Lijang

  Lijiang, Yunnan, China
Monday, September 8, 2008

ok, finally updating... we've done a lot since we last wrote. first off, we took a flight from beijing to kunming and after a bit of a delay, we flew into Lijiang in the Yunnan province of China. its in the southwest area of china. why yunnan? well, it's supposed to be absolutely stunning here... and it is! we flew into snowcapped mountains, endless hills of rice terraces and sunflowers surrounded by mountains and lakes. BUT it was NOT love at first site...

from the airport, we got into the city via shuttle: no problem here. then we took a cab to our hostel: problem. the cab dropped us off in an area and just pointed in a general direction while indicating we needed to take a left around the corner to find the guesthouse. again, problem. we had no idea where we were and in which direction we were going. (remember: the chinese are NOT GOOD 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 walk. this time down an alley. again! white people... but this time, they look like backpackers! "excuse me! do you know where Panba Guesthouse is?" "oh sure, we're going there right now. just follow us." and that's how we got to the guesthouse. private room: 100 yuan = approx $13. private bath, free internet, wonderful common area, and great views. awesome. so we unpack our stuff and head out into town for a snack before going to bed.. it was about 9pm by this time.

and this is where the love affair with Lijiang began: the old town is absolutely beautiful. endless alleyways of shops and restaurants in old chinese architecture with canals weaving throughout town.

old town at night

by day

BUT, what eunice loved most were all the stores where the Naxi people (the local minorities in this area) would make clothes, bags, trinkets and art pieces... and everything is SUPER cheap. we're talking like $6 for handmade bags, $.50 for bracelets and some jewelry. what i was thinking was "good thing this place isn't at the end of our trip. otherwise, we'd be out of a lot of money and have heavy luggage to carry back home." after a sichuan stye dinner, we hit the sack.

alley shot

the next morning, we rented bikes for $2 a day and biked around town just enjoying the sights and sounds of town. the day was relaxing... until it started to rain. not good. it POURED! like seriously.... we got caught and were soaking wet from head to toe. but that's a part of backpacking. after returning to the hostel, we spend the late afternoon with a couple from Israel playing cards and planning a joint trip to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. then, on our way out to dinner, we met a French Canadian couple we later joined us for the next couple of days.