Yunnan: Minorities in the Majority

Rice fields cover the mountains like a yellow carpet in Yuanyang

Rice fields cover the mountains like a yellow carpet in Yuanyang

Following our excursion to the Guizhou province, a less visited province in China, we headed back to the more common tourist trails in the south-western province Yunnan. While our day in Kunming mainly served administrative purposes, we quickly headed on to the mountains in the southeast of the province. Besides the world-famous rice-terraces, Yuanyang offers many minorities in a very small space. We completed our visit with a monster bus tour through the mountains and small villages.

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Getting Acquainted in Beijing

The first month in Beijing is over, life becomes more and more normal. Many things I did not question or think about in Stuttgart, I have discover here piece by piece. Seemingly common things suddenly have to be established from the ground. Where can I buy groceries? How do I get from A to B? How do I manage with all those Chinese characters?

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The World Turned Upside Down

In Mostar I had received a hint that I should visit the city of Budva in Montenegro. The city is easily reachable from Dubrovnik, since it lays on the major bus route into Montenegro. The information about buses into Montenegro, as found on the Internet, indicated, that the bus may not drive all the way to Budva since the driver might not feel like it…

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The Fastest Way to Ljubljana

On my last day in Venice, I knew I could take it easy. The fastest bus to Ljubljana was only to leave at 11:50 from Venice Mestre, a 12 minute train ride from the island. What followed was a story of how bus rides should not exactly work. The destination of the bus ride, Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital, was however definitively worth the trip.

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