Sakura Hostel Lijiang

... that the traditions can benefit from the tourist industry and still remain a fundamental part of everyday life. So many traditional craftsmen/women are at work in the old town: silversmiths, weavers, coppersmiths, leather workers, engravers and painters. And lets not forget the saleswomen quietly getting on with their knitting or embroidery whilst awaiting the next customer.

The Chinese tourist seems to favour the organised tour. The guide carries a ...

... Through a Gorge in Yunnan

... reading the "Forgotten Kingdom" by Peter Goullart. I got a 20RMB room with a single bed since the dorm rooms were all taken. In the evening, a group of students from Hong Kong International School arrived who were on a team building trip led by Asia Pacific Adventures. I talked to Emma, one of the intructors who had been on this trail before and she mentioned that the White Terraces, Baishui Tai, was nothing special. As I had planned ...

... br>we walked some of the way but the heat was intense and we had to turn back but we had a good 6 hour walk. the scenery was amazing and being so high up was a new experience for me.

Jane's guest house was a nice place to stay but Jane is a bit annoying. as our visas are running out, we decided to go the next morning to Dali, on the bus for 5 hours.

... 1513;מו תה סוס הוסטל. לא ברור מה מקור השם. שם ישנתי ויצאת 97; בבוקר להמשך הדרך.
ר ;וב הדרך בנוי ...

... were very impressed by my height and how tall I could jump. I showed them how I can slam dunk without actually jumping - a complete fallacy, as I am hopeless at basketball. The cycling was not too difficult, although my seat is extra high and it is hard going up the hills because of the altitude. There is snow on the caps of the mountains. I braved it and didn't pack too many clothes. You can really feel yourself breathe in gasps going up even the smallest hill. Had ...

... Olympic fire, I befriend a Taiwanese lady, who speaks perfect English. She finds out where the relay is supposed to pass and we join thousands of Chinese men and women, and kids, and babies and dogs, that are eagerly awaiting the relay with little Chinese flags and sun umbrellas in hand. Two hours on, the crowd has lost some of its enthusiasm, but stoically awaits. It is in the end an anticlimax. Instead of fit guy or a gall running down the street with a torch ...

... else had already eaten. We tumbled into the hostel to the "come back" greetings of two of the girls who work there (we think they probably meant "welcome back") and immediately sat down to a very large, delicious dinner. After two days of trekking, I needed a day of relative relaxation. I spent some time walking through the maze-like, cobblestone streets of Lijiang's Old Town, including a visit to the local market. All sorts of fruits ...

... are also 16,000 domesticated elephants, mainly used in the logging industry throughout Asia, as well as a significant number in captivity around the world. I've also read that poaching is quite a problem on the Chinese border, and the preference for elephants with tusks means that the population of surviving elephants has more of the non-tusk gene. So eventually the elephants in China may not have tusks. And as a side-effect from China's recent interest in Africa, elephants there ...

... hike down to the next guest house in the gorge called the Tea Horse Trade Guest House. I had stayed at the Tea Horse back in November 2004 and really enjoyed it so we hoped to be able to stay there this time. We reached the Tea Horse at about 5:15 to find they had added a new building with 10 additonal rooms. We took a twin room in the new building at a cost of 40 yuan. Our friends from Taiwan decided to push on to the next guest house because they had to ...