Lijiang Sanhe Hotel

... House. As for me, my goal was to get out of touristy Lijiang and enjoy the scenery for however long I deem appropriate. My first stop after about 3 hours was Naxi Family Guesthouse. The instant I entered their family courtyard I was charmed by the smile of the owners, the flowers and the incredible view from the terrace of the Yulong mountains. So, after a three hour hike, I decided to make this my first overnight stop. I set outside and ...

... 50Yuan and 20 of that was a voucher we could spend in the old town. By the by it was well worth it I got me a much needed leather belt with the voucher, checked into my hostel while the others checked into another guest house. Now the K2 is basic as far as hostels go but I could not help but feel like an unwanted guest at someones house I was ignored most times and then a few vague directions when I asked for information but hey check out the ...

... tornade. Je crois qu'elle est tombee dans la marmite de methamphetamine quand elle etait gamine. En moins de 5 minutes, elle a organiser mon autobus vers Chengdu et m'a donner une banane et une tasse de the. Ca c'est du service!<br><br>Pis j'ai une chambre a moi tout seul aussi pour genre 25 kuai! C'est un ****ing bon prix! Sauf que pour seul chauffage j'ai un bucket avec du charbon en feu dedans. Ca va ben dormir a swere!<br><br>Y fait ...

We arrived in Lijiang a few days ago and we haven't been able to shift our cold, not for lack of trying. We went out a few nights ago to a supposed Irish bar called Stowe on the Wold and had quite a few Hot Toddies but, especially in Damians case, his runny nose and sore throat have become even worse.<br><br>Its not so bad to be ...

... We sat along the water front at a wooden table and had wooden stumps for chairs. Bill enjoyed the fried pork though (it was thick bacon). I did not enjoy the mixed greens, they tasted like beet leaves and had dirt and bugs in them. They did not bring the rice to our table until we were done our meal, so I sent it back. Bill had a Dali Beer and I had the tea. It was 100 yuan for our meal. I refused to pay for the rice, so they took 1 yuan off. I ...

... climb was actually the second highest point that we will reach on this journey at 3,200 metres above sea level. So we rose 700 metres in altitude today. The high altitude had me quite short of breathe and most us have to do the type of breathing that women do when delivering a baby, well at least that's what it reminded of ...

... at english)... so we walked... and walked as it started to rain. we stopped at various stores asking about the guesthouse. again, pointing and strange gestures... more walking... finally we see a white person off in the distance... "do you speak english? do you know where this is?" ... so he asks a chinese lady he is with and more pointing. well, at least this time, we had some translation to the pointing. again we ...

... to sleep and in fact would have to do the dreaded bends today or back track. This part really knocked me out, the sun was relentless and there was no shade. The horses started to look friendly. The trail had a lot more people on it than before, around 20 compared to zero earlier. We made it to the rest stop, before the bends. Lots of shade and cold water. I was determined to make it over, but was quite drained from our mini trip off the ...

... later when light turned on in my head and I asked them all to give me their tickets. I raised my Sprite bottle in the air and told them to follow me to the entrance and handed the tickets to the gatekeeper. She stamped them all in and they all followed me into the park. The old Jedi mind trick is a beautiful thing. At the end of the day, we took a great picture where I borrowed the tour guide flag from a real tour guide. I gave them all the tips I could about Tiger ...

... fed until you leave, all in giant communal meals. She wont let you leave the table until you're near death from over eating and the food is some of the finest we've had in China. Lijiang was rocked by an earthquake back in the mid 90's destroying much of the new town but the old town lived on. The chinese government developed the old town and now its like a themed Disney village for chinese tourists. Oh well. The night life is wild tho. There is a stream running ...