Xianggelila Shuizhuang Hotel Shangri-La

... soon set with a driver and car and set odd to Deqin to get our bags, the road was as bumpy and uncomfortable as ever but Xi still maniged to get some sleep somehow. After a couple hours the twisting roads were begining to take its toll on our car, going uphill was proving to be a problem for it and as we were driving though mountains this was a problem for us. We must have stoped at least ten times before we maiged to get another car to stop and help and 15 minutes ...

... we had to work our way down south to Shangri-la (also known as Zhongdian) and it involved a lot of bargaining, a mandatory stop for a night in a rather boring town of Daocheng and totally 15 hours of time spent in minibuses (that including for example pushing the car and a lot of bad music).<br><br>Compared to the places we visited in Western Sichuan (Kangding, Danba, Litang), Shangri-la is very developed. Of course, tourism is also coming to these Tibetan ...

... The cobblestone streets are uneven, but the area is small and easily walkable.<br><br>On a hill overlooking the town stands a real monastery&#8212;meaning one that doesn&#8217;t charge an admission fee or do hokey fortune telling. Up a wheeze-inducing (because of the 3200m altitude) stairs is a tall temple and a giant round prayer wheel. You can grab a tether and circle the wheel, though neither one of us knows the significance of the walk. Inside the temple is ...

... et blottie sous la couette pendant toute la journee, avec comme compagnon, une bassine. eh oui, la joie de l atitude avec ces avantages et ses inconvenients. la vue est magnifique mais moins d oxygene et la moindre grimpette est sportive et tu as l impression que tu as fait un effort de fous alors que tu n as monte que 20 marches. et puis faut s acclimater au froid polaire, aux doigts qui ...

... et pas trop touristique pour notre plus grand plaisir. Les gens ici sont tres accueillants et font tous partie de la minorite Tibetaine, meme si nous ne sommes pas au Tibet au sens Chinois. On a trouve une auberge tres sympa et tres bien placee tenue justement par des Tibetains originaires de la region. On a passe une bonne partie de la soiree avec eux et ils nous ont tres bien explique la ...

... manicure or a pedicure, Travelling what a hard life! Refreshed and rejuvenated, the next day we took a bus out to a large monastery on the outskirts of town , it is the largest in south-western China and houses over 600 monks. It is constructed in the Tibetan style(it looks similar to pictures of the Potala palace in Lhasa, capital of Tibet). It is a very atmospheric place, it feels like re stepping back in time. It is also felt like we were ...

... a national-level scenic area. Yulong Mountain is the southern section of the Hengduan Mountains. It has 13 peaks, stretching 35 kilometers from north to south. Shanzidou, the main peak, is 5,596 meters above sea level. It is a snow-capped mountain and the southernmost mountain with snow capped all year round in the Northern Hemisphere. Yulong Snow Mountain has rich vegetation coverage, featuring distinct and complete alpine vertical ecosystem from subtropical ...

... us about what there is to see and visit in the area, all of the agencies we visited advertised in English but nobody spoke even half a word of English. Eventually we got talking to a Tibetan guy who lives in California and was on a visit and through him we learnt a whole lot more than we could have learnt from reading and the Lonely ...

... zo mogelijk nog mooier dan die van Zhongdian, met een heel aparte stijl van huisjes.  De straten zijn er bezaaid met kleine leuke winkeltjes en gezellige restaurantjes en er lopen grootmoeders in traditionele kledij rond, die je vanalles proberen te verkopen.  Na de eerste dag verkennen en eens naar de pagoda's te gaan kijken, heeft Herman griep gekregen, waardoor we niet konden vertrekken en dus een extra dag in Dali moesten blijven.  Kim en Rembie zijn toen al ...

... but we eventually made it to our destination, the tea horse guesthouse. At this point we realised that Rosie had actually meant she was going to do the trek with us for the first time, as soon she was to become a guide like her father. Now what were we to do? We were only half-way to half-way! There was the option of sleeping, but it was only 12:30 and seemed a waste of the day. We had our lunch, the best so far in China, and drank gallons of water. Rosie was to leave us at ...