Tiger Leaping Gorge

Endured a local bus from Shangri-la to Quiotou, (very basic village) even the driver was smoking... We then walked a couple of hours up the high trail of Tiger Leaping Gorge to the Naxi guest house, really lovely family running it, and had a nice evening with some American & Canadian travellers. Photo in front of corn was taken there. On the way this old guy and his horse followed us the whole way. I kept stopping to let him pass but he didn't want to pass. Finally I realized he was waiting for us to get tired so he could hire us his horse!! He was out of luck, he picked the wrong couple to follow. Next day we walked the 28 switch backs and finished the high trail, about 6 hours, nice views of the gorge. The trail dropped down to the road and we stayed at the ' Across the bridge ' guest house, photo of gorge with mist and cloud was taken out the window. There was a major slip on the road so no cars could get through which made it really quiet for the few who walked the high trail. Next morning we walked down to the middle rapid, track was made by locals so quite an effort and not the average Chinese tourist gets that far. Very impressive amount of water roaring past. Trevor had to get the best view right in front of the wall of water, I am sure the sign in Chinese said, "do not go out on slippery rocks when river is in flood" but he wouldn't believe me! From there we climbed back up, crossed the slip and got a ride to the first rapid. This is where all the tourist buses stop, very busy but amazing, the platform goes out over the water. 15 plus x huka falls. Also the first bend of the Yangtze river. A great couple of days away from the crowds. Bus to Dali ancient town next.

The "Real" Shangri-la

We took a bus to Shangri-la, winding up the hills, took about 5 hrs. It is at 3200 mts so a bit cooler which was nice. It is the last major town on the way to Tibet and the people are mostly Tibetan with monasteries, gompas and temples all about. Also the largest prayer wheel - it is enormous!  A bit like some parts of Nepal but more modern. Some of the women seem to dress in the traditional costume with big colourful hats everywhere. Lots of dancing in the square. Prayer flags on mass as well. There is also an 'old town' which seems to cater for the tourists though not as busy as Lijiang. We spent 2 nights here just sight seeing wandering the markets, they have amazing fungi for sale and fried up squares of this jellied pig blood...  We also climbed to the town high point. Generally a very poor area, lots of poverty, bad plumbing, rubbish and dirt, they all seem to go together. Quite  different seeing rural China. Lots of crops everywhere. They are certainly very good at growing everything.Also more hoicking, spitting & smoking!

Lijiang, Yunnan Province.

I have always wondered why late night flights are called the red eye, now I know!! We sat on the tarmac in a queue for a couple of hours in Chengdu, hungry and tired! finally arrived in Lijiang about 1.30am The hotel we had booked was in the 'old town' & no cars can go in there so no taxi. The old town is a labyrinth of cobbled streets and old buildings that were mainly closed up at that time of night. Very dark too. We asked directions over & over and people just kept pointing different ways and we seemed to be going round in circles. Finally a young Chinese guy visiting the town was very helpful, spoke English, and managed to find the way. It was a nice hotel and we discovered the next day actually really close to the rd, the bus driver had just pointed us the wrong way!! In hind sight seeing the old town at that time of night was great because the rest of the time was wall to wall Chinese tourists and once all opened up the shops were selling  tacky touristy stuff. We had a quiet day sussing out the town, next day we hired some bikes and cycled up to the national park and all around the neighboring villages and had late lunch, all fun until we hit rush hour traffic coming back into the city. I was sure I was in Beijing!! A bit stressful but I got back in one piece.  Yunnan is a province full of ethnic minority groups, in Lijiang they are the Naxi's and have a particular style of housing and dress. Villages quite poor, lots of stray dogs & rubbish. Lijiang old town is a UNESCO world heritage site hence the tourists. Too many people for us, we will head to somewhere quieter if possible.

Missed Photos

These photos were meant to be on the blog titled "eating drinking and being hot" so take a look at that blog for the descriptions of the photos.

Now in lijiang. Trevor a bit unwell and is asleep, has had fever off and on for few days, not sure what's up but we also had late night. Delayed flight so he is tired too. But nice hotel inside the old town. Lots of.little cobbled narrow streets perfect for getting lost!