Joining the Lijiang Bowling Team

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Day 64

With some sadness we packed our bags and got on the bus for Lijiang. We have really enjoyed the slower pace of life relaxing in Dali, however with batteries recharged and after a warm up walk in the mountains around Dali we are now heading for the Tiger Leaping Gorge and the two day trek which, we have been told, is the highlight of many travellers' visits to China.

Mama Naxis Guesthouse in Lijiang is famous amongst travellers and we had heard about it in Dali so decided to get a room there to find out why. We were picked up from the bus station and before we could even sort a room out were made to sit down in the courtyard and drink some green tea and eat a banana. Some time later, having played with the numerous cats, kittens and dogs in the courtyard and with our things installed we were about to go out to explore the old town when Mama herself arrived and wouldn't let us go out until we'd had some bread and drunk some more tea. None of this was to be paid for and, unlike other places whch expect payment for the room before you even put your bag down, offers of payment were refused, "You pay when you leave". We were unused to this trusting method of running things and were quickly learning why the place was so popular. At this point we also worked out that there were actually 3 sites to the geusthouse cunningly named No.1, 2 and 3. We were at No.1.

We spent the afternoon exploring the quaint cobbled streets of the old town, another very pretty place, with snow-capped mountains in the distance. We had been instructed to return by 6 and understood that this was something to do with dinner so we went back to Mama No.1 where we met with some other travellers who took us to Mama 3 where the food is served. For 10Y (just over 60p) Mama serves an all you can eat Chinese feast for all of her guests, not only is the food amazing but it's a great chance to meet and get to know people. The rest of the evening was spent enjoying Mama's cheap beer and chatting in the courtyard where we got to Know a Canadian guy called Paul and a Danish girl called Anya.

By the end of the evening we had already been taken into Mamas extended family and felt very much at home!

Day 65

The next day we experienced Mamas breakfast, this time 3Y for either a huge bowl of noodles, or a 'pancake' (thick dinner plate sized breadlike stuff!) with either banana or egg and tomato topping. Today we opted for noodles, at these prices its not worth trying to go out to find anything cheaper.

We went out with Rob and Jillian, a couple from Scotland we'd met at dinner and planned to visit the Black Dragon Pool Park, one of the most photographed sites in Yunnan. However we were once again put off by the Chinese tourism prices and decided it wasn't worth the entrance fee. Wandering down the road we stumbled upon an outdoor ladies bowls game. We stopped to watch and cheer them on which they seemed to like! We couldn't resist having a go ourselves and I think we impressed them with our talents, although surprisingly they didn't try to recruit any of us for their teams.

After some more wandering around the town and another evening feast we went back to Mamas No 1 to prepare for the next day with a couple of beers and meeing Pauls friend Lyndsey. It seemed that almost everyone from the hostel had decided to make the trip to Tiger Leaping Gorge the following day. We packed as little as we thought we could get away with for a two day trek into our day packs and hit the sack.

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Comments

[Emma]

yay!mama!
we stayed at mama 3!!!! well...I did...others of the group were at a different place!!! x

[marney]

world tour scam
that picture of you playing bowls......isent that the car perk of the wing yip chinese food store in manchester?......ha ha good try.