Day 32 - Wandering hand in hand through Kunming

Today is our 6 year anniversary, we decided to spend the day relaxing and taking in what Kunming has to offer. After working so hard to get here, meaning we didn't get to spend much time together in New Zealand, it has been great to finally just be together, in somewhere fantastic like China.

We started our day with a western breakfast at the hostel - Adam got eggs on toast an Liv had cornflakes, milk and banana - and prepared ourselves to hit the streets of Kunming.

Heading out with a general direction in mind, resulted in one of our typical but much enjoyed aimless wander through the streets! After 2 hours we finally made it to our destination Yuantong Zen Buddhist Temple - a temple situated on the Yuantong Hill with a history of more than 1200 years and one of the key National Buddhist Temples. Because it took us so long to get there, we decided to have lunch at a nearby vegetarian restaurant first - here we splurged on a $10 meal and got a delicious mushroom stew (we really enjoy the variety of mushrooms in China), wonderful vege steamed dumplings, and finally a tofu dish. We really should stop ordering tofu, just not the same as we cook at home - here it is generally soft and slimy without much flavour - Adam still made a dent in it nonetheless!!At the temple we were treated to seeing the monks and nuns wandering around in their robes chanting, exquisite and colourful buildings with amazing detail when you take the time to stop and look, and a lake filled with fish and turtles of all sizes. It was nice to pay a reasonable entry fee for a change. After the temple we headed to the Flower and Bird Market (not that many flowers or birds around though - but everything else!). Here we spent the next few hours happily wandering and enjoying the atmosphere. There was a much larger variety of stalls than many of the markets we have been to so far, which made the browsing interesting. Also the people were happy to let you 'window-shop' without hassling you to make a purchase.
We love checking out the food at the markets we go to - we always find cheap and delicious snacks to try - today we found a corn pancake and Adam found yet another local beer to try (55 cents for 630mls - anyone jealous?). Adam also did a great job bargaining and got himself some walking sandals and some Northface trekking pants / shorts (authentic of course!) - Liv's happy because now Adam will change his shorts more than every 2 weeks.
Finally, after nearly 8 hours of walking hand in hand, we headed back to the hostel bypassing a stall for dinner, where for $1 we got a meal that filled us both up (even leaving some behind).

A great way to spend the day, if you ask us - a relaxing day today also means we will be ready for whatever adlibing adventure we undertake tomorrow!

Adlibing it into our 7th year ...