Not Approved by LP

Just had 3 cultural nights in a row going to the Mosu singing and dancing display, as it’s next to my guesthouse not too much of a strain and nightlife here not the most active. The local Mosu dress up in native costumes and dance around a fire singing their love songs and at the end do the matchmaking. All very touristy but its on a small scale and provides a lot of fun, amusement and photo opportunities. And the young children all dressed up are so sweet.

Yesterday was a rain stopped play day. Never stopped all day and with the cold to match. Today better and took a long walk to Sichuan Province – actually the other side of the lake. They must be wealthier than Yunnan as the road is paved from the Sichuan border. And within minutes the locals were filling up my backpack with walnuts. Some of the little villages were so sweet, with the locals still wearing traditional clothes and a lovely mix of old and new.

In one of the villages a motorbike tuk tuk driver started yapping away in Chinese and pointed to the next village so I just thought whatever and jumped in. A bit further 2 chinese tourists joint us wanting to go somewhere. We went further and further away from my end of the lake and then stopped at some place and the driver asked for money and then said bye and pointed to a path for me to take. So now totally lost I followed the path only to end up lost amongst many paths with just the odd hamlet and farmers vegetable plots. In the end I had to double back and after a long walk was back on the main road but the wrong side of the lake and no traffic. Eventually a lama came passed on his motorbike and gave me a lift. This started well until the chain came of and jammed itself in the backwheel. Without tools this kept us amused for a while. Eventually it was half fixed and he insisted on us going to his place to clean up and eat and be shown the buddhist shrines. Then he offered to take me further by horseback but the horse looked big and if it was as well maintained as his motorbike it didn’t seem a good idea to start learning to ride now. So it was another long hike, I was actually pleased when I got back into Yunnan, just seemed closer to home despite being 3 odd hours away and 7pm. Not having warm clothes or a torch I was reduced to running as it gets dark about 8pm and walking of a cliff didn’t have much appeal. A group of girls did come pass and started singing their love songs to me, I don’t whether I was meant to join them at their place but mine has internet and a heater !
Eventually a car came pass and they saved my day by giving me a lift. So all in all a fun day .

Had planned to leave Saturday but now thinking of hiking around the lake, staying in some of the villages as they are great and given the speed of development here that won’t be the case for long.

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.