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Buddhist Deities
The temple in Baisha held many statues of High priests etc. Some were real freaky looking! Leaving the Pandas behind we head for Lijiang, nestled in the foothills of the Tibetan plateau. After a 13hr overnight sleeper train we jump on the most uncomfortable bus in the history of buses for the 7hr drive to Lijiang. 11hrs later we finally arrive, tired, hungry, and lost. Cleverly I had forgotten to write down the address of our hostel. After fruitlessly driving around in a taxi, we stumbled across the Frosty Morning English Pub, run by the wonderful Phillip and Hsiaoping Houston. They helped us out immensely, helping us find our hostel and, more importantly, serving us the best burger in the whole of China! So good we ate it 3 times that week! The next day, after sleeping off the combined fatigue of traveling and alcohol, we headed back to show our appreciation by eating another burger. Memories of the rest of this night are hazy, but the photographic evidence shows that there was karaoke involved, followed by dancing on the bar. Needless to say, we didnt feel brilliant the next day, and it was not until our third day in Lijiang that we actually saw what the place looked like in the daylight!
What we found
GGGGOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!
Buddha United: 1
Rest of Religion Allstars: 0 was that it is beautiful place, with narrow, cobbled alleyways and canals criss-crossing, old ladies in traditional tribal dress and Tibetan herdsmen guiding horses through the street. I also discovered that Yak is very very tasty. We took a day trip out to a small town called Baisha, famous for its temple murals, and spent a day or two just relaxing, enjoying the blue, pollution free skies. After resting up, we were ready to tackle one of the main attractions of the area, Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the deepest gorges in the world.
We set off with our hand drawn map, ready for a full days hiking. Reviews we had read and even the Lonely Planet said that it was a relatively easy hike, but this turned out to be a big fat lie. The hike was all uphill, on a tiny path with a sheer drop inches away from you, at over 2000 metres above sea level. It was tough, but the view from the highest point made it all worthwhile. It took us 7 hours to reach our destination for the night, the Halfway House, whose toilets boast the best view from any toilet in the
Doctors Surgery
Apparently the guy who lives here is a very famous Chinese doctor. world (open air toilets looking straight at the sheer side of a 5000m tall mountain) Sleep came very easy that night.
We set off early the next day, enthusiastic as this was suppose to be the easy part of the hike. And easy it was, until we passed the last place that sold anything and 2km later were faced with a sheer descent, followed by a ferry crossing, followed by a 1800m climb. It was tough, many breaks were taken, but just as exhaustion was setting in we made it to the top, where we jumped at the offer of a ride back to Lijiang. We later found out that most people stop and get a bus back about 6km before we stopped, and we now realised why!
Back at base camp (as Lijiang was now starting to feel like) we rested up for the next adventure, the town of Zhongdian, at the very edge of Tibet, renamed Shangri-la be the Chinese Tourism Authority. Our run of luck with hostels continued as Gil, the guy in charge, was one of the nicest people we have met on our travels. He cooked special Tibetan dishes for us, took us
Old Woman
This sweet little old lady tried to charge us for this photo. to markets and areas that we would not have seen, and made us very welcome. It also helped that we were the only guests, and he had a good DVD collection! The only mistake we made was not bringing the right clothing. Zhongdian is over 3000m above sea level, and it was bloody freezing. Sandals were not a good choice. Before leaving we made sure to visit the Tibetan Monastery, a beautiful complex unlike any temple we've seen before, and said to be more beautiful than the biggest temple in Tibet. It was very pretty, and had some Yaks outside.
Other than that, we didn't do much else in Lijiang, except explore. We had a great time there, drank too much, ate too much, but saw some unbelievable things. We even partially solved the Visa issue that was dogging us, but that is a whole different story. Leaving Lijiang behind, we flew to Shenzhen and boarded a bus to our next destination, Hong Kong.
Take Care
Dave
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Nana
non-member comment
WOW
Wow this is some Blog I have printed off 14 pages, the longest one so far, so pleased you are all still having a great time. Nana Lings