The south of the colorful clouds has always been a place I yearn for. From March 8 to March 21, 2021, we started the first self-driving tour in Yunnan. Before setting off, sufficient preparations were made for this trip. After choosing the destination, I finally decided on the specific itinerary: direct flight to Kunming, and then rent a car. The route is: Airport--Yuanmou--Dongchuan--Yiliang--Luoping--Bamei--Puzehei--Yuanyang--Jianshui--Fuxian Lake--Kunming--Airport.

Book air tickets, book hotels, book cars, everything is done online. Just waiting to leave.

1. Yuanmou

At about eleven o'clock noon on March 8, the flight landed smoothly at Kunming Changshui Airport. I called the car rental company and later drove to the terminal. I picked us up to the car rental company (right next to the airport). I signed the contract, looked at the car, and then started driving by myself. Our first stop is Yuanmou. The advantage of this arrangement is that you don't have to enter Kunming twice.

Kunming Changshui Airport is about 190 kilometers from Yuanmou. The whole journey was on high speed, a little more than two hours, and at three o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived at the reservation hotel. After taking a short rest, go to Wumao Tulin Scenic Area. The scenic spot is more than 20 kilometers away from the county seat. The best way to visit: Take the scenic area battery car to the top of the mountain, and then walk all the way to the exit at the foot of the mountain. The lush soil forest is similar to Bryce National Park in the United States, except that it is not as imposing and the color is not as red. The best time is at dusk and sunset. Unfortunately, the sun was a little weak that day. Two hours is enough for the tour time.

There are three forests in Yunnan: stone forest, soil forest and sarin. It feels like one forest is worse than another. We'll pass by Sarin, so we don't have to look at it.

2. Dongchuan

It is about 200 kilometers from Yuanmou to Dongchuan red land. Among them, the 170-kilometer highway is very good. When you get off the highway, the road up the mountain is poor. Arrive at music concave at noon. There are many B & Bs and several restaurants in Muji Ao. Found a restaurant and had lunch. Then the tour began.

The beautiful places are Jinxiu Garden, Colorful Slope, and Luoxia Gully. Qicai Slope has to go down from the parking lot. There is no sign and it is easy to deviate. The sunrise and sunset in Luoxiagou are beautiful. Luoxiagou is the best choice for accommodation in Hongdi.

Currently, there is no charge for red land. But now cableways, parking lots, etc. are all under construction, and it is estimated that it will not be far from becoming a toll scenic spot.

3. Yiliang

The underground stone forest in Jiuxiang is just a karst cave, but it is not bad. Yincui Gorge, which impressed me deeply, is full of green and a pool of clear water. Unfortunately, the cruise time is too short.

We live at the entrance of the scenic area. There are many tourists at the scenic spots, but at six o'clock, we hardly see many people. Our hotel has more employees than guests. There was only one car accompanying our car in the parking lot of Nuoda. However, no one could be seen at a high-rated restaurant I found on the Internet! Fortunately, some soliciting people took us to a farmhouse next to the scenic area and had a dinner that exceeded our expectations.

Yiliang Cherry Blossom Valley is making a lot of advertising this year. Unable to resist the temptation, and mainly on the way, we went for a walk. Sure enough, roads, parking lots, etc. are well built. In addition, it is close to Kunming City and has a lot of tourists. Only the so-called dozens of cherry blossoms have not been seen. Only the local Yunnan cherry shines brightly. From a viewing point of view, it is not as good as Japan's early sakura.

4. Luo Ping

Luo Ping's rapeseed flowers were one of the highlights of this trip. Needless to say, Luo Ping's Jinji Peak Grove is known to everyone on earth. It's really beautiful, and we certainly wouldn't miss it. But what I would recommend is Ma Street Rapeseed. As long as you drive yourself, you must go! The road winds around the mountains, and the rapeseed flowers in Songmao Village, Litu Village, Gegang and other places are not inferior.

Luo Ping arranged for two days. The original plan was to go to the Jiulong Waterfalls, but because the scenic area was closed for business, he decided to go to the Duoyi River and the Lubuge Small Three Gorges. The road conditions from the county seat to the Duoyi River are extremely poor. There are many curved roads, heavy trucks, and potholes on the road. Duoyi River Scenic Area is somewhat similar to Xiaoqikong, but not as exciting and rich as Xiaoqikong. There are only three boats a day in the off-season in Lubuge's Small Three Gorges. We didn't know, but fortunately we arrived at 1:30 in the afternoon, just in time for the 2:00 flight. However, it was a full twenty minutes delay before sailing. And the two-hour cruise ship didn't surprise us-it was so ordinary. By the way, the road from Lubuge to Luoping County is quite good.

5. Bamei

There is no highway from Luoping to Bamei. I still have to walk from yesterday to the Doi River. I drove the 150-kilometer road for nearly three hours. In addition to the many corners and potholes, there was also a very narrow section of the road.

Bamei only reopened in late February this year after a period of renovation. We finally made it. The parking lot and tourist center are very large, like a standardized *** A-level scenic spot. But a trace of coolness passed through my heart: Will this still be a paradise? Sure enough, subsequent experience confirmed my concerns. After purchasing the ticket, I first took a scenic spot battery car that was about eight kilometers long. The road is very new and very good. But it's too long. It doesn't seem long. Sorry for the 180-yuan ticket. After sitting on the battery car, the next step is the most anticipated entry into the village through the waterway in the cave. However, the attitude of the manager on the boat dock was unacceptable: he seemed to care less, but as a result, chaos was created, and the boat turned into a boat grab. That was chaos! Although the water cave is unique, I feel terrible.

Most of the accommodation in Bamei are in poor conditions, and there are not many separate wet and wet toilets. Coupled with the inconvenience of entry and exit, most tour groups choose to live in counties dozens of kilometers away. The scenic area is not big either. It takes about 4 to 5 hours to return to the parking lot in one cycle. There is no need to live in a scenic area. It's just faster.

We stayed in it for a day. Going out for a walk in the morning is quite good. The air is fresh and the environment is beautiful. It's just that the tranquility of the paradise has been broken, and you can no longer feel it.

Leave the village and never turn back. There is still some distance from the inn where we stayed to the dock, and the bungee cars in the inn only carry luggage. It's a two-way boat ride to the parking lot. There is a Jingjiao train pretending to be a small train between the two boats. The management was still too poor, and it took us two hours to get back to the parking lot.

Bamei has become a scenic spot with "Zhenger Ba Jing". Its characteristics quietly disappeared. I actually hate this way of traveling very much. I have a name for this approach, called "stylized tourism." Tourists are like products on an assembly line. When they arrive at the scenic spot, they have no choice. According to the method provided by the scenic spot,

6. Pu Zhe Hei

Pu zhe black is very big. There are many ways to visit. Scenic area management is relatively in place. Accommodation can be accommodated in villages around the core scenic spots, and there are many options. You can visit by boat, car, and of course you can also walk. On days when the sun is shining and the spring breeze is blowing, walking is really quite pleasant. It is recommended to go to Leshui Cave to have a bird's eye view of Puzhei, and then go down to the sinkhole to watch the sunset. It's really beautiful. If you have the opportunity, you can stay in it for a few more days and spend your time leisurely.

7. Yuanyang

Yuanyang terraces have several terraces such as Laofengzui, Bada, Duoyishu, Aichun Lan, Azheke, and Laofengzui, each with its own characteristics. You need to buy a ticket to enter the scenic spot. In fact, this ticket is only used for two observation platforms: Bada Terrace and Duoyishu Terrace. One watches the sunset and the other watches the sunrise. And you can only enter once. There was also a Tiger Mouth Terrace that was closed due to a landslide. When we arrived at the terraced fields, we were just in time to watch the sunset from Bada. The parking lot was full of cars, and the viewing platform was crowded with people, full of long guns and short cannons. We could only squeeze in and take a few looks. The terraces of more than 3,000 meters glistened with golden light under the sunset. Although they were really spectacular, it was really unpleasant to squeeze people.

Early the next morning, when we went to Duoyishu for sunrise, there was still a crowd of people. Fortunately, the viewing platform was divided into several floors and was big enough to not be too crowded.

Azhike and Ai Chunlan are relatively close. Eagle Mouth is relatively far away, passing through the messy town and there is a narrow road.

If you want to watch the sunset, there is a scenic spot next to the Bada Terrace on the way to the Qingkou Terrace. You can see the same effect as the Bada Terrace Observation Deck, which is free! Yuanyang Terrace, only by looking at it can you know what it means to be spectacular. When looking at terraces, one should be during the irrigation season, and the other should be at sunrise or sunset.

8. Jianshui

There are generally two roads to take from Yuanyang to Jianshui: one is a section of Tianhou Expressway, which requires a detour; the other is G245. We took the G245 and there was no high speed throughout the journey. The experience is that it is not difficult to walk as the local people in Yuanyang say, it is just climbing a few mountains.

Jianshui is just a hurry for us. I saw Shuanglong Bridge and Zhujia Garden. Shuanglong Bridge is very beautiful. The Zhu Garden is not big and should be nice, but the surrounding skyline has been completely destroyed.

9. Fuxian Lake

Yunnan's three major lakes are Dianchi Lake, Erhai Lake and Fuxian Lake. To put it bluntly, Fuxian Lake is my country's largest water storage lake, the largest plateau deep-water lake, and the second deepest freshwater lake (my country's deepest freshwater lake is Kanas Lake). With the rise of vacation tourism, countless vacation apartments, hotels, and restaurants have been developed around the lake. We picked a first-line lake view resort apartment. Sure enough, the lake view is invincible. The lake is blue and clear.

Due to over-development, there are many unfinished buildings around the apartment we live in. The huge vacation apartment we stayed in had only a few lights at night.

There are many scenic spots around Fuxian Lake. We went to Luchong Scenic Area. This is a national 4A-level scenic spot. The scenic area is very large, with mountains and lakes facing trees lined with trees. There are Bijia Mountain, ancient banyan trees, and many rides. It has everything you need to eat, accommodation, and travel shops. It's just that it's not the peak season yet, nor is it a weekend, so there are not many tourists.

X. Kunming

On March 18th, I returned to Kunming. Before entering Kunming City, I stopped by Laoyuhe Wetland Park. I mainly want to see tulips. But I did. There are many wetland parks built along Dianchi Lake, about a dozen of them. It is unlikely to travel all by all.

In Kunming City, we didn't go to the popular Xishan, Jindian Park, and Daguanlou Park. Instead, they chose Haigeng Park and Kunming Botanical Garden. Haigeng Park is a green belt beside Dianchi Lake. It is a well-managed scenic spot in Kunming. Clean and tidy. The West Garden of the Botanical Garden was closed, but not many camellia flowers were seen in the East Garden. It was so disappointing. However, the Black Dragon Pool Park next door surprised us a little. The azaleas blooming on the hill did not make our trip in vain.

After two weeks of galloping on the land of Yunnan, bathing in the Yunnan sun, and touring the mountains and rivers of Yunnan, self-driving tour brings us relaxation, joy and freedom.