-road vehicle is very necessary.
Traveling by car with a family of five ranging from 60 to 6 years old, everyone will have different concerns and excitement during the journey. For me, carrying Sony Dafa and two 600g lenses on my back is the most touching What I am interested in is the characteristic experience and landscape photography along the way. "The most beautiful scenery is on the road" is not an empty rhetoric. In fact, those beautiful scenery are not in the conventional scenic spots and viewing platforms, but in the casual and unknown roadsides, trails, countryside and fields along the way. In the mountains and on the top of the mountain, you must have a heart that is willing to explore and a pair of eyes that are good at discovering, in order to capture those fleeting beauties.
This article will record the itinerary details of this 8-night, 9-day trip on the Southeast Yunnan Ring Road, and share my private photography spots along the way.
Day1, February 3, 29th, Hangzhou-Kunming-Luoping
Take the 9:05-12:45 flight from Hangzhou to Kunming.
Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport officially opened P1 and P2 parking lots from January 2019. It is 2 kilometers away from the terminal building. There is a shuttle bus every 10 minutes. The daily parking fee is only 50 yuan. It is safe to park here for a long time when a family travels. And cost-effective.
The Volvo XC60 used by self-driving in Kunming was booked on Ctrip one month before the Spring Festival. It was provided by Kunming Harmony Car Rental Company. The office and car pick-up and return points are both on the B2 floor of Kunming Changshui Airport. It is the most convenient car rental company in Kunming. .
After 20 minutes to complete the formalities of picking up the car and checking the car, drive to the first stop, Luoping. The whole journey is about 220 kilometers on high speed and 3 hours. Arrive at 5:00 in the evening, go directly to "Screw Field", you can find it with the mobile phone navigation, and circle along the Niujie Highway Going up the mountain, the best shooting point is at the top of the mountain. The parking fee is 10 yuan. You can overlook the entire golden rapeseed field. The naturally formed circle-shaped terraces are like the swirls on a screw.
In addition to the screw fields, the rapeseed flowers and the winding driveway along the way are also worth taking pictures. After shooting, go to Luoping "Old Taste" restaurant for dinner and return to Luoping Huayutang Boutique Inn to rest.
Accommodation: Luoping Huayutang Boutique Humanities Inn
Day2 Thirty February 4 Luoping - Bamei
In addition to the standard five-star hotels, the breakfast time of inns and small boutique hotels in Yunnan does not start until 8:00 to 8:30. Our family is used to getting up at 6:30, so we will go back after watching the sunrise. Breakfast at the hotel is a good use of time.
"Jinji Peak Cong" is another viewing point overlooking Luoping. The location of the mobile phone navigation is only an open parking lot. We paid 50 yuan to ask a local to lead the way, and walked along the path to an inconspicuous barren mountain.
Except for a few stone steps at the foot of the mountain, there are steep and slippery barren mountain dirt roads on it. On the top of the mountain, you can see countless cone-shaped hills, arranged in a patchwork manner in the countryside. However, the weather was unlucky, the sun was always blocked by thick clouds, and the photos taken were not ideal, so it is more intuitive to watch the video.
Although the road from Luoping to Bamei is only 140 kilometers, the whole journey is on provincial roads and country roads, and it is not fast to drive on the circling mountain roads and dirt roads. After breakfast, we set off for Bamei at 9:30. Appreciate the rapeseed field.
The drive takes about 5 hours and arrives at the Reception Center of Bameijing Area at around 3:00 pm. Not so much a reception center, but a small car park and a dilapidated ticket booth.
Tickets are 85 yuan, including two carriage fees and boat fees for entering and leaving. Among them, the single carriage fee is 5 yuan and the boat fee is 6 yuan. Compared with many other domestic attractions, it is really not expensive.
Bamei is a transliteration of the Zhuang language, which means "cave in the forest". The whole village is surrounded by mountains and has a long and narrow terrain. There is "Taoyuan Cave" in the east and "Tangna Cave" in the west. You can only take a horse-drawn carriage to get in and out. Then take a boat, pass through the narrow and dark cave, and then walk to the inn where you live.
Inconvenient transportation, backward infrastructure, and primitive villages have created a unique travel experience in Bamei. You can imagine the scene of us dragging a 30-inch suitcase and walking on a dusty gravel road to take a carriage. However, starting from March 2019, Bamei will be completely closed for renovation for one year. It is said that roads will be repaired and opened to traffic. By this time next year, the infrastructure should be greatly improved. Will the "Xanadu" after WTO still maintain its authenticity? I don't know.
The "Taoyuan Cave" in the east has a total length of 1,200 meters. There is no artificial light in the karst cave, and there are jagged rocks. There are naturally formed turtle backs, stone lions, and chairman statues. We entered the village on New Year's Eve, there were almost no other tourists, and the experience of boating in the karst cave was deep and quiet to the extreme.
After leaving the cave, the hotel staff were already waiting on the steps, driving the electric tricycle to deliver the luggage, while our group walked through the village, feeling the isolation, the smell of chickens and dogs, and pastoral songs here.
There is a thousand-year-old banyan tree in the central square of the village. The surrounding village houses have been put on signs and transformed into restaurants or family hotels. A faint commercial atmosphere has appeared in the wisps of cooking smoke. Bameidi Beiguiyuan Hotel is located in the middle of the whole village, and it is also the best hotel here. Our New Year’s Eve dinner is arranged by the window on the second floor of the hotel. The real local chicken and local dishes are extraordinarily delicious.
After night fell, only a few local children were playing with fireworks in the central square, and Chenchen also participated in it. Listening to the endless sound of firecrackers, this year is full of rural flavor.
Accommodation: Bameidi Beiguiyuan Special Resort Hotel
Day3, the first day of the new year, February 5, Bamei - Puzhehei
Bamei was shrouded in dense morning mist after 7 o'clock, and the whole village hadn't woken up yet. We were the only ones walking along the field paths of rapeseed flowers.
After breakfast, we came to the "Zhongdong" wharf. After 5 minutes by boat and 5 minutes by horse-drawn carriage, enjoying the scenery of the river valley along the way, we reached the entrance of "Tangna Cave" in the west of the village. The total length of "Tangna Cave" is 1,500 meters , The cave is equipped with lights, and different scenery is a different experience.
If you have less luggage, you can go east and west directly, leave the village from "Tangna Cave", and then take a local van at your own expense to the parking lot of the reception center in the east. The journey takes about 20 minutes and the fare is 50 yuan. Since we were carrying two large suitcases, we still chose to go back the same way and leave the village after lunch at the hotel.
It takes about 170 kilometers and 3.5 hours from Bamei to Puzhehei. The infrastructure of Puzhehei village is not good. The roads in the village are narrow, and there are many large and small inns and restaurants under construction. "Inn" is located in the northwest corner of Puzhehei National Wetland Park, with an excellent view of the landscape, you can enjoy the style of the wetland park from the backyard of the hotel and the rooms.
Accommodation: Puzhehei is your hotel
The itinerary is not over, sharing to be continued...