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Published: November 9th 2009
Perhaps it was the poor sleeping conditions or the lack of friendly smiles being seen as we would roll into a town or maybe even the fact that our 40 pound bags were weighing us down; whichever reason or excuse you decided to go with the truth of the matter is... slow travel was proving to be too slow and too stretched out for our wallets. So, without much talk and just a look between Simone and I we knew our walking days were over ( for now, let's not get too depressing) Jumping on a bus that ended up making me a believer in motion sickness we traveled deep into the mountains. Now there have been too many night buses and discomforting airless travel accommodations for me to recount all of them but I do remember arriving into Lijiang. Greeted with the early fresh morning air and the sun glittering on the cobble stone streets I remembering feeling like I was in a different part of China. And in fact I was, we had strolled into Old Town.
Finding a hostel and then some breakfast we were already relaxed and without knowing it then we would spend almost a
week there. While we were delaying our planned trek into the Tiger Leaping Gorge we came across a little restaurant where I saw a poster looking for workers in a new hostel in Shangri-la. Ask Norman for details it read and so I did. Norman turned out to be the owner of the current restaurant we were in and he had just opened another cafe/lodge in Shangri-la. Working in a hostel had already captured my attention not to mention it being located in a town that seems sprinkled with mystery and beauty. Simone and I told Norman that we're heading into the gorge and that perhaps after the trek we could talk about an interview.
So, finally leaving Lijiang with ideas bubbling in our heads of us and Shangri-la we made our way to Qiao Tou to start the trek. For unknown reasons I became really sick on the first day, it started on the bumpy bus ride from Lijiang to Qiao Tou and lasted the entire day. Sadly a donkey was needed in order to carry my dizzy barfing failing body up the mountain. The first day was a challenge that my body could not handle. I'm thankful
that somewhere inside of me came the strength to finish what I had started. The second day being my birthday was exactly the opposite of the first. Full of life and feeling the energy of the wind blowing through the mountains was one of the best birthdays I have yet to experience. And after spending two nights in the gorge and finally making our way back to Qiao Tou we called Norman who told us to come out to Shangri-la for an interview.
With the consent cooling wind behind us and our feet leading the way we held our our homemade sign saying " Shangri-la" in hopes of being pciked up by another fellow traveler. Waiting by the side of the road just outside of the small town we tried our luck with hitchhiking in China. After about 5 minutes of drivers laughing at us we got a ride. A very nice man who spoke no English ended up taking us all the way there and even stopped and brought us lunch. Arriving earlier than expected we had time to kill and decided to check out one of the local pubs. Some beers later we realized we needed to
Bird Watch
Rooftops in the Old Town of Lijiangget ourselves over to N's Kitchen and Lodge to show them what eager little workers we could be. I guess the beers helped to show how friendly and happy we can be and they ( Norman and his partner who would be looking after the Shangri-la location ) decided we were the ladies for the job. Which is great for many reasons and ones that include how much I was looking forward to resting and staying in one place for more than a few days and secondly for the experience that working in a hostel could bring.
So, now we're here. Working and living the good life in Shangri-la. There's a feeling in the air here of ideas and potential and if I spend some time listening to that feeling I believe really good things could come from it. Here's to hoping for more adventures and opportunities to arise.
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Cory
non-member comment
Leaping Tigers, Oh My!
Glad to hear you are still enjoying your trek! The new photos provide some glimpses of why you are there...beautiful. Hope you are happy with staying at the hostel for a little while and will be looking forward to the next update as always! Much Love - Cory