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Published: September 21st 2006
Our trip on the bus from Lijiang to Dali was not without event...
Firstly, as we were going over a mountain pass, we were forced to stop and join a queue of other buses whilst the Chinese military played with their tanks. There was a race track with targets set around it and when the tanks fired their guns the windows of the bus shook.
Then, as we approached Dali, the bus driver pulled over and jestured for us to get off the bus. Unfortunately we did not realise that he was trying to do us a favour by dropping us at Old Dali. So we just nodded and said "Dali bus station please". It was only when we got there, that we realised that it was New Dali bus station. So we made an about turn, managed to avoid a 50 yuan taxi fare, by asking a policeman which bus to take, (it's the number 8 by the way) and within 15 minutes were back in Old Dali. The only hostel flyer we had, lead us (after a very long walk up hill and some help from a young lad), to the International Hostel, Old Dali Inn number
5. We booked into an OK room (100 yuan including 2 buffet breakfasts) with shower and we unpacked.
In between my bouts of delirium, we managed to taste some of the local atmosphere and get in a bit of sightseeing. We arranged a tour around Er Hai lake, which felt a little hurried but was a good laugh. First we visited a tradional Bai house, where Emma sampled the delights of the three course tea meal which I passed on, (the teas all tasted very different from one another "apparently"). After this we were given a fashion show of Bai regional dress and a display of their dancing and music. At times the displays were quite comical but still held our interest. Then quick as a flash we were off to the market, which was a bit of a sad affair, because it seemed to be over. So, not to lose our attention, our tour guide rushed us to a local tie dye factory. This was a large house where four or five women where busy stitching cloth to make it ready for dipping into vats of Indigo. Having partaken of indigo tea, we were taken to the house
of a local artist who has made good and had his home built on the shores of the lake, to his own design (Don you would have loved it). It was an eclectic combination of industrial and organic, which worked exceedingly well. It was a little strange walking around somebodies home but it turned out that he occassionally lets rooms out for 400 dollars a night and somehow that made it OK.
Next it was time for lunch, a huge feast that just seemed to keep on coming. The dishes were being piled one on top of the other, until there was no more room on the table. When we could finally move again, it was off to the Sky Mirror Pavilion which looked suspiciously like another area where you could fit a lot of shops near a monument. Then a short ferry ride across the lake, followed by a short wait for our tour bus to catch up. Then for the highlight of the day, cormorant fishing. We went out in a smaller boat along with a fisherman and his six cormorants. They plunged into the water over and over again, each time returning with a fish stuck
in their throat (the birds had a thin piece of twine tied around their necks, so that they could not swollow the fish). The fisherman pulled them out of the water by their necks and unceremoniously removed the fish, before dropping the bird back in the water or onto the edge of the boat. It looked as if he was being a little rough but the birds seemed to be happy enough and they returned over and over again. Then after a photo opportunity, (where the birds got to have their picture taken with me), it was time to head back to the hostel for supper and a well earned rest.
As part of my recouperation, Emma thought that it would be a good idea for us to take a gentle pony trek to Qing Bi spring (OH MY GOD SIX HOURS IN A HARD SADDLE). Neither of us had ridden for more years than we care to admit to and the ride up to the spring was a steep three hour climb. Fortunately the horses did all the climbing and we just sat there getting bruised. At the top we dismounted and took a short (bow legged) walk
to the spring. The water was clean, freezing and a wonderful turquoise. Having wandered for a while, we returned to the waiting horses, remounted and finish our day very bruised but happy.
The next thing that I can remember is my musical shave... One evening whilst we were wandering around the streets, we stopped at a small barbers shop, to get a needed shave from the grandfather of the family. This ended up being followed by a short musical rendition on the Erhu. It transpired that grandpa (the barber), used to play for the Beijing opera and that, that evening was the night he was giving lessons to the next generation of Erhu players. It was one of those surreal moments that you normally only read about in other peoples diaries.
A couple of days later we made the short walk to the three pagodas, that are just a few kilometers to the North West of Old Dali. It was quite expensive to get in (121 yuan), each entrance fee. Once inside we realised that it was huge, not just the three pagodas but also a series of modern temples (completed in 1999), stretching up the hillside. When
we first arrived there were several tour groups already there and the place seemed quiet busy but as we wandered through the temples the crowds slowly dissappeared. However even this rare solitude did not made the temples as appealing as the pagodas. To be candide we found the feeding frenzy in the heavily populated fish pond, the highlight of the modern temple complex.
By now, we had met and made friends with Theo and Mikea (an inspirational couple from Amsterdam) who gave us lots of helpful information about Vietnam. One evening we all decided to go to one of the local "pick and mix" resturants together. It had all the ingredients on display at the front and you could just point at the things that you wanted cooked. 5 minutes later, the delicious dishes arrived at your table.
The following day we all headed off to Sha Ping market. It had everything you could need and more. You could get your weekly food shopping, buy your pots and pans to cook it in, cloth the children, get a shave and haircut, get your teeth fixed by the dentist or if he failed, get some new false ones made.
You could even get grow bags that grew chickens or ducks. All in all, it was a great way to spend a morning looking, learning and cringing.
We had ordered our Vietnam visas through The Sister Cafe and seven days later they arrived. So it was time for us to leave. We booked a bus to take us to Kunming. The bus from Dali (80 yuan) was small, new, very comfy and dropped us at the Kunming bus station, (but not the one we needed). So we walked out of the bus station turned left and a short walk down the road, found us at the next bus station (the one we did need). True to form, there was a bus leaving at 7:30 pm for Hekou (the Chinese border town), which meant that we only had to kill 4 hours and did not have to spend the night in town. We bought our tickets (116 yuan) and a helpful man showed us where our bus was. We took the risk of stowing our bags (which was a weight off our backs) and had a look inside the bus. It was made with VERY short people in mind (yes
even shorter than me). The beds were about five and a half foot long, stacked two high and three across the bus (you could fit 36 hot sweaty bodys on board). The journey started, well Emma even managed to get some sleep but about nine hours into our sixteen hour trip (about 4am), the bus took the scenic route. This had nothing to do with any roads but lots to do with avoiding them. We cross-countried for about 3 hours, hanging on to the bed frames, as the bus bounced and jolted on its way, until finally it found the road again. Ultimately we where dropped in Hekou, just as the boarder was opening, so off we went to make our first overland border crossing.
SOMETHING FOR THE CHILDREN: Old Dali is known for its Indigo tie dyed fabric. To make it, a design is stencilled onto a piece of white fabric; thread is tied very tightly around the stencilled marks; the fabric is dipped into the vat of indigo dye, over & over again; the excess dye is washed off, the piece is dried; the threads are removed and ultimately the fabric is spread out to reveal the design.
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Beej
non-member comment
Do you think they have tomatos stashed away in tomato houses if grow bags are full of chickens. xxx