Weekend Adventure

Today was quite an adventure! We met at 11:00 to go to the Chuangku (Art Loft) neighborhood, have lunch at a restaurant called Salvador’s, run by an American from Denver who now lives in Kunming, and visit Aling’s Crafts.

We started out by taking a bus. Baoli got directions from the hotel and we did manage to get to the art gallery neighborhood. One problem: The art gallery scene had evidently evaporated. Former galleries had been boarded up. Thus we took a stroll through a beautiful park we had previously passed.

We then proceeded to Salvador’s by taxi. Or so we thought. It was impossible to get a taxi. We then decided to continue by bus. Baoli called the hotel and bus company for directions but no one seemed clear as to exactly what buses to take. We finally took a bus but had to walk a long way to the restaurant.

We were rewarded by delicious American fare: wraps, bagel sandwiches, quesadillas, smoothies, and homemade ice cream. Salvador’s is a funky coffee shop/restaurant in an equally funky neighborhood. There is a website at www.salvadors.cn.

Even though we were tired, we decided to trek on to Aling’s Crafts. After asking for directions many times we finally arrived.  Although small, Aling had some fascinating crafts.  The most unique were “paintings” made out of fabric bits. Interestingly enough, Aling is the Chinese wife of Colin, who owns Salvador’s. 

We again lost our way as we tried to negotiate our way back to the hotel. Baoli did find a taxi for Nancy, Esther and Jim. Baoli, Leon and Dixie then followed in another taxi. We were exhausted when we got back to the hotel but we got to see a lot of interesting Kunming neighborhoods and got our walking exercise in for the weekend.

-Jim