Fri 29 / 10

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Fri 29 / 10 Shangri La to Lijiang & air to Chengdu

Day 13 was to be a long day with sightseeing From Shangri La then travel to Lijiang for a 21:05 flight to Chengdu.

A 06:30 wake-up call awoke us from a deep slumber on the inverted mattress (the feeling of the springs did not worry my sleeping) before a basic breakfast selection - short on forks / coffee milk with a limited selection otherwise and the eggs were 2 fried or nothing.

An 08:30 bus departure took us only a hundred metres to the 'Southern Asia Jewellery, Tibet Jewellery Exhibition where the virtues of Gzi mineral were detailed - certainly forms into fine jewellery and the authenticity is assured by the self diagnosis of the seller.

It was then a long (but not by the standards of this holiday) bus drive to an early 11:30 lunch on the banks of the mighty Yangtze River where the toilets for the taller guys presented an impressive 'over the wall' view down the river.

Passed the snow cap peaks of the adjacent mountains we headed to Tiger Leaping Gorge where we walked along the cliff face and through tunnels with pavement perfect pathway 2.6 km (each way in and out) to the spectacular gorge with direct view across the river to a roadway being cut into that cliff face. The Gorge provided a powerful display of the raging waters

Height of gorge 3900 m / water drop 213 m / water depth 40 m

We then travelled on to the first bend of the Yangtze and onward into Lijiang (enroute picked up for speeding - on these roads that's a good effort) for a 5:00 dinner at the Haili Hotel

A short stroll around the local shopping area before a return to the bus and onto the airport

Awaiting at the airport for a plane that was due to leave at 21:05 it's a chance to add this blog and contemplate the even longer day than we expected as we are still to see the plane arrive from it's previous city and the board for a flight of 1hr 05min to Chengdu and then to the hotel.

This could be a short night as tomorrow we travel by coach to Leshan and E'mei Mountain

22:30 announcement of a 23:30 departure and a free handout of wheat instant noodles and separate hot water (I guess 2 min noodles might encourage quick eating whereas these could be 1 hour noodles! )

postscript plane departed 01:15 and we arrived at the hotel room at 02:30 for bed

NDC 29/10

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