Aini Garden

When I started planning our itinerary for our 15 day Yunnan holiday, I plotted out our path to go all the way up to Shangri-la, back down to Kunming and then to Jiaozi Snow Mountain and Dongchuan Red Land. Then I chanced upon a video of Aini Garden and fell in love! The only reason we came to Pu'er was to get to Aini. This was the first place I booked, and I really took a chance because it has a no cancellation policy and I really had to stick to the date once it was made. The initial pre-arrival experience was less than pleasant. I didn't know how we were going to get to the manor and my WeChat messages went unanswered. The hotel we stayed at in Pu'er finally got in touch with someone and got them to message me. I asked how we could get there and the answer was a curt "take a taxi or charter a car". No pleasantries of "we look forward to seeing you" or offering to arrange a car. When we arrived, no one was at reception and no one came out. Our driver was so perplexed he wondered if we were in the right place and if the place was open. Finally a young girl came out and registered us in. There was an air of aloofness from everyone else. However, once we were checked in, things warmed up quickly. We were offered coffee and freshly cut papaya and had a nice introduction chat with the lady staff. The bedroom and bathroom is well appointed, spacious and comfortable. We would have enjoyed sitting on the balcony if the chairs were more comfortable. I love the floor to ceiling glass windows but the panel above the door should also be glass (it is just netting) so traffic sounds from the road actually comes through at night. I actually wanted to book the cottage in the hills but opted for the standard room in the main house because I was worried it would be cold. Big regret as it is actually magnificently located with stunning views. However take note that you will need to call for a buggy ride or make a 1km hike every time you want to eat or get to the main house. If you are self driving, no issues as you can park right next to the cottage. Anyway it's a small price to pay for an unlimited view of the milky way and seclusion. This is as close to a Ryokan experience as you can get in China, minus the hot springs. 3 days 2 nights of blissful, carefree living is not quite enough. They make sure they feed you well, with the freshest produce available for hotpot dinner and home-cooked Yunnanese dishes for lunch. There are so many activities organised, from taking you up the mountain for a glimpse of sunrise (with mountain goats for company ❤️) to coffee plantation education tour to horseback riding along the mountain ridges (the view is spectacular!) to scavenging for wild vegetables and fruits to drinking, dancing and singing around the campfire! So much to do, so little time! One area of improvement I personally would like to see is the coffee serving. They tend to be quite snobbish about how their coffee is taken. Neat, with nothing else. Asking for sugar or milk feels nearly scorned upon. Coffee is a versatile drink and can be savoured in a huge variety of ways. How else is Starbucks so successful? I felt kind of stifled and deprived because I love a good latte and had looked forward to enjoying an unlimited indulgence of coffee throughout our stay. Anyhow, I love the ecotourism efforts here. It feels natural and unpretentious. I love the people and the camaraderie they cultivate. I especially enjoyed talking to their consultant 敬梅, a beautiful lady with extensive knowledge in Yunnan culture and ecological progress. Also thank you to 徐芳 for arranging transport back to town and giving helpful recommendations. We hope to return again.

作為雲南之行的第一站 我覺得我的選擇是對的 來之前我也和大多數人一樣去各種平台查看了愛伲莊園的評價以及各類訊息 有好有壞 壞的佔多數吧 不是地方太遠了就是價格太貴了 要麼就是覺得沒有達到預期感受 可是對於我來説 這一次愛伲之行讓我覺得很值得 因為首先愛伲莊園是星巴克國內咖啡生豆的合作商 而且通過了很多很多業界內很難的的認證 見到了不少罕見品種的咖啡樹 也感受到了工作人員的熱情 還有劉老師對咖啡對生活的熱愛 唯一遺憾的是沒能多住兩天 很開心遇到了來自馬來西亞的熱情姐姐和山西太原的搞笑潛水教練姐妹花 還有熱心的前台小哥 更重要的是遇到了劉老師 聽他給我們講述着在咖啡行業路上的故事 宣傳中國雲南咖啡的故事 劉老師也説了 對自己喜歡的事充滿熱情和幹勁就會保持年輕（完全看不出劉老師的真實年齡哈哈哈哈） passion！咖啡愛好者可以無腦沖（喝不完的手沖🥹） 除了比較偏遠 因為沒有直達需要先到普洱然後打車去莊園還是盤山路 其他的對我來説沒啥不好的 可能也是愛好者 也喜歡自然一點的環境 （星空 山野 咖啡漿果 雲海 ）我覺得很值 就夠了🤣

我們訂的是泳池房，陽台就能下水游泳，小孩子玩的很開心。吃的方面早飯和晚飯都是自助的形式，米線好吃，牛肉中規中矩。玩的方面下午工作人員會帶我們去溯溪，小孩子抓昆蟲。早上七點半一起去看雲海，十點半去看咖啡樹，這裡有瑰夏的樹可以認養，參觀到114隻咖啡品種的實驗室。愛伲莊園，是一個被低估了的咖啡莊園（相對其他咖啡莊園，沒有那麼商業）。祝愛伲莊園種植精品咖啡，加工初處理日益更加進步和完善。