Not Approved by LP

Just got back from a 3 day wander around the lake. The effort well rewarded with good weather and a chance to see new sights and meet interesting and colorful people in traditional dress ansd just generally super nice people. The Naxi village probably won top spot for culture and people, despite being on the main road it didn’t seem as affected by tourism as elsewhere and a nice spot by the lake.
Stayed further along at the Shangri La hotel, a bit jaded and past its prime but loads of character and the views from the balcony with the mountains behind an excellent photo opportunity. But probably best avoided by dog lovers. In the evening the Shangri La ballroom made for fun entertainment away from the tourist hype elsewhere. The only people there were police and officials but the food and drink flowed freely and they insisted on me joining in and all in all a good night out.
Followed the road to the Zon Hun bridge, more touristy but once across the bridge there is a very abrupt change. There is no road, just a mud path which in places even that disappears under water and all you can do is wade thru. Horse and donkey replace motorbike and car and the villages and houses fairly basic and people shy. Proved more challenging than expected but only once once had to be rescued by a little boy from 2 over eager dogs which took a dislike to me, I guess its best to carry a large rock.
Finally hit the main road from Lijiang and spent the night at Luoshui. Not much to recommend about the place, popular with the Chinese taking boat trips out etc but little charm and lots of building work going on. However the Mosu cultural show good, staged in an indoor arena and all done in a professional manner, well choregraphed and colorful unlike the for fun effort her in Lige.
Made the last leg back to Lige today, a fairly mundane stretch, just in time for the rain to start. Overall all good only let down by never seemingly being able to get people photos, so much colour and wonderful expressions but either because of not wanting to hassle the people themselves or not having the camera ready opportunities missed. But certainly well worth seeing those wizand old ladies loaded up with their baskets or baby on the back, stooped down only stopping to use the mobile phone and check the latest share prices !. And the matriarchal system, with no marriage, certainly has left a very easy going society where people of either sexes can chat to outsiders with no hang ups and probably the only place where no one asks about marital status !.
Tomorrow back to Lijiang.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 2:35 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.