Kumming China
The last time I did this trip was with Thai Airways and followed a hasty departure from Zhondian, on the Tibetan Plateau, when the Chinese decided to close the country down due to SARS. The trip involved countless medicals, a wearing of face masks and In Quarrantine stickers, not a pleasant experience. This time it was all a lot more sedate, with only the filling of a medical form with questions like ” have you been in contact with dead birds” – I know Thai girls like to sleep but can’t remember any being dead so I gather I was ok.
Kumming one of the more user friendly cities to arrive at and all straight forward. The people seemed better dressed and wealthier now and the shops doing a great trade. After all the talk of doom and gloom in the UK and financial meltdown no one has obviously told the Chinese.
Next morning it was an early start for the 10 hour trip to Lijiang. A fairly tedious trip in bad weather. They did provide a free meal which I ate only to remember what Chinese public toilets are like !!. Luckily it stayed down. Arrived at Lijiang to torrential rain so decided to check in to the first hotel I found only to be given that what are you doing coming in here look and basically told to leave. Some old Chinese habits die hard. But no problem, eventually found a great place with nice people. Checked out the old city, some of it probably not that old – ie not there on my last visit- but Lijiang is just so nice and all for a 80 Yuan entrance fee (About 15 Yuan to the pound I think) what a bargain. Ok it was late and I never had to pay. Yes it is fantastically touristy but with good reason and well worth the visit.
As I will be coming back to Lijiang decided to head for Lugu Lake next morning as not a place I visited previously and at 2600 metres a useful chance to acclimatise. The journey was actually surprisingly nice, over the mountains and passing some great little villages with the locals wearing traditional costumes. And unlike elsewhere not for the tourists benefit. The road whilst generally good was suffering from the heavy rains so numerous landslides and in places very muddy and some interesting passing manouvers, aforetaste of things to come. Lugu Lake required another 80 Yuan entrance fee but you get a CD, just hope its not A SONY cd coming back to haunt me.
Having got to Lugu Lake I then took a micro bus to a place called Lige. a tiny little village further around the lake. Being late and with rain starting decided to take the guesthouse with “recommended by Lonely Planets ” on it. Always a mistake but…. LP described the rooms as basic, at least they did have 4 walls and a lightbulb and a downstairs shared squat toilet. Shame the windows didn”t shut and the door didn’t have a lock. Down the road you could get lovely rooms with ensuite western bathrooms, hot water etc etc for the same price. But what the heck, this is China, this is what it is all about, going native. There was even a buzzing mosquito to keep me company all night. I moved out promptly this morning.
Now in a great place to the extent that I even have internet in my room and an electric heated blanket to go with the ensuite bathroom with hot water and a balcony to match. And the people are just so nice. Admittedly trying to work around the internet in Chinese took some time and they obviously use some tough filters, I am still waiting for the new pop up policeman to come up which warn people they are being watched. And Hotmail seems to be a no no, maybe tomorrow.
Initially thought the scenery over rated but once started walking higher up towards the next village the place does deserve its credits. The next “village” even smaller, no more than a few buildings but has a guesthouse recently opened. I asked about them about the possibility of food, they invited me to join them for a meal, really nice people. Then they pointed out a cable car which goes up the mountain so I got the girl to take me up there. At the top there are large caves to walk around and the various prayer flags and buddhist shrines. Amazingly for China we were the only 2 people there. Some great views at the top, only let down by the overcast conditions. But a worthwhile trip and a chance to start learning about the local matriarchal culture.
Tags: China, Lige, Lijiang, Travel, Yunnan
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