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Published: October 2nd 2018
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September 21st - Kunming ➡️ Shangri-la - Dia 92
My original plan was heading to Dali in search of some climbing. But during my stay in Kunming, while I was resting in the Hostel, a gorgeous series of big canvases containing a white snowy peak attracted my attention. Searching for the name of the peak I realized it was not too far away from Kunming. Situated in a small town called Deqin around the northernmost point in Yunnan, right next to Tibet. Around this town were some incredible hikes in alpine and Tibetan communities. Not about to let that opportunity pass I changed my plans for the day next 4 days ?
In order to reach Deqin I had to essentially travel for 2 days. Not too worried about it since the scenary on the way there was supposed to be mind blowing.
The only boring section was today. After successfully getting a SIM card and a mobile plan I took a fast train to Dali. Arriving in Dali at 3pm I got a night bus ticket to Shangri-la leaving at 6:30pm. Wait wait wait. Lots of waiting and reading and eating some good local fruits. Grabbing for the bus ride
a toasted piece of corn and a weird rice sticky tortilla wrapped around some meat and veggies. I guess that's the closest I will get to Mexican food in China ?
I was surprised to see the bus that was going to take me to Shangri-la. Instead of seats it had beds lined up in 2 levels!! WHAAAAT. JAJAJA I was excited to try it out. Given the bed at the very end of the bus I cuddled next to another 4 Asian man. The one next to me had a huge belly and slowly took my sleeping space as we made our way to Shangri-la, a 7 hour bus ride. I thought I was going to sleep like a baby but it was a rather bumpy ride and the bus driver kept on stopping everywhere picking up packages and dropping some off. I guess earning some extra money ?.
At 2am I finally made it to Shangri-la and with the help of an amazing Hostel service I checked in at 2:30am. ??
September 22nd - Deqin - Dia 93
Waking up surprisingly early I left the Hostel as soon as possible to catch the next bus early. I
was feeling so energetic and happy walking towards the bus station in Shangri-la. It was one of those moments were you are just satisfied with everything. And Shangri-La Old Town was a beauty, a rustic little town with stone roads. The little stores selling Tibetan jewelery blew my mind as well. I had no idea how artistic they were. ? Feeling life's energy inside of me I walked through Old Town and catched a local bus to the bus station.
Another day in the bus but a much more exciting one since we travelled through high lands, huge canyons and narrow roads. The 5 hours on the bus from Shangri-la to Deqin were so beautifully scenic. I took a couple of pictures on the way to try and portray the landscape I was passing through. The mountains where starting to get huge! And once we got close to Deqin the massive 6000+meter snowy and glaciated mountains appeared before my eyes ?⛰️. Now it made sense why I had travelled so long ?.
In the bus everybody seemed to have the same plan in mind. Everyone was going to do the 2-3 day adventure hike to a small alpine Chinese village
called Yubeng Village. So we all became to know each other through the 5 hour bus ride. I was the only non Asian and could somewhat communicate in English with only one person in the bus jajaja. For the other people I had to use my phone. But I still managed to become friends with most of them. A silent friendship I like to call it.
We arrived in Deqin with cloudy skies above and around 8 of us where dropped in the same Hostel. We were a big group. Just as we walked into the Hostel a huge rainstorm hit and it started raining a lot! Water was falling inside the Hostel to a magnitude that a bucket would not be enough to stop it jajaja. The Hostels roof needed to be fixed a long with many other things it seemed. It was quite rustic...
We settled in and had the opportunity to have a massive dinner together with the owner of the Hostel. Again I was the only non Asian so it was a dinner with not much understandment and talking from my part ?. It was still a nice experience to be mingled in Chinese culture.
Here we drank the classic tibetan butter milk Tea, but with a slight different taste then the one I drank with Leo and Bean. Ahh but I had missed its taste! It's SOO good! I have to try and make my own in Mexico. It's supposed to have great health benefits.
With my stomach full and my mind calm I settled into bed covered from head to toe because it was getting cold up here in the mountains ❄️
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