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Published: December 20th 2009
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I meant to continue this blog..shortly after the Kunming/Dali entry....but I think I put it off because there were so many pictures to upload. Between the 5 of us, we probably took over 500 pictures! So bear with me, we were there at the beginning of October, I will try and remember all of the happenings.
After Brad and Angelina dropped us off at the entrance of the Old City of Lijiang, we walked around trying to find our hotel. We were situated right in the centre of the ancient city. It reminded me of what I pictured of China before I came here. The stereotypical Chinese buildings with the pointed roofs and distinct shingles, lanterns hanging and stepping stones on the ground.
The ancient town was a maze of streets that looked very similar, so it took us a day or so to recognize where we were going while walking around. The vendors in the ancient city were selling goods they had made, there were so many to see and choose from! There are a couple vendors that stand out to me now. The vendors selling hand made jewlery- which they would hammer on a tree stump at the front
of their store and chissle the fine details with tools. Vendors selling tie die clothing and scarves, vendors selling hand made combs carved out of various materials, vendors selling Lijiang keep sakes, like key chains, cell phone decorations, and everything under the sun. One vendor in particular I will never forget. They were selling hand carved art, with traditional ancient writing, and hand made jewlery. The shop belonged to a family of three- Mom, Dad and daughter. The daughter was around 9 years old and she was adorable. The first time we stopped in, we all bought some of their hand carved art and some jewlery. They were so pleased that we were buying so much that they lowered the prices to give us a deal. We were all so happy to be supporting them because they were so kind and friendly. A couple days later we decided it would be nice to buy some snacks/treats for the little girl. So we showed up with an armful of treats for her. She was so happy that she gave all of us one of their braceletts from the store. None of us wanted anything in return, but if we did not
take the braceletts it would have been insulting to them. We asked if we could take a group picture with her, and then she reached into a cupboard and took out her own digital camera. I know that was a very touching moment for myself and probably the rest of the group as well. There was something about that family who was both living and working from the same building. Actually, I could see into the back room from the shop, and it was clear that they cooked and lived in the other part of the shop. To us, it seemed like a very simple life, but to them it was what they know and they seemed happy with what they had.
While in Lijiang we found a restaurant called "Prague Cafe", yes... like Prague in Europe. It was run by locals and had two levels, a couple tables on the main floor and more upstairs. The stairs going up were so narrow and steep that it amazed me how the servers could carry a tray up and down them. The first visit there was for dinner, and we were all very impressed. The service was excellent, the food was
excellent and the prices were more than reasonable. They had perfected western food in my opinion. The menu had a good selection as well. In the 5 days we spent there, I think we ate there 5 or 6 times. Once we discovered the Naxi breakfast we were there every morning. The staff started to recognize us after the second and third time.
Why go somewhere else when you know it is going to be good?
One day we signed up for a tour which took us to a lake near the snow mountain, where we went horseback riding. This was my first time going riding and was under the impression it would be along a trail of flat land. This was not the case!! Instead we were riding up a mountain (otherwise known as the Silk Road). The group of us did have a guide, but normally there are only 2 people and a guide, we have 5. Jess had had a horse accident years ago and was a little nervous and Aaron (being the only man) was the most nervous out of all of us!! Too funny.
For some reason my horse thought it would be a good
idea to bite Aaron's horse!!!!!!!
This was not funny....because we were on a narrow path along the mountain, going uphill and downhill. I do not know if this is a good enough visual, but trust me it was a little nerve racking.
After about 2 hours we reached a resting point on the mountain. The guide said that if we wanted to continue we would have to go the full way to the top point (so no turning back) We all decided that by the time we reached the bottom again, we would all be "horsed out" for the day.
After the horses, they took us out on a boat, which looked like a big canoe. There were tons of people on the edge of the lake getting their pictures taken by photographers. Apparently this is a common trend with Chinese people. Most of them were getting wedding photos done and some were on horses, wearing matching polo shirts, getting glamour shots? haha
The bar scene was interesting in Lijiang. I guess a year ago they decided that since it was an ancient town the bars should close around 11pm......that's right folks 11pm, the time when we usually go out
at home, the music stopped and the ancient city fell quiet. So we came up with a plan!! We would just start earlier!
We ended up going to the bar around 7pm because there were nightly local performers that started around 8:00. The second night we were there the performers recognized us and gave a little nod. I think the first night we made ourselves noticable since we were sitting at a booth near the open air window, and were calling people in from the street to join us at our table. I think through the course of the night we had about 8-10 new friends join us at our table!
Overall the trip was relaxing and enjoyable. Our hotel was a 5 star, and the decor was matching with the ancient city. When you walked in from the street you entered the front desk, and then into an open court yard with a small pond that had fish. There were only 10-15 rooms, so it was pretty small. Although the rooms were decorated in the traditional way it was still equipped with a computer with internet, flat screen tv, and a washing machine.
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