Kevin'S Trekker Inn Shangri-La

... we went!! This was sooo hard - my lungs were screaming for air &amp; my quads were complaining!!! It is nearly straight vertical up by a series of ladders &amp; steep paths that luckily had poles &amp; a side to stop you falling over the steep sides.<br><br> <br><br> <br><br> <br><br> <br><br> <br><br> <br><br ...

... in the future. They had a nice lake / marsh with a wooden walkway around it in front of the temple hill. I think they get tons of tourists in high-season based on the ~15 buses in their fleet and the automatic ticket gates. They will make a mint. It would make me feel better if they explained where all the money was going (eg temple construction, community aid). Maybe the head lama needs a new car and a nice mansion? As I read about "peace for all beings" on the plaques, I was not ...

... ground. The inside was not much to see, but it was a bit amusing that the whole yard was filled wih farmers that shouted "tashi dele" and took pictures of us with their mobilephones. We continued biking to Tian Shang bridge (entrance 15 RMB) which was a natrual lime stone "bridge" over the river. It was nothing special at all, they had some hotsprings but we didn't bathe. The bike ride took totally six hours, and then we got back we bought the last Tibetan goods and ate tibetan food.

Woke up, and made an immediate decision with Deniz that this would be our only full day here in Zhongdian. However beautiful the area may or may not be, it was so cold that the evenings are very difficult to enjoy. The cold and altitude had me dreaming vivid and often bizarre dreams, mostly of tropical beaches. My subconcious had spoken! I'm going to head south through Laos to Thailand soon, in order to sort out Nepali visas/flights and ...

... looking for when we look for Shangri-La. World Hum: Apart from the satires, I've never seen a guidebook about a place that doesn't exist. What prompted you to write this one? Michael Buckley: There are a number of guidebooks to realms that may or may not exist-all the way from Dante's "Inferno" to recent guidebooks to the "Da Vinci Code." I mention those two because they have spiritual angles. Spiritual guidebooks you might call them. In Tibetan literature there ...

... in their hundreds, four abreast, singing marching songs at the tops of thier voices. They form up in the square (i'd estimate at least 500, probably more) with big red flags at the head of each column. And that was that. What it was all about remains a mystery, I'm guessing a show of force after the troubles in Tibet. Unfortunately I couldn't get any pics as the military police were watching like hawks ...

... to make a party for my birthday even before the day: I ask her to cook for us. She had some Foie Gras and some white wine ( and plenty of other red wine) and she did a terrific diner one more time. By now, I don t need really to do something for my birthday as first I don t know whee I will be and second it will be difficult to do something as great.

... the low road which gives the trekker a better perspective of the sheer depth of the gorge but a rather boring walk along a concrete road. On the high path there are many options to stop off at family run naxi style guest houses to give the trekker a choice of what pace they want to take through this natural wonder. The first of which is the Naxi family house which is just 2 hors into the walk from Qiaotou. We decided to stop there for some refreshments and also to let the ...

... This place had hosts which spoke excellent english, were very friendly, the double rooms were cheap, very clean, with electric blankets (great for the freezing weather) and most importantly - piping hot water 24hours! It was a great find. Pity we didn't look at it when the taxi pulled up outside 2 hours earlier! Nothing like acclimitising to altitude with a 2 hour hike around town with heavy backpacks. Zhongdian is a tibetan town, but is rapidly being expanded with the bland ...