August 25th-26th : First Day in Liming

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September 25th - Back to Shangri-la - Dia 96
Left Yubeng Village bright and early today. We had to walk around 7 hours through another valley to later take a van towards Shangri-la. The walk was incredible. I though I was trekking through Nepal already!
Following a river downstream we saw how it grew in power as we descended. It became a massive living creature, bigger then usual as it overtoppled its own banks.  The terrain changed and with it the lush green vegetation disappeared. We now found ourselves walking on a small ledge carved through the wall of a huge canyon. Beneath us a 300 meter drop towards the ranging river.
Arriving at the end of the trail we were met with around 8 drivers. Every single one wanting to take us to Shangri-la, a long 5 hour ride. They ended up drawing cards from a deck to decide who was going to be the lucky driver jajaja.
We rode back with an Israeli couple which I spent a lot of time talking with. I guess it was the lack of having somebody to properly talk with this past days. Learning a lot about Isreal, people there seem to love traveling. Interesting fact: Finishing high school Isreal students need to go through 3 years of military service! Upon finishing their service they take a year off for traveling before starting their university career. ? 3 years of their life spent in the military!! I can't believe it still
Being dropped in Shangri-la at around 6pm I stayed there for the night before continuing my trip towards Liming.

September 26th - Dia 97 - Liming
Another long day of travelling making it to Liming  by late afternoon. Was all the traveling worth the effort!?
OF COURSE YES! Driving into Liming was a thrilling experience. Seeing all the steep red sandstone faces surrounding a really small village with mostly dark wooden houses was a special moment. This time I knew I was going to be able to climb all of those beautiful walls! I was in touch with Mike Dobie through messenger who is the main developer of the climbing around Liming. I was even going to have dinner with him tonight ? So as you can tell I was quite excited
I met up with Mike Dobbie, his girlfriend Ana and lone climber named Craig. I knew he was going to be my climbing partner for the next week and a half since I was also a lone climber ?
We all went for dinner together. They had just finished climbing and we made plans to go out climbing tomorrow. Mike and Ana were currently developing a climbing area called Goat Rodeo. Taking the opportunity to seeing them develop some climbs Craig and I decided to accompany them tomorrow.
The thing I just love about climbing is its community. Climbers take you in as if you have been friends for a long time. It's the best feeling when you are traveling alone. You feel accepted and a part of a social group with the same objective: climbing ?

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