禁煙 = Japanese
금연 = Korean
ဆေးလိပ်မသောက်ရ = Burmese
We had breakfast with dumplings filled with various ingredients (I loved shiitake mushrooms and red beans filling) and arrived at the wetlands. They resemble a lake but are mostly covered with aquatic plants ranging from floating grass to lotus.
I just quote:
“Beihai Wetland (also called North Sea Marsh) is a national wetland reserve, located 10 kilometers to the north of Tengchong County, Yunnan Province. It is listed on “China National Wetland Conservation List” in 1994 and is one of the 33 key conservation wetlands of China.
Surrounded by beautiful mountains, Beihai wetland is a marsh wetland filled with many rare plants. The reserve features a “floating blanket style” marsh. Numerous lush water plants are interwoven and are continuously thriving. Day after day, year after year, old plants decompose and new plants sprout, finally becoming 1-2-meter thick meadows, like small grass islands floating above the water.”
Many of us, as with the hike through the gorge the day before, again noticed that the accessible parts of the protected areas are well organized and well-maintained.
Before returning to the cars, we treated ourselves to some fruit and juices. For the non-Chinese, as another surprise there were “polished” coconuts.
dress…
Our drivers (who were expressing requests for the first time) wanted lunch, and some joined them. Others, still full from those fruit, just wanted to buy small snacks and went into a supermarket. We almost couldn’t find the entrance, but behind it was a huge store that offered everything. I preferred to smash a glass with my backpack as further evidence of clumsiness or bad luck. When I tried to pay, Alipay, after a successful start in the first few days, didn’t work for the third time in a row. But I was able to get rid of some small change, as the cashier helped me find the right amount.
On the way back, I wanted to buy a large cake for the whole group and tried to explain to the saleswoman that I absolutely wanted the whole piece, but it didn’t help, so I gave up and ended up getting at least half of the cake (delicious, as we discovered late at night at the hotel). Before we could continue, we were caught in a tropical rainstorm, too heavy to walk even 10 meters to the car.
Then it was off to the pottery workshop.
First, we learned that clay is mixed with volcanic ash. As a result, the fired pottery never looks the same and has an unpredictable mix of colors. The 20th-generation master showed us what a master can do with a lump of clay in just a few minutes, forming a perfect vase. There was no sign of effort or useless hand movements. Then the group tried the same…
However, after a while and some clay succumbed to centrifugal force or being too wet or whatever else can happen you could see how talented some were!
On the way home, we enjoyed the hot springs, a beautiful place with small pools of varying temperatures (37–40°C, which makes more of a difference than I thought!).
Back home, we had some time to sit together, less tired this time. Michi and Tony went out for a late dinner, Leo hosted another tea ceremony, Efan made calls and other things to organize everything, Danny sliced some mangoes for us, and as reasonable grown-ups we went to bed around 11 p.m.
