Fox poison in Dali (Nov 2007)

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So after the trek in the gorge and a couple of days in Lijang we took another very bumpy and noisy ride to Dali. I'm still not used to the drivers here, they're all maniacs, everyone cuts each other up, no one stops at lights and instead of indicating drivers beep their horns....so basically they're beeping all the time! Anyways somehow we arrive in Dali in one piece, and it's really pretty....a cute little town in the mountains with a stunning lake.

We decide to rent some bikes the first day and head down towards the lake. Nan and Grandad - I tried a tandem bike with Ana (see the pic) but just couldn't get used to it, God knows how you used to cycle for 100 of miles on one - our coordination was not that good! Anyways we make it down to the lake and after a bit of bartering, agree 15 yuan each (about 1 pound) for a boat ride with a local. We're at the lake but there's no sign of his boat so he persudes us to follow him...and what a cool ride he takes us on through the back streets and farms, so nice to see all the locals and they're really friendly in this part of China.

After about half an hour of riding we get to another part of the lake and see the boats! The fun is just starting though....before getting into the boats the local and his wife insist we all pose with their birds on our arms - Dad a bit like the pigeon picture of you as a kid. Everyone else is well up for it, having pics taken and laughing away apart from me and Lou! They look more like eagles to me and I can just see one pecking at my face! We decline the offer....

So we head out in the boats....only we're not allowed past about 50 metres, we are literally rowing (and we're doing all the work rather than the local!) around the bank, not quite what we had in mind especially since the lake is huge! The guy is adament though we're not allowed out!

Back on shore me and Lou give in and pose with the eagles! As the pics show, Lou is definitely a lot more relaxed than me! When it comes to my turn I pose for all the photos and then ask the guy to get the things off me but he thinks I'm wanting pics with him so poses for the cameras...by now my arms are killing an dropping fast, these birds are really heavy. So not quite what we expected of a trip around the lake but a lot of fun.

It's our last night of the tour so we treat ourselves and order 3 bottles of vodka between a few of us...and suprise, suprise are all battered within a couple of hours. All is cool until the last bar where I hear Lou telling the barman she loves absinthe...he makes this awful cocktail called Fox Poison with absinthe, tequila, cointrea and milk, what a lovley cuurdling combination. Anyways as I hear her I know it's going to get messy though we all know what Lou's like, not worth telling her to stop....she shares it with the barman but they don't even make it to the end.....Lou and me are in the toilet within half and hour and these aren't nice western toilets. Squat toilets are definitely not designed for this....

Somehow Lou keeps the cocktail down although she has a lot of help getting home, thanks to Tara and Graham. And from what she looked like the following day on the bus to Kunming, I think it would have been better if she's got rid of some the night before. For once I wasn't the one with the worse hangover, ha ha! Sure it will some soon though.

Chris and Lou xxxx

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