Tiger Leaping Gorge

Today started at 7:30 with breakfast. Diana was right there at 8:00 to take me to Tiger Leaping Gorge. The driver was late, but it was sort if confusing for him where we were supposed to meet. There are only certain areas you can drive in old town and they are right on the edges. He was waiting in a different spot than we were.

It was a two hour drive. At the beginning of the drive, Diana told me that my guide for the trek would be Tibetan. Then she told me a little bit more about the Chinese culture. In her opinion the basis of Chinese culture for the majority of people is Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Simply the three give balance between morals, ying and yang, and religion.

Her thoughts on the Tibetan people were that their society is ruled by religion alone. In that way, she thought they were spending too much time praying and they end up having a terrible economy where everyone is poor. With China getting more involved in Tibetan society, it allows them to grow and prosper.

It was interesting that she told me all of this. Maybe she wanted to pass on her views before I would be influenced by the views of my Tibetan guide. She actually talked for about 1/2 hour on this subject. It was physically draining. I slept on and off for the next hour. Then we arrived at the meeting point. She was going to take a shuttle bus back to Lijiang. Young Ten would take me trekking. Before I got the details from Ivy, I really thought I was on my own for the trek. But in China, you can't do anything on your own. You might get lost or hurt. I think they just don't want to be responsible for you. If you go on your own, you may veer off the path. And they only want foreigners to go to certain places.

So it was nice to have the guide. Although I felt like he was trying to shorten the hike. I had to convince him I wanted to do what was in my itinerary and didn't want just a 2 hour hike. We were supposed to get dropped off at the 14km point after visiting the Tiger Leaping Gorge statue. So we followed the road and at a certain point we did get dropped off. I have no clue if it was the 14 km point or not. We walked on the road mostly to Tina's Guesthouse where we would have lunch.

So it's hard to describe the Tiger Leaping Gorge and this part of the Yangtze River. There is a fairly narrow section of the river running really fast that looks brown and muddy. On both sides of the river the peaks rise up to above 4000 meters. The road is at about 2400 meters. The mountains are so steep and rise so high that it's impossible to capture those images. At the section where the Tiger Leaping Gorge and statue is, the river is wider. Then it becomes narrower as you get to Tina's and continues to narrow. From Tina's, the hiking path goes down to the river almost immediately. A lot of small tour groups go down to the river and back for the day, so it was fairly crowded around this point. After that, we had the whole place to ourselves.

So you have to pay 10 yuan to go down to the gorge. Then there are several viewpoints where you also must pay. There is one spot where a family repaired a ladder. You have to pay them if you want to continue. Then, another family repaired the trail, so you have to pay them. This sort of stuff bugs me. Just hit me with the entire fee at the beginning!

It was fabulous hiking through here, I must admit. We were lucky that it was partly cloudy so not too hot today. Plus if it was raining, it would have been so treacherous. The rocks were slippery as it was. With rain I may have fallen. There were some big waterfalls. But also many dry falls. If it started to rain, the water would be rushing down the dry falls because it's so steep.

Many parts on the trail have chain links as ropes to hold on to when climbing the rocks, especially on the very narrow and steep sections. The so called "ladder" was going over water that was running pretty fast, but didn't look the least bit sturdy. There were uneven pieces of different size wood on the ladder with many gaps. I can't believe I crossed that. Had I thought about it for even a second, I wouldn't have crossed.

We started seeing a town of about 600 way up ahead in the distance. This was where Sean's Guesthouse is located. We crossed through terraced farmland and had to climb up to get there. The last 15-20 minutes were tough because you could tell where you were going but it was so slow since it was all uphill. The whole hike took just under 5 hours so it was great to be able to arrive in the late afternoon to still enjoy the views.

Sean's was a nice place. The rooms were great and the setting amazing. You were staring at these huge steep peaks. There was a nice outdoor terrace and big eating area indoors too. I went for a shower first and then headed outside to try to get some hot water for my tea.

I hung out with some other new arrivals. Karen and Maurice were from a tiny town near Antwerp, near the Belgium/Netherlands border. They were spending three weeks in southeast Asia. They had been to Borneo, Malaysia, and several spots in China already. They took a car to Sean's but would be hiking to a waterfall with Sean tomorrow. They were really nice. They loved traveling. They go on a big trip every year. Last year they spent a few weeks in New England in the fall. Maurice was a
CPA and worked for the consulting arm of Ernest & Young. Karen did sales support for a small local company.

The highlight of their trip so far was their visit to see the pandas. But they were going to many of the towns I went to in Yunnan for typically a day or two. We mocked the Chinese tourists a little. They only seem to want to go see a tourist spot for the picture. Once they get their shot they move on to the next tourist spot. We couldn't figure out why they would want to take a picture of the sculpture of the tiger that supposedly leaped over the gorge in Chinese legend, but none of them were out here hiking in the gorge with the amazing scenery.

I ordered eggplant and corn with steamed rice. I had been seeing roasted and grilled corn on the streets since Darjeeling and was craving it. I'm glad I finally saw it on a menu. The food was great and the portions were huge here.

Sean is an interesting character to say the least. He has this infectious laugh. And he is always joking with everyone. Apparently Karen and Maurice told me he became Mayor of this town 6 months ago. It seems like because it is such a small place that all the local people would help each other out and it would be a close knit community. That is not the case at all. He wants to encourage more of a community atmosphere. Life is hard enough as it is. There's no reason to make people re-create the wheel here.

There was a small Japanese tour group also staying at Sean's as well. They had taken a bus in. Sean's comment to us was that you could tell who the foreigners were as they are all drinking. It was true. Karen was drinking Makaibari tea I gave her, but everyone else had switched to beer after dinner. The local guides and drivers were not drinking.

I went to bed around 10:30. It was a beautiful night, but I started getting a little chill outside. All the stars were out and it was an incredibly clear night with a light breeze.

Lijiang and more Puerh!

The following day was Sunday. All day today I kept thinking it was Monday. I have no idea why? I had breakfast at my guesthouse and had my first full day of exploring Lijiang. I really wanted to get to know the town better. I was with my guide or walking around at night mostly. So I felt like I still kept getting lost or would be walking in circles on my own unless I took the time to explore it during the day. The old town is really a beautiful and charming place. All the buildings have pointed tile roofs. The roads are tiny, narrow, cobblestone streets and alleys. They criss-cross canals, bridges, narrow rivers, and streams. Now there are shops everywhere but it is still possible to get away from the crowds in the morning and evenings or head to more residential areas. I'm just surprised that no one slips and falls into one of the canals!

I walked to black dragon pool in the morning. The town's water used to come exclusively from a spring here. There were three pools. One designated for drinking water, one for washing vegetables, and another for washing clothes. There is a pavilion in the park with a small stone bridge. Behind it is Snow Mountain. When I arrived I could see a portion of the mountain. The rest was cloud covered. But after I walked around the various pools, the view had become much better.

I wanted to head to the Wang Gu Lou pavilion afterwards. It sits on top of the old town and offers nice views of old and new town including the nearby mountains. The walk is all uphill, but it took me to a part of old town I hadn't seen yet. It was a gorgeous walk and a great view once I got to the top. The clouds atop Snow Mountain had cleared up a bit more since the morning. You could also see the tile roofs of all the old buildings in old town.

A man from Vancouver, traveling alone, and I exchanged taking pictures for each other. He said he had just played golf at the highest golf course in the world at 3100 meters (near snow mountain). His favorite shot was a 300 yard drive. He knew it was due to the altitude, but he certainly enjoyed it!

It was well past lunch now. These breakfasts don't quite fill me up, so I need to have some snacks and a late lunch or early dinner.

I was still trying to find the place Ivy took me to dinner the first night. The reason being is that the tea house was right across the way. I have been unable to locate either. I actually started from the main square several times and went in each direction. Eventually the last way I tried was correct. This town is such a maze. I did have the business card of the tea house but it was completely in Chinese. I suppose my last resort would have been to ask someone. I decided to go to the restaurant for a late lunch.

One of the waitresses remembered me from the previous evening. I ordered eggplant with potatoes and steamed rice. It was a good people watching spot. I do like Chinese food but notice how much oil is always at the bottom when I have finished my dish. I have been eating a lot of the fried flatbread here. It's sometimes onion, plain, or with honey. It was definitely bigger and better in Dali but the first time I tried it was in Darjeeling. There it was filled with cabbage and onions.

I found a nice cafe to have a cup of tea on my walk back to the guesthouse. They had live music. I don't know if the live music was because it was Sunday and more people would be about, or if it was like this every day late in the afternoon.

I was gearing up to go to the tea house but wanted to wait until later in the evening. Ivy had a tour group from the US today so if she went at all, it would be later in the evening. They did tell me to come back and to drink tea anytime. Someone there would know English.

So even though I had found the tea house in the afternoon, coming from a different direction in the evening, I got lost again. I felt so stupid. But I did know which way to go from the main square. I eventually got there.

When I did, some of the workers recognized me and said hello. Then I saw Gao Shun. He said hello too. I saw a new face. Her name was Diana. She will actually be accompanying me to Tiger Leaping Gorge on Tuesday. She was a guide and a very good friend of Ivy's. The three of us went upstairs to drink some tea.

Today we would try 4 teas. I brought some of the Makaibari Imperial Silver Tips for Gao Shun to try. We had that first. I told him to start with boiling water, but that it had to sit for a while before he could brew it. It was a delicate tea, which I'm sure he understood. I didn't want the taste to be spoiled by using water that was too hot. I had not yet brewed any of this tea myself so I didn't know exactly how many minutes either. I thought Mr. Banerjee had said about 3-4 minutes, but I think Gao Shun was using more than a teaspoon of tea per person. So I let him figure it out. He brewed it for a short time. The flavor was definitely more flowery than they both were used to but they liked it. I let Gao Shun keep some to show my appreciation. I wonder if I should be tipping him too???

The second tea was a green tea from 1996. This still looked green and the color of the liquor was light colored too. They told me it was stored in Yunnan the whole time. Typically if the cakes are stored in Guangzhou or Hong Kong they turn darker in color and liquor faster. This was my favorite of the evening. They told me that most people just keep buying green tea cakes and store them on their own. That way they can always drink good tea but pay cheap prices.

The third tea was a 1992 old tea rolled in pieces. It was fermented. This was nice and dark. It was warming.

The fourth tea was white particles that looked like ashes. It was from the third tea. I guess after the tea is fermented, these particles can be scraped from the top. He put just a few pieces in the pot and didn't strain them at all. The tea is supposedly portable this way but it didn't have the depth and the same quality as the other one did.

I didn't stay as long tonight. I didn't want to overstay my welcome and felt guilty about drinking all their good teas. But I didn't want to go back to the hotel yet either. I went walking. I found a new area of town that I hadn't been to yet. It was past the Tibetan Cafe with the music. You have to walk through one restaurant and over the bridge and then you reach the country market with all the street vendors in one spot. If you keep walking on this street it's called Qiyi Street. It runs into the old tea horse road. I couldn't believe I had missed this whole section of town as this road was really long. I walked on it almost to the end. I memorized the location so I could spend time exploring this location tomorrow.

The next day, what I really wanted to do was go to Shaxi. Supposedly they still have original parts of the tea horse road and it has not been overrun by tourists. I asked at the tourist booth. They said I would have to take a bus. It would take me two hours. Then from the bus station, I would have to take a 20 minute taxi ride to Shaxi. If everyone spoke English or I spoke Chinese it would be easy and I would do it. But this would probably be impossible to communicate. I wish I had done a little more research and added it to my itinerary earlier. Oh well, still much to explore in Lijiang. I actually thought about renting a bike today but in hindsight it was a good idea I didn't. It rained a good part of the afternoon.

I had the regular breakfast and was out of the guesthouse before 11. I got some flatbread and started walking. After realizing I couldn't go to Shaxi, I decided to hang out at the tea house up on the hill with a great view near Wang Gu Lou pavilion. I saw it yesterday. I walked a different way this time and got there around noon just as the school children were coming out for lunch. They were so cute. I ordered a pot of puerh tea. There was no chance to re-steep the leaves as they gave me a large pot without the leaves. Well, considering the nice view I had, it was a good compromise.

I hung out for two full hours. Much of the time it was raining so it worked out perfectly. Then afterwards, I decided to head to that area I discovered last night on Qiyi Street. It's busy near the market stalls and then thins out some. Plus today it was raining on and off so there were hardly any people around. I took the road until it ended and it got me to the "so called" south gate of the old town. Then I went over a few streets to Nasmen or something like that. There were more canals and restaurants and hotels in this area. Again, I was blown away by the size of the old town. In Dali, the streets are in a grid so it's easy to get around and you cover the area quickly. But here in Lijiang there is no grid. And with the canals and bridges, it makes it even more difficult, but also way more charming. I eventually figured it out and was even able to find my way back to the guesthouse without much difficulty.

One thing I should mention about this town is that the first day, my guide told me the public toilets are really quite clean and you don't have to pay anything. I didn't really think anything of it. But the second day, I had to use the restroom at dinner and they sent me out to the public toilets. There are signs all around the town for them when you pay attention. Most restaurants do not have their own toilets. I was surprised that they are very clean. Almost every time I used them, there was someone cleaning.

I came back to my guesthouse for a short rest before dinner. I had a place in mind where I wanted to go. I also wanted to check out a women's clothing store. I have seen this one shirt every day I walk by and really like it. I figured I should just check the price and try it on. So the shirt I liked did not look so good--a little big. But I saw another similar style in a different color and it fit better. I bought it.

I walked around quite a bit for dinner. The place I thought I would go to was really more of a cafe than a restaurant and I was hungry. I ended up at this Naxi place. I had mushrooms and tofu seasoned with hot chili garlic and ginger and steamed rice. Oh yes, and of course the very average to poor tea they give you for free. The dinner was really good and my waitress was from Xishuagnbanna. She told me a few places I should visit there.

After that I was ready for my last evening of puerh tea in Lijiang. I went over to the tea house. No one was there that I knew and no one really spoke English. It sounded like they would call someone if I liked, but I didn't want to burden anyone.

So actually one of the women called Diana who would be my guide for the drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge. The woman ran down the alley to catch me. Diana was at my guesthouse and trying to leave me a message. Apparently there was a change of plans for tomorrow. They wanted to leave at 8 instead of 7. She was trying to tell me this. I told her I'm a slow hiker at higher altitudes and I would rather leave earlier. She said, leaving at 8 would be enough time. I reluctantly agreed.

The woman from the tea house, motioned for me to come back. So I did. They poured me the tea they were drinking which was the 13 year old fermented tea I drank on day 2. Then Ivy showed up. She asked me what I wanted to drink next. I said the 4 year old fermented tea from Yi Wa that I bought.

Next Diana came in. Then when Gao Shun showed up, he got in the chair to make tea for everyone. Next we tried the green tea that was 4 years old from Yi Wa. That was nice to drink now and would continue to get better. I already liked it now.

Gao Shun brought out the Makaibari that I brought over yesterday for everyone to try. Then we tried two more. The first was a 19 year fermented tea from Xiaguan - 1992. The final tea we tried was tea from an 800 year old tea tree. This was a green tea made in 2010. These teas are all very special and I realized how lucky I was (a foreigner that knew no
Chinese) just hanging out drinking this amazing tea!

Teas over a certain age are no longer available for sale here. Now I wondered if I should have bought the 4 year old green puerh cake instead of the fermented one. It would have been cheaper and I liked the way it tasted now. I wonder if I will like something in xishuangabanna better? I left shortly afterwards. I had to repack and get up early tomorrow. I thanked everyone and tipped Gao Shun.

They said goodbye and still couldn't get over how a foreigner could drink so much puerh tea and enjoy it as much as I had done.

Lijiang

On my departure day from Dali, I again opted for the bread from the street vendors instead of noodles. I actually got two pieces this morning. I figured that one would be for lunch. I also made some tea as I was showering and getting ready. The Makaibari supply is getting low. Will I make it the remainder of my trip? I actually brought some oolong and puerh with me, but I haven't had any of it yet. I will use that if I run out. Tom and the driver met me at the hotel and we were off. He had the driver go around the south east side of the lake to the newer part of Dali. It really looks like a nice city. Supposedly the population is 3.5 million including old town. When we got to the train station, Tom said he would buy a platform pass so that he could help me with my bags. I felt really bad. I actually know my bags are heavy, but I am responsible for them, and I don't expect anyone else to help me carry them. He wouldn't take no for an answer. So he waited at the gate with me and carried my heaviest bag. The train was delayed about 1/2 hour. So I am glad he was there since there was no announcement in English.

He helped me all the way down to the platform and put my bag on the train. He even said he noticed there were more seats in one of the cars, and that I should head in that direction.

I ended up in a car with three people sitting on one side and a twenty-something year old woman lying down the full length of the bunk. I sat down at the end and put my things on the middle bunk anyway. Hello, like do you realize this train is completely full? How dare you pretend you can't see other people trying to find a seat. I mean how rude are you? If you are trying to save the car for someone that stepped into the bathroom, that is one thing. But this was completely just a prima donna ignoring everyone. I thought all these things and didn't say a word, just smiled as I sat down.

Anyway, I survived the train ride in less than 1/4 of a spot while the queen bee layed down and listened to music and used her cell phone. I was in between two windows so couldn't see very much but the scenery looked nice. We went through many long tunnels through the mountains, so there was no view much of the ride.

We arrived in Lijiang at 6:30 and Ivy was waiting for me. I liked Ivy. She seemed genuinely happy and seemed like she enjoyed being a guide. She wanted to see my itinerary just like Tom. I guess she wanted to be sure it was the same as hers. Since Lijiang's old town is a walking only city, the driver dropped us off and we were off with the bags.

This place is amazing--really narrow cobblestone walkways and old buildings that have been turned into shops. There are 6200 shops in the old town. About 500 are tea shops! Much of that goes back to the ancient tea horse road. This was a convenient stopping point for the tea going to Tibet and the horses going to Kunming. It was a huge trading city. The climate was perfect too. Not too hot and not too cold.

We got to the where the guesthouse was supposed to be. I guess they relocated. Too bad because this was a nice spot and a very nice place. So Ivy called them and they said they would be right over to pick us up. It was only a short 5 minute walk. This place is nice too.

So as it was getting close to dark, Ivy said she would accompany me to dinner. Then we could go for tea afterwards. She has a friend that has a tea shop near the restaurant. She said she always hangs out there and had just been before she picked me up.

The restaurant she took me to was right along the river near the ancient bridge. The men used to sit down below the bridge and watch the beautiful ladies walk over it. In ancient times the men in this culture were supposed to be spending their time reading, listening to music, dancing, playing cards with friends, and enjoying leisure time. The women did all the hard work.

We had fried cabbage with chili peppers and eggplant with green beans and hot chili peppers. We also ordered pork with bamboo shoots and steamed rice. I was so hungry but it turned out to be one dish too much. Ivy had it packed up and said she would bring it to the tea shop for her friend. It was odd because she didn't even offer to split the bill?

We walked to the tea shop. We were quickly sent upstairs. It looks like the locals get to hang out downstairs drinking tea but the paying customers go upstairs.

The upstairs room smelled of tea. They had two kinds of regular Yunnan black tea in huge wooden boxes in the open air. They had shelves of puerh tea both upstairs and downstairs but I knew the good stuff was probably kept here in the glass cases.

I had told Ivy I didn't want to buy anything but just drink tea. I was probably going to buy something in Xishuagnbanna. So she showed me the tea menu and pointed to two items that were the cheapest. I would just order one of those and then Gao Shun (tranlated to tall gentleman) would pour us some other teas as well.

So we started with 2010 silver shoots. The tea was from Jiangmai. These were just the buds and not the leaf of the tea tree. And yes, these were the tea trees and not the cultivated tea bushes. The tea was really delicate and soft and had a sweet flavor. It was really good. This tea was not a tea you could age. You need to drink it now.

Then he brought out a 4 year old fermented cake. It was from
Yi Wa. He called it queen. It was really a nice flavor. It was clear but not smokey or earthy tasting. It was sort of sweet. I liked them both. He kept pouring more and filling our glasses as soon as we would drink some. Then he brought out a 2 or 3 kilo chunk of 8 year old fermented cake from Baozhong. This was much darker in color and he called it king. We tried that. It was more earthy tasting to me and almost medicinal at first. Then it changed and was more drinkable. He showed us the 2002 wild tea cake. It was green and not fermented. The leaves were just so much larger. It was unbelievable. This one he said was not for sale.

I would occasionally go back to the first or second tea. They were cooler but the first tea was so sweet and soft even cold. I may have liked the second cake better than the third.

I asked a ton of questions. Everything was answered through Ivy and translated through her as well. We were there for a couple hours for sure. I am so lucky I got a guide that is so interested in tea. She said she had 10 different teas today.

We took off and she partly walked me back to my guesthouse. I told her she could leave once she got me to the main street. When I got back to the guesthouse, I realized I didn't pay for anything. But neither Gao Shun nor Ivy asked for money either. Hopefully we could go back tomorrow and try more teas.

I would later find out from Ivy that she was drunk from all the tea she had. Supposedly you can get drunk from tea if you drink too much. To remedy the feeling, she said that usually sweets do the trick. It's funny because, if you have a hangover from drinking too much alcohol, puerh tea is the best cure I know, or so people tell me : )

The next day we would meet at 9:00 to go to the glacier and snow mountain. I went to breakfast at about 8:15. I feel like I woke up the cook. She made me toast, hash browns, and strips of banana, tomato, and cucumber along with a Lipton tea bag. Oh well, the breakfast was included in the price of the room. Just as I was leaving to meet Ivy, she walked into the guesthouse gate. We walked up to the main road and waited for the driver.

Ivy had told me the total population of Lijiang is 1.2 million. That includes old town and new town. About 300,000 live in old town. There are 56 ethnic minorities in China. You can find 22 here.

First we would go directly to the Naxi village. They still live largely as they did 100's of years ago. The big exception is that running water was installed 3 years ago. Their homes are made of rocks but it also looked like they used huge bricks from the earth for part of the construction. You could see the bricks were really thick. It must keep them cool in summer and warm in winter. There was a small market square. There were three old men singing and playing music. There was a man making hand made silver jewelry. Someone was making copper pots. We walked to the embroidery school. This craft is taught from a master. Each of the students begin to learn the craft and once they reach a certain level, they can create their own designs. After 10 to 20 years they can become a master if they are good enough.

So we walked around a little more and then headed to Yulong Snow Mountain. First there was a show called "Lijiang Impressions". This sounded like a tourist trap as I was hearing more about it from my guide. It was an hour or so and all outdoors. They supplied raincoats which it appeared I would need today. Plus there were 3000 seats. She told me there are two shows everyday, but because today was the weekend there would be three. She also told me there were horses involved and about 500 actors.

When I arrived and saw the stage, I felt like I was on the movie set of an epic film. Apparently the man that choreographed and visualized the opening ceremony for the Chinese Olympics did this show as well.

I was sort of surprised that I liked it though. It had music and dance and lots of beautiful costumes. Many of the costumes were the native dress of the various ethnic groups. The show was about the history of Lijiang and the original culture being more maternal. It seemed like the women did all the hard work, however the women seemed to have more control over love affairs and wanted open relationships.

After the show we headed to the mountain. I thought we were going to the glacier, but the guide had it written down to take me to spruce meadow. There are three different places you can take the chairlift up the mountain. The third is the yak farm.

So because of the weather conditions on the mountain, I told her we should go to the spruce meadow. This was around 3000 meters. The lift to the glacier brought you to 4600 meters. When we got to spruce meadow we couldn't even see much of the mountain. It ended up being a good decision. The meadow area was pretty. There were horses and yaks hanging around. You could also buy some bells to write your wish on them and hang them on the trees. Supposedly, if the bell falls to the ground, your wish will come true. We also went to see the emerald colored lake. The color is so deep green from the glacial waters.

The drive back was about 30 minutes. We coordinated arrangements for my pick up in two days. Then we went to her friend's tea house again.

Today we tried 5 teas. First we tried a 2006 green puerh. Second was a 20 year old green puerh. Third was a 13 year fermented cake. Fourth was the green 2002 wild tea tree cake. The leaves were so long that it didn't really fit in the gaiwan until they softened some.

Lastly, he brought out a very special oolong tea that was from Taiwan. This had such limited production. It was called oriental beauty pom-fong tea. I had never tasted anything like it. The flavor was almost cinnamon-like or warm mulled spices you might taste or smell during the christmas holidays. Wow, today we talked so much and drank so much tea, I didn't really get a chance to take tasting notes.

I find that each of the teas are very special for me and very unique. I am trying to drink as much as possible, that it's hard for me to pick a favorite. Each of the teas will change with time as well. The one thing you learn about tea very quickly is that puerh tea in this region is so intertwined with culture. Everyone is sitting around drinking tea with friends and family during the day. Sharing tea with someone else is a way of showing respect and appreciation and of course slowing down and enjoying each other's company.

I purchased some tea today. I wasn't sure I would see Ivy again and wanted to have her there to help me close the deal and arrange shipping. Gao Shun gave a small sample of tea to take with me to drink along the way. I said I would bring some tea with me the next time I came to share with them.

I said goodbye to Ivy after we left the shop. She told me she hopes to become a tea master someday and after a few years hopes to devote her career to tea instead of being a tour guide.

I was hungry after all that tea. I didn't eat much during the day, but wound up at the Tibetan Cafe. They had live music as many of the restaurants and bars here do. As soon as I sat down, two Chinese guys came over and said they had a bet. One of them thought I was a local and the other thought I was a foreigner. They wanted to know who was right? I still think it was a pick up line, but they invited me over to sit with them after I ate my dinner. This restaurant/bar, and maybe all of the ones in Lijiang, allows the patrons to sing with the musician. So they both went up to sing several times. They were pretty good. There were also some not so good singers that went up there too. They were drinking puerh tea when I sat down with them. Then they switched to beer. I stayed with the tea.

They were both here for business for three days. They thought Lijiang was a very romantic place and I agreed. One of the guys was from Shanghai and the other from Beijing. The guy from Beijing and I exchanged numbers since I will be there in early June. But he doesn't speak much English so I don't know if I'll contact him. They insisted in picking up my dinner when I left.

Dali

We were meeting at 8:40 am for my drop off at the train station. As it was a Monday morning my guide wanted to make sure I wouldn't miss the train. It was raining out so I don't feel like I was missing anything by being on the train for almost 6 hours. We arrived at the train station at 9:30. Vikki couldn't go in with me because she didn't have a ticket. But she told me what to do. The only thing I forgot to ask was if I had a seat assignment. At about 1/2 hour before departure they started boarding. I showed my ticket to 2-3 people and they pointed me towards the same direction I was already walking. Each seating area on the train was in a separate room with 6 bunks. It looked like there were 5 seats in the room in front of me so I entered the room. I showed the ticket to the woman already in there. She pointed to the bunk across from her in the bottom. I thought this entire bunk would be mine. Next thing I knew people started sitting down next to me. Why weren't they going on the top or middle bunk? I guess during the day, everyone piles their stuff in the middle bunk and everyone sits on the bottom bunks. There would be 4 in each row. So uncomfortable. Not enough room to spread out. Not enough room to be comfortable sitting up either.

There were carts continuously coming by with food. You could get snacks or drinks. I didn't need anything. I had water, a banana, and a clif bar. I pulled out my iPod. I hadn't listened to music since the flight from SF to Delhi. It was nice to hear music. I didn't realize I missed it. Sure, I heard Nepali and Indian music and even Chinese music along the way. But to listen to my own music after more than a month felt so nice. I was rocking out in my seat. I had a window seat so I watched the scenery go by. The earth is red here. So even though there is a lot of green everywhere, you also see the red earth. There is a lot of farmland. It looked like mostly vegetables and rice growing. I was later to find out that there is a lot of tobacco grown here. Yunnan is the province that produces the most tobacco.

We were definitely going up in elevation. Every once in a while you would feel that there was strain on the train's engine. We passed through many tunnels during the way as we were in the mountains. Believe it or not I managed to sleep a bit too. When it was getting around 3:30-ish I noticed we were approaching a metropolitan area. The train was supposed to arrive shortly after 4. I assumed the train ended in Dali. But not everyone was getting off. I was waiting for our car to clear out, but apparently not everyone was leaving. Then I heard what sounded like a last call for Dali. It was still taking me a while to exit. Just as I got off, they were allowing the passengers from Dali going further to get on. And there were tons of them. I waited until most of them came down the stairs before I attempted to go up. Although after I had gotten up one flight of stairs carrying three bags, I got sent back down. There is a different way to go for exiting passengers. Good thing, because it was down and not up. I was the last one through the exit and my guide, Tom was there. As soon as we got in the car he said that my train to Lijiang would be leaving after 4 instead of before 1 on my departure day. It sounded like he just bought the ticket today.

Then he said he wanted to see my itinerary as he thought there was another change. He said the walk tomorrow would be 4 hours instead of 2. He thought it might be a problem for me. To his probable disappointment, I said no. If he told me the walk was 8 hours, I would still have said, bring it on. I told him I would check in with my travel coordinator and see if anything could be done about the train. I hate arriving in a new city near dark. It's just harder to negotiate where you are going in the dark.

The hotel was probably more like my first room in the guesthouse in Darjeeling. Kind of run down in the bathroom, but clean. The guide asked me what I wanted for breakfast and we agreed on noodles and tea. Basically he said there were a lot of restaurants around and that the food here is generally spicy.

I couldn't really tell where my hotel was on the map. The lonely planet map and my phone map disagreed. I walked in one direction on the road where my hotel was. I passed a gate. I thought I was at the south gate but wasn't sure. The old town of Dali has gates and walls in some sections. Then I found a sign for Jim's Tibetan hotel. That was in a very different place than I thought it was. Everything in the streets and shops were deserted around 5:30-6:00. I did manage to buy some Tibetan stuffed flatbread. Thank goodness since I was starving. I only had some snacks at lunch. I also got a water since this was the first hotel since the guesthouse in Darjeeling that didn't provide it. I got some cash and headed back to the hotel to drop off the water. This time I walked in the opposite direction. I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't walking in the wrong direction since I never found the road I was looking for. Yeah, there was even less going on the other way. I headed back the other direction again. This time I went down one block towards the lake. There was a temple in the distance right next to one of the city walls. Maybe that's where the old town was. Bingo! I found old town and all the excitement. This is where all the people were--also shops, restaurants, cafes, and bars.

I finally found one of the places I was looking for-- Jim's Peace Cafe. They had Tibetan food, Chinese, and western. I got puerh tea and veggie goulash. It was a curry with rice and so many fresh vegetables--peas, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans, peanuts, and goat cheese that tasted more like paneer. All the English speakers must have the same guidebook because the three tables that were full were all westerners.

I ate so much, but it was really good. I walked back through the old town. It's interesting, because it looks like there are canals with a pretty fast stream going through there. I need to check in with the guide tomorrow.

I headed back to the hotel. It was a good little walk. I must have walked several miles this afternoon and evening after getting off the train. I was psyched I finally figured out the town too.

In Dali, there's not much to do but hang out. I don't want to shop. I already bought a lot of souvenirs. I'm saving my tea purchases for Xishuagnbanna when I go to the tea plantation. So unless something really special catches my eye, I'm not buying more stuff.

I went to breakfast around 7:30. They recognized me, as I must be the only westerner staying here, and they brought me tea. That was a good start. Then the porridge and hard boiled egg showed up. I was getting scared the noodles wouldn't appear. But they did. I didn't touch the other stuff that I didn't order. Tom showed up checking in on me at 8:00. I finished getting ready and came back down. The driver had not arrived yet. He showed up shortly.

It was a fifteen minute drive to Cang Shan. This is a mountain range to the west of Dali. We took the 6 person chair lift to the Quinbi Stream. There were two very clear and emerald green colored pools of water. Then we climbed up to the path. This so called tourist path zigzags in and out of three gorges along the mountain range. The path is mostly flat, which was a surprise, but goes 11 kilometers (about 6.5 miles) to the Guantong Temple. You pass many streams and waterfalls along the way. The vegetation is mostly pine trees. They have something like 24 different types of azalea plants in Yunnan. Many were in bloom. Everything was so lush and green. There were nice views to the highest peak in the range and towards the lake, Erhai Hu.

It was really a pleasant walk and took about 3 hours. We stopped a couple of times. The elevation was about 2500 meters or around 8000 feet. Tom has a son in Xian University studying architecture. It is his first year. Tom said he and his wife began speaking to their son in English when he was little. Everyone in China is required to take English class. But they focus on the writing and grammar to pass the tests and not on the speaking portion. That's why it is so difficult to speak English with people here in China.

University education used to be free until the 1990's. Then slowly, they have made each student pay. Tom said now it's around 30,000 yuan per student per year including books and housing. That's actually pretty decent at about $5,000 per year. But this is for an average university.

Tom also told me that there is a lot of marble around in the Yunnan province. So this province appears to be rich in minerals. We talked about things to do in Dali. The three pagodas is probably the most famous as it is the symbol of the town.

I also told Tom I was very interested in tea and the history of the Tea
Horse road. He said the road definitely used to go through Dali, but now the old path has been replaced with the national road. One of the best places in this region to still see the historic road is to go to Shaxi. He said that maybe I could do that on one of my free days in Lijiang.

Finally we reached the Zhonghe Temple. We stopped for a short rest before taking a two person chairlift down the mountain. It was nice to sit and enjoy the view on the way down. Apparently there is also a steep walking path if you wanted to forego the lift on the way down. They ate building another chairlift that takes you much higher up the mountain. It will be ready in 2012.

On the way back to the hotel, I asked if we could stop for an electrical converter. I told them mine had two prongs and most of the outlets only accept three. I showed him what I had. It actually worked at the first hotel I stayed at in Kunming. It didn't work at the second one and I was lucky enough that when I showed them my outlet, they had a several country converter and let me borrow it. Tom asked the driver if there was a place in the old town we could stop as he lived in town. The place we stopped had them. I tried my European plug and US plug and they both worked. Plus I could use them simultaneously. This is pretty large so I hope I can squeeze it in my bag someplace as I continue to travel the next 3 weeks in China.

So Tom is concerned that the driver may be late and I may miss my train to Lijiang on Friday. So he said we should meet at 2:40. This should give me enough time even if he is late. My train leaves at 4:00 and is only an hour. I had checked with my travel coordinator and this is the only train. A bus would take 4.5 hours, so I stuck with the plan.

So now I have almost 3 full free days. As is my regular schedule in the afternoons, I wanted to have some tea. After my shower, I re-organized my bags and the Makaibari tea Meera had given me resurfaced. This was 1st flush 2011. I kept it to drink while traveling. I think I will continue doing this every single day until I run out.

Now that I know how Dali's old town is organized I will have a wander and see where I end up. I wanted to see if any parts of the old city wall had steps so you could walk around it. I found a place near the southern temple. I took a bunch of photos there. Some parts of the wall have been completely re-built, but this southern section and the western section are still original. I could see the three pagodas from the wall and wondered how long it would take to walk there.

I was pretty hungry by this time. I headed over to Cafe de Jack. I ordered the veggy hotpot and tea of course. But supposedly they make homemade multigrain bread. I had to order some along with rice. The food is good, but every dish seems a little bit too oily in China.

I went to Bad Monkey afterwards. Supposedly they have live music every night. It's a good spot to people watch. However since I was sitting outside I was prime target for some locals trying to sell silver. They would point to my earrings and then bring out of no where this stash of silver jewelry. When I said no, they asked if I wanted ganja! I guess I must fit the typical westerner profile so when one item fails, they think they can get me with the second. Once the music started, it was really loud but not really so good. I left shortly after 9. I had a nice walk back to the hotel. The full moon was still rising above the clouds and really lit up the sky beautifully.

I started my free day in Dali with my noodles and tea for breakfast. They must have realized I wouldn't eat the porridge or egg since they didn't bring it to me today. I walked to old town and found the north gate. Then I headed back to Renmin Road. I asked a few places about bicycle rentals. It seems the going rate was about 21 plus 5 for a map. So I continued on the street where my hotel was but past the old town. You could see where people actually lived and worked because I was outside old town and the tourist area. There were lots of food and veggie vendors. I saw a lot of kids in uniforms probably coming home for lunch break. I continued walking to the Three Pagodas.

You had to cross a main street and then you could see the entrance. There were lots of buses. At the entrance there was a beautifully landscaped pond with flowers and rocks. The reflection of the pagodas in the water was very pretty. It would have been worth it to pay admission just for that.

It appears that if you are with a tour group, maybe you actually walk to the Three Pagodas but then get whisked away to only the important temples. At the pagoda area it was deserted. The two shorter temples are older and then the tall one is newer. The smaller ones actually look slightly crooked. However this could be an optical illusion.

After you pass the pagodas, there are a series of temples. Each temple is higher than the next so you are always walking up stairs and uphill. It has been hot and sunny the last two days with no rain. Of course I am walking at noon or one in the afternoon. There were two exhibit halls with relics of mostly buddhas, jewelry, and small warrior statues all less than 6-8" tall. They all looked to be copper. These exhibit halls were empty too as the tour groups don't come here. Then I headed to the 5 or so temples climbing uphill. These were not that crowded as I believe the tour groups were all at lunch at this time of day.

I guess I can see why the women in China are always carrying umbrellas. It really does protect you from the sun. They also coordinate them nicely with their clothing. In India the woman have the scarf from their sari or kulta and they would use that to cover their head.

The thing I don't understand about China is why everyone loves to travel in these huge tour groups. The smallest group I have seen must be about 20. But most are around 50 or maybe more. The leader has a loudspeaker or microphone and carries a flag. You can't really walk at your own pace.

I have seen some random Chinese couples or groups of four or five traveling together without the guide but that is definitely not the norm. Maybe they, like me, don't want to hear that the square hectares are 100,000 and the shape of the rock looks like an eagle. I mean there is some good information you get from the guide, but you can tell it is so scripted.

In India I didn't really see large tour groups. There were usually small groups of families together but never more than about 10. If you wanted to hire a guide to take you around, they were generally available everywhere.

Back at the temples, I climbed the steps at each one. At a certain point after the exhibit halls, the people movers started up again. The crowds were back from lunch. In certain temples, incense is offered, but not every one. I contined on to the last two temples and the tour groups didn't. The very last temple had three flights of stairs and no buddhas. There were some very nice views of all the temples, the pagodas, the lake, and the mountains. I had this place all to myself.

On the way back, it was certainly all downhill. I was going the opposite way of everyone else, in general. The temple where everyone seemed to offer incense to the buddhas, was the turnaround point for the tours. The mostly Chinese tourists jumped in the people movers so they wouldn't have to walk and could quickly move on to the next item on the itinerary for the day.

It was about a 1 1/2 hour walk back to the hotel. So instead I took a taxi to save my energy for walking around in the evening. I took my shower and had my Makaibari tea.

I actually went into some of the shops this evening. They have nice local handicrafts. They also have some nice clothing too. The sizes are a bit weird. The clothes are small in certain spots and too large in other places.

I was planning to go to the Caffeine Club for dinner. Apparently it was closed today. I tried the Birdie Bar and they don't really serve food until they open for drinks much later than 7:30. So after walking quite a way in search for food, I ended up at the Tibetan Cafe across from the Bad Monkey. I ordered yunnan red wine for a change of pace and veggy fried rice with veggy momos.

Turns out I got the pork fried rice by mistake but I ate it anyway. The momos were slightly different than I have had before. They were stuffed with greens, mushrooms, and goat cheese. They were good but definitely filling. I hung out until the bad music started at Bad Monkey. Again I was asked if I wanted to buy some silver earrings. When I said no, they brought out the ganga. This must be the part of town where questionable people hang out.

I walked back to the hotel and the street activity was pretty happening around the stream. Lots of people were hanging out eating.

It appears that a large group of young kids had checked in to my hotel. They were really loud and screaming until after 11. I couldn't really call the front desk to complain because they wouldn't understand me. A couple of times I got up and went into the hallway and said "shhhhh". I don't think it really worked.

My bed is not really comfortable so I was tossing and turning as I tried to fall asleep. I finally decided to take the duvet cover off the second bed and use it for padding. The bed is as hard as a rock and this at least helped some. Just as I suspected, the kids were up early and screaming as well.

Instead of going to breakfast in the hotel this morning, I decided to get an onion flatbread. It's more filling. I packed up my bag for the bike ride and unfortunately it was very heavy. I found a place that had bikes for 20 + 5 for the map. They were really nice mountain bikes with thick tires. Who knows what kind of roads I will encounter. I strapped the map on the front and the owner gave me a bike lock. Then I was off. I had no idea how far I would get around the lake. Soon after I started I saw the entrance to three pagodas. There was a lot of farmland to the right before you hit the lake. I had heard there was alot of tobacco planted but what I saw was mostly vegetables. Soon it became primarily rice. Men and women were working in the rice paddies. The men were raking the muddy fields so the rice could be planted. Then I saw many seedlings in bundles. Mostly the women were planting the rice and they had on bamboo hats and plastic boots. This looked like much harder work than plucking tea leaves.

The road I was on had one lane in each direction. There was a very wide shoulder for bikes or all sorts of small farm equipment. I also noticed a series of canals or aqueducts. Water was running pretty freely.

All the road signs were in Chinese so far. The map I had, included Chinese and English names so if I needed to ask for directions it would be fairly easy. I noticed my first sign in English and Chinese. It gave mileage in kilometers to three towns. It was odd because only one of the three towns was on my map.

I figured they must have been very small and my map didn't include them. There was a side road that went to a town called Xizhou. I decided to take it. I could always weave back to the main road. This was actually a nice town. They had some nice temples. I kept pedaling. My pack was getting heavy. And my bike wasn't as comfortable as it seemed this morning.

All along the way, school children walking or on their bikes would say hello to me in English. In a couple of instances, some of the older women in the rice paddies also said hello.

Soon I entered a fairly large town. To the left was a butterfly spring and to the right was a boat landing. This was the closest I had been to the lake thus far. I turned right. It looked like a large pleasure boat had just arrived. Lots of people were coming towards me in the opposite direction. There were a lot of fruit vendors on the street as well. It turns out two boats were docked up. Unfortunately, there was no place here to have lunch overlooking the lake.

I decided to check out the butterfly spring on the other side of the highway. There were a lot of tourists. I met a Chinese tourist from the Fujian province. He was really nice. He had been travelling a few weeks. He was heading to Lijiang where I would go tomorrow. He said he really wanted to get to Chengdu before heading home. I'm not sure what the big draw is in Chengdu. I thought it was mostly industrial. He gave me some tea from his province. That was really sweet. He said he is accumulating too much luggage--he sounds just like me. He said he has 4 bags now. If I could get a guide to take me to the post office, I would be all set and just have the bags I started out with.

I decided not to go to the butterfly spring. He said it was a hoax and not worth the admission price. At this point, I thought I should head back and maybe grab some snacks along the way.

I found a great little roadside stand where a man was making some bread. This was the same fried flatbread I was eating in Dali. But this was steaming hot and filled with honey. Umm, it was so good. He offered me his stool so I could sit down and enjoy it.

The ride back was a little bit more difficult as it was into a slight wind. But I was lucky because the road was relatively flat. As I got closer to old town I was relieved. My pack seemed to have gotten even heavier. Plus the sun was so hot, I had to put on my wind breaker so my arms would be out of the sun. I went a slightly different way back to town that was less touristy. As I arrived at the bike shop, the owner was nowhere to be found. He told me to return by 8:30. I don't think it was much later than 5:00. So I kept riding back to my hotel. I knew I would come back to this area for dinner so figured I could just ride the bike and return it then.

I took a nice hot shower and had some Makaibari tea. By this time I was getting hungry, so I dressed and hopped back on the bike. He was at the shop this time. I returned the bike and thanked him. I went for dinner at Jim's Peace Cafe. I had gone there the first night in Dali but the food was really good. This time I tried the eggplant and potato dish and steamed rice along with a small Dali beer. I had walked by the Gurong Hotel many times and it looked very nice. I was hoping to go there to get some tea after dinner.

They had a beautiful restaurant and a teahouse where you could order a pot of tea and hang out. That's what I did for about two hours. At first I thought they must have misunderstood me. I ordered a pot of tea and they brought me one cup and a very tiny glass pot. Maybe I would get three small cups of this overpriced tea. But every 15 minutes or so my server would come by and refill my pot. Then she would brew more tea for me when it was getting cool. What a relaxing evening for my last night in Dali.

Stone Forest and Caves

I was meeting my guide at 1:30 today. I didn't really do much at all before the pick up. I had gotten home around 11 or 12 the night before so I didn't rush to get up. I did want to get breakfast in before the masses arrived so I was down there by around 8. I was watching the chef make the noodles. Once you decide that you want noodles, they boil them for you. Then it's like a noodle bar and there are something like 7-10 toppings you can add on your own. When I come back here I'm going to try that for breakfast.

I was psyched for the Stone Forest. When I went to China 6 years ago, I remember seeing pictures in the guide books and really wanting to go there. This time I finally will. It was about a 90 minute drive.

When we got there it was about 3:00. Vikki said we would go to the local village first, then the big Stone Forest, and then the minor Stone Forest. I think something got lost in translation. We were supposed to go to the town of Lu Man (now named Stone Forest) for the local village market. Instead we walked around the Stone Forest proper, to look at the village where people still lived. In some places they had built houses by using part of the rocks. I also saw a water buffalo swimming. Otherwise, the entire village must all work in the park because it was completely deserted.

I had also forgotten what the guides tell you about during the tours. This peak looks like a turtle. This one is two lovers parting. This shape is an eagle. Use you imagination. I was able to determine that the rocks are millions of years old and this area used to be an ocean. The land rose up from the sea at a certain point.

The shapes and sizes of the rocks/stones were so dramatic. Mostly they were pointed and made of gray limestone. They looked like they would be rough to the touch but in most cases they were smoother than they looked.

There were a ton of paths. At first Vikki didn't want to take me anywhere off the main paths. But I tried to tell her that I was here and I wanted to spend the rest of the day here. So finally she let me. Whew!

I really enjoyed the dramatic knife-like points on the peaks the most. I got Vikki to take me up to some of the viewpoints too. She kept telling me that most tourists don't want to do this. But I kept telling her I did! The rocks were actually pretty slippery. There was a bit of water around too. Some of it was from the rain and some of it was natural little lakes. What I really wanted to do was ditch her and tell her to pick me up at dark, but that's not really allowed. Because we were there late in the afternoon it wasn't really crowded in the major forest. There were some tour groups but they were smaller. We were able to get away from them by going off the major paths. It was actually pretty enjoyable.

We went to the minor forest next. It's got a lot of grass and other landscaping in this area. It's pretty but not as raw or dramatic. It was definitely more crowded here. So we walked around some large circular paths and Vikki was telling me that was it. I could have sworn she told me we were going to see the highest peaks in the forest. I must have misunderstood. She said she had only ever gone to one other section of the forest and that part has a nice view. She said it was nearby and she would take me there. We had to climb a bunch of stairs. It was sort of far from the actual rocks, but it did have a view of the rocks in the distance and was uncrowded. She said she took me to every section of the forest she knew. If you wanted to see all the forest you would need about a week. She said usually her groups go to the forest for around 90 minutes to two hours at the very most. We were there for a little more than 3 hours.

The driver, my guide, and I were all staying at the same hotel in the town of Lu Man or Stone Forest. We would go to the swallow caves tomorrow and meet at 8:30. Hopefully it won't be crowded at that hour. She said there were all sorts of restaurants around the hotel for dinner. And then we said our goodbyes for the evening.

I just changed clothes and went back out to look around the town. So this was the town that had a market. There were still some people around and many vendors. It was in a big enclosed area. It spilled over into the alleys. I walked around and there were all kinds of produce--eggplants, onions, tomatoes, carrots, and all kinds of fruit. Then there were seeds, ginger, mushrooms, chili pepper, and other dried herbs.

You could buy snacks there too. I should have. Everything looked so good. When I went back to the street to look for restaurants, they didn't look as good as the market food. Plus absolutely no one spoke English. I even tried my few words I have written down for noodles. Apparently the people I asked, either didn't know how to read or they didn't serve noodles? I decided to go to the hotel to eat. I might have success there.

They had an English menu so I got some noodles and pork buns. Plus they served a really nice puerh tea. I was sent to the "loser" dining room. This area only had three tables with a maximum of three seats at a table versus the monster main room for large groups. You know how you feel when you are sent to the kiddie table instead of the adult table? It was the same feeling.

A Chinese photographer came in shortly after I did. He had one of the largest lenses I ever saw. He must have been at the Stone Forest today too. He actually tried to talk to me in Chinese, but I know nothing. Then at the third table the servers were bringing all sorts of dishes out--rice, noodles, several meat and veggy dishes. Then this one Chinese guy showed up. He certainly got to try a lot of different items. I was jealous. I asked my server, who did know a little English, what was going on there. She said, he was supposed to be traveling with three others but they never came for dinner. I went to bed shortly after dinner. My hotel also had karaoke, but I was not interested.

So the next day, I found out that my guide Vikki had to share a room with another guide. She said they watched a movie and stayed up until 11. She said the other guide only spent 90 minutes at the Stone Forest and took her group to three other places first that same day. The other tour guide was surprised we spent so much time at the Stone Forest.

The last time I was in China and travelled with guides for 10 days, all my meals were included (not just breakfast at the hotel). So the guides always took me to eat with them. That was a little bit nicer I thought.

I went to breakfast early. They had the worst buffet of anyplace so far. Just nothing I really liked. I filled up on the pastries, fresh corn, fried rice, and tea. A young couple sat down at my table. All the tables are circular and they have a lazy susan on the top so you can pass dishes. They passed me a note "where are you from"? That made my day and I laughed. So did they. I told them the US. They didn't really want to speak English to me. But I obviously knew they could write it. I think that most Chinese know a lot of English but are not used to speaking it on a regular basis and they feel uncomfortable.

I met my team and we were off at 8:30. There was a little confusion when I was checking out of my room. They accused me of stealing hangers. To be honest, I cannot stuff much more tea in my bag. Do you think I'm really gonna steal hangers? I told my guide that you can look through my bag. We can go back to the room and explain to housekeeping that I didn't steal anything. She told me to go to the car and she would handle it.

The Yunnan province of China has 56 ethnic minority groups. It sounds like they get special privileges. Not only can they have 2 children but they also get extra points when applying for college and seem to get preferred admission over other Han Chinese. They also have traditional outfits which are very colorful. You can see them walking around in some of the tourist towns with this clothing on.

So we were off to the caves. The caves are the biggest in the Yunnan province. Supposedly they have thousands of caves in China. We were at the caves early so there was
really no waiting. The later it gets the longer you wait in line since most tours start around 8:30 from Kunming. They go to the caves first at around 10:30 and then the Stone Forest.

The first stop was a boat ride along the river surrounding the caves. You could see some formations from outside the cave walls. Just as the river started getting interesting and narrow, we turned around. Typical. From there we went into three sections of the caves. The first part, where they had built a dam, was probably the most interesting regarding formations. There were a lot of rock like pillars sticking up from the ground. The problem with the caves are that they appear to be fake because there are multi-colored spotlights surrounding the entire place. I really felt like I was at a ride at Disney Land. Too bad. There was another section I really liked as well. They called this the magical fields. They are little lakes formed by water and are in small and large pools. I don't think I had ever seen that type of formation before in a cave. We were there for about 2 hours. At the very end you have to climb up a bunch of steps but then you get to take a chairlift back to the parking area.

It was about a two hour drive back to Kunming. I slept some in the car. We coordinating for the following day. They will take me to the train station and we will meet at 8:40.

They also told me that I would have a different hotel in Kunming. I was a little bummed because I knew where the old one was, what was around it, was excited for the noodle bar, etc. Now I would have to move to a new part of the city. It turned out it was a nicer hotel and closer to the central part of the city. It would be easier for walking.

I had some Makaibari tea when I returned. Then I headed out for the Yuantong Temple. It was between my hotel and Green Lake. I figured I could head that way and then get something to eat and maybe explore a little more by the university. It was Sunday and a lot of people were outside enjoying the day. On the way, I found a little food stand with various homemade breads. The onion pancake was huge and very thin. I assumed they must cut it up. There was no one at the shop. But then a woman with her young child came by and yelled for someone to come out. She asked for 2 yuan worth. I saw the store owner cut it up for the woman. I ordered the same. Yum!

I went to the temple first and on the way saw a vegetarian place. There was a veggie restaurant recommended in the guidebook, but it was on the other side of the street.

The temple was beautiful and there was water all around and a hill in the background. This temple is right in the middle of the city. It's 1000 years old but has obviously gone through many renovations. Apparently it is the largest Buddhist complex in Kunming.

I went looking for the restaurant in the guidebook afterwards. I probably spent about 1/2 hour looking and asking about it. Turns out it was the same one I passed on the way to the temple. They had a silly menu with all sorts of meats used in the descriptions even though it was vegetarian. I ordered fried rice noodles and sautéed eggplant.

I headed towards the Green Lake area after as the road continued that way. My favorite stopping off place is the Green Lake Hotel. They must think I am staying there by now. I ordered a small pot of puerh tea to let my early dinner digest. Then I headed to the university area on the other side of the lake at about sunset. I was trying to find the Speakeasy tonight, but along the way spied many different cafes and restaurants. There was even a tea bar that I made a note of for when I return to Kunming in early June. I was in the same area as the Halfway House. I stopped by at Salvador's. It looked pretty hopping for a Sunday night so I went in. They have an outdoor seating area and a small indoor bar. Supposedly it's fair trade and mostly organic food as well. There were a lot of westerners there that all seemed to know each other. Turns out that many of them teach English at the same school together. Apparently they make about 6800 rmb a month. The guy I was talking to shared an apartment with another guy so the rent was 1000 rmb a month. He said if I wanted to do it, it would be pretty easy to get a job. They are always looking for English speaking teachers. I could check out a class when I was here, get all the contact info, and mull it over when I am back in the states. You can sign on for as long as you want but most people do it for about a year to start. He told me the cool thing about this job is that there is only the "present". There is no past and no future. This is both tempting and interesting. The guy I spoke with was from the UK but spoke no Chinese at all. Sounds to me like he was running away from his former life. His roommate was from Australia and actively trying to learn Chinese. I left after a beer. It was going to be an early morning as the train to Dali was almost 6 hours.

Kunming

So arriving in China, it was around 7am. By the time I got through customs and got my luggage, it was closer to 8. A young Chinese girl was waiting for me with a sign. It turns out she was really 27. I pegged her for 21 at the very most. I found out later that she and the driver both thought I was going to be a man! They didn't check the flight times before they left, so they had been waiting some time for me. We agreed to meet at 2pm to go to the temples. That would give me time to nap, shower, and have lunch.

Apparently Kunming has about 6 million people. Immediately being in China I noticed differences from India. It seemed to be more organized and efficient in China. There were 5 people waiting on me when I checked into the hotel.

Kunming also seemed so brand new after being in Kolkata. But it probably is since they are constantly getting rid of the old buildings. My hotel was nice enough but there is no English spoken. After my nap, I went down to the restaurant to get a quick bite, and it was difficult just getting "cha" or tea and I wasn't even asking for a particular type. Since I had no idea what kind of food they serve, I looked up veggy fried rice in the guide book and pointed at the Chinese name. There would be no experimentation with the pronunciation for fried rice since I had such a hard time with the cha.

Vikki was there right at 2. Apparently the Bamboo Temple is on the west side of the city and the Golden Temple is on the east. The Bamboo Temple is Buddhist and the Golden Temple may be the most famous Taoist Temple in all China.

I really enjoyed the Buddhist Temple. Apparently a sculptor created 500 statues of people throughout his life. They are all depicted here in these temples. Most of them are ordinary people although there are a few emperors. Some are almost god-like as they have extra long arms and legs. This temple was so peaceful to walk around. It was almost empty. Vikki was telling me that all Buddhist Temples have similar designs with courtyards, bells, places to make offerings, and buddhas, etc. The grounds were very beautiful as well. Even though the temple is three hundred years old, they keep re-painting it and it looks relatively new. There was also a 1000 year old Chinese fir tree at the entrance.

We went to the Golden Temple next. This temple gets its name because the temple and famous bell are made of copper. There are also many sculptures made out of copper. You can see the places that people touch the sculptures as the patina has worn off and the copper sparkles. In addition, there are replicas of 4 other Golden Temples in other parts of China. These are made of copper too but smaller in size as compared to the original temples. We went to the bell tower. I wanted to pay the 2 yuans to strike the bell with a huge wooden hammer that resembled a fish. This temple was also peaceful and very spreadout. I think by visiting later in the day, it was also less crowded.

We drove back on some highways that were almost completely empty. Vikki explained that they were new roads. China is building new roads as fast as possible to relieve the congestion in the big cities. I also noticed on one highway, that all the trucks were in one lane waiting. As we continued, I thought it might be a weigh station that was severely backed up. But no that's not correct either. Trucks are only allowed on the highways in the city from 11pm to 7am during the week and they would be waiting here for 5-6 more hours. As we continued on the drive we saw a policeman had pulled over a truck driver that was on the highway during daytime hours.

Vikki is very nice. She has only been married a few months. Already her family is asking for grandchildren. The one child policy is changing here. If both you and your husband are only children, you can have a second child provided you wait three years after your first.

Vikki says she doesn't want to rush into having babies as her life will change. Here it is typical for the grandparents to watch the grandchildren until the child is three. Then the child goes to nursery school. She was appalled when I told her many families in the US send their children to daycare when the child is three months old because both parents work and they don't have any relatives that live nearby to care for the children.

Vikki is jealous that I grew up with two sisters. She said it was often lonely for her growing up as an only child and she always wanted a sibling.

We were heading back to the hotel. I told Vikki I wanted her to ask the hotel staff for me if they had wifi and if they have laundry services. Then I had her write two places I wanted to visit tomorrow in Chinese. I could hand the writing to a taxi driver and be sure they would know where to take me. I had a free day tomorrow and then we agreed to meet at 8:30 the following day.

So it turns out they don't have wifi in the hotel. No one can confirm or deny this because no one speaks English. I can't complain because I don't know any Chinese. I will have to increase my data plan from 100 mb to 200 on my phone. Ugh!

As we were driving around today, there were so many tea places. I wanted to start drinking the local puerh tea immediately. This was going to be more difficult than I had thought.

I found a retail tea shop in the hotel that you could buy tea. I just pointed to one cake and some how told her I wanted to try one cup. I have no idea how old it was, what the quality was like, which mountain it was from, etc. All I know is that it was a green cake. It was just nice to drink this tea. I paid her 60 yuan for my cup and was off. This was a small success.

Then I was trying to figure where I would go for dinner. I decided I needed a place that had an English menu for my first night. I showed the bellman the Chinese name in my guidebook 1910 La Gare Du Sud. He got a taxi for me and explained where I was going.

This looked like a nice place. They had seating inside and outside. It was in a nice section of town. I was seated and the English menu and some cha appeared. There were pictures of each dish and the English and Chinese names.

My first choice was not available--what a surprise! So I got a spicy chili pork dish with green onions and mushrooms.Then I got vegetables in an oyster sauce. It was broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms, and green onions. Both dishes were really good. I had forgotten to order steamed rice, but quickly asked for that. The three different kinds of mushrooms in my dishes were really good. I was surprised I liked them. The waitress, kept filling up my teacup too. Ah, a very nice dinner.

I was planning to walk around in this area for a while, but just as I exited the restaurant, the power went out and the streets went dark. I walked up to a main intersection and hailed a cab. Having the hotel business card is key. I won't get in a taxi unless they shake their head that that know the place. I had finally gotten used to cars driving on the left side of the road in India, so now I didn't know which way to look when crossing the street.

When I got to the hotel, it was around 9pm. I wasn't on the current time zone yet. I almost felt like I might be getting a cold or a sore throat. I brewed up some Makaibari tea that Meera had given me. It was the first flush and I had three lovely cups while I caught up in my journal and watched Fashion TV. This was the only English speaking TV channel of about 20.

The following day, I was still tired from the red eye and time change. By the time I showered and got motivated for breakfast, it was after 9. There were so many tables at breakfast yet the place was deserted and the food picked over. The items I filled up on were the cookies, watermelon, and dimsum. I would have to arrive earlier tomorrow.

The first thing I did was drop off the laundry at the front desk. They recognized what I wanted and then motioned I should wait. The hotel staff made several phone calls while I waited about 10-15 minutes. Then in perfect English one woman said to me that we no longer have laundry service. Ok, whatever.....

So I brought my laundry back to my room and did some quick handwash. I got a taxi to the Green Lake Hotel. Virginia had recommended a tea shop nearby that had nice teaware.

This hotel was fabulous. It was by far the most grand hotel I had seen here and it looked brand new (like everything else in this town). I walked in and looked around. I will be using them for their concierge and restrooms for sure.

I found the tea shop from Virginia's very cryptic hand drawn map. What an excellent memory. They did have very nice things. I actually saw a tea tray that looked more like a picnic basket made from bamboo. It had a drain system below for the water you invariably spill making tea.

I didn't want to buy anything yet as it was the first shop I was in. There was a cool women's clothing store nearby. I walked in and the young girls were very helpful. I tried on some nice dresses. Again, too early to buy anything. I walked in a few other tea shops nearby and nothing was as interesting.

I headed back to walk around the lake. Vikki said a lot of people come to the lake and I might see local people singing and dancing. She was right and the park was very pretty. I did stop to see a group of people (men and women) dancing to music. I stuck around for three numbers. I was around there at lunchtime so maybe this is their de-stress activity?

I was starting to get hungry. There were a ton of shops and restaurants in this area. It is near the Yunnan University. I walked in more tea shops. There were some beautiful gaiwans, clay teapots, and of course so much puerh tea. I had no idea how you even would start to navigate in one of these stores without speaking Chinese.

I walked in a few restaurants. I was trying to get a pot of tea and maybe some lunch. I was having trouble. I walked in and out of about three places because we didn't understand each other. Then a miracle happened. A cafe that had outdoor seating and advertised tea, coffee, wine, and beer on their sign had a man sitting down outside with a pot of tea. That is exactly what I wanted and pointed to him. The waitress not only understood, but produced an English menu. There were three different priced puerhs to choose from and I could get a cup or pot. She double checked that I wanted a pot versus a cup and then I ordered noodles with chili sauce and green onions. I hung out for almost two hours drinking tea and eating. This was perfect. Ok, another success!!!!

The rest of the day would continue the same way. I walked into another few tea shops around the Green Lake area. One shop had the most beautiful porcelain gaiwans and tea cups. They were fine porcelain and all hand painted. I spent a lot of time looking around and a woman that spoke good English worked there. Everything was really expensive but beautiful. After 1/2 hour of looking around she invited me to sit down with another woman that was trying different puerhs. Typically how this works is that the other woman is trying the tea before she buys it. She tells the tea shopkeeper what she wants and then the tea is brewed in a ceremonial way. As I am just an interested observer, I get to try everything she tries too.

First the pot then the tea cups are washed in hot water. The tea is brewed and then the liquid from the first brew is washed over the tea cups and then thrown away. The second brew starts the tea tasting. We each get a small cup and the tea is brewed over and over from the same tea leaves. This woman tried a bao zhong that was cooked. It was very good. Then she tried another cooked tea the same age, but from another area. I didn't like that one very much. Then she tried a green puerh from bao zhong. I liked that a lot. It was 2010. As I hungout I asked several questions. Then the tea server realized I must know a little something about puerh and she was surprised. We struck a deal for the puerh cake and two handpainted tea cups. I had to be walked to a nearby bank because they don't accept US credit cards. But that was ok. Now I just have to be careful carrying this around.

I walked to the Green Lake Hotel and used their restroom and hung out while it was raining. Then I looked at the map and thought I could walk from here to the pedestrian shopping area. But what I really wanted to do was find an Internet Cafe. The concierge said there was a Starbucks nearby and gave me directions. For some reason, I walked for about 10 minutes and even found the place, but it looked like there had been a fire and was closed during reconstruction. That was ok. I actually was in a great location. It was the pedestrian walking area. There were tons of people walking around. Most of them were young. It felt like Times Square. There were so many shops and restaurants. I wasn't specifically hungry, but got a piece of bread. It had sweet cheese, pineapple, and ham on it. I just walked around. Then I randomly saw another Starbucks.

There are a lot of cars, scooters, and bikes on the roads here. There are taxis too but no where near the amount as in Kolkata. The scooter seems like the preferred method of getting around for the younger generation. However, Vikki told me 80% of the scooters are electric and they sneak up on you. You have to pay attention when you are walking.

I hung out at Starbucks basically for the free wifi and to upgrade my att service from 100 mb to 200. They were playing Santa Baby when I walked in and then continued with the Christmas carols for a while.

At first, the only thing I could do on the Internet was get email. There was a teenager next to me with his parents. I asked if he had full Internet service and he said yes. I wondered why I didn't? I eventually turned off my phone and turned it back on. And that helped. Although I couldn't access my blog except to read only. Very interesting.

So on Friday, I had to meet Vikki at 8:30. I got up early and had an early breakfast. Wow, what a difference it makes when you have breakfast at 7:30 versus 9:00. The place was packed. Almost every seat was filled with Chinese tourists. There was definitely more food out and an omelet and noodle station. One of the young waiters recognized me from yesterday and gave me oolong tea. He came by often to keep bringing me more hot water.

Today we would go to Lake Dian (Dian Chi) and Western Hills (Xi Shan) scenic area. Basically we would walk the road to the chairlift. Then we would walk around by the dragon gate. It was really misty today, so there weren't such great views down towards the lake but it made the forest and trees look like a fairy tale. There are Taoist temples here. There is one section called dragon gate grotto (tunnels, chambers, and steps) that was excavated from the mountain by hand in the late 18th century by monks. It took 70 years to complete. In this area you are supposed to touch the pearl at the top of the gate, and you will have good luck. There is another section where you are supposed to touch the buddha in three places and you will be rewarded with money. I'm still waiting for both the luck and money to arrive!

I thought we would be walking on paths through the park but instead it was on the road. On well, at least I was walking. On the way back we stopped at a Yunnan Cultural Center for puerh teas. This was a fancy place so I was ready for a tourist trap.

So the educational part was hoaky although they had a great map of the ancient tea horse road. Kunming was in the middle right. Xishuagnbanna is towards the bottom left. I was brought into a private room. They had the tea already set up. There was a cake of 2010 green puerh. A cake of 8 year old cooked and then a cake of cultivated 5 year cooked. I didn't realize tea made from tea trees versus cultivated bushes, have such big leaves. This was a nice comparison to see.

First they have you drink a health brew that is not made from tea and has no caffeine. Of course I wasn't interested in this.

They brewed the green cake first. Even though it was from the tea trees and not the cultivated bushes, it had no taste. I told the woman there was no flavor. Next was the cultivated cake of 5 years. It was ok but I wouldn't buy it. They brewed the 8 year cake from the tea trees. That was pretty nice. I told her I liked it. She brewed it medium and strong because she didn't know how I liked it. She said she liked the medium brew, but that usually the people from Guanzhou like the stronger brew. It was very nice both ways. I guess I must have been asking the right questions or just looked like I had money because then she brought out the 13 year old puerh cake for me to try. She brewed it and we drank it for a while. It was very nice. She was trying to convince me to buy all 8 cakes and get a 15% discount. Ha ha. I wasn't 100% sure she hadn't been telling me lies for the last hour. I finally said I would take one. She was ecstatic.

Before I left, my tea server gave me a full water bottle of tea to take with me. This was the nice puerh I just bought and it was still very tasty. She said you can usually go more than 15 steepings and that it is better tasting if you have a clay pot. She also threw in the puerh knife. I did learn some things. If the tea comes off the cake very easy, chances are it is from the tea tree. Also, residue in the cup will smell sweet and not moldy or smokey if it's good puerh. These are things I will have to pay attention to if I want to buy more.

Vikki picked me up. Then we sorted out tomorrow to meet at 1:30 for the Stone Forest and caves. Back at the hotel I had a tea buzz. I walked around the nearby streets looking for lunch. I finally found a place I liked that had a lot of people. I asked for the noodles, but they didn't have them. Again, there was a picture of them on the menu. Maybe they didn't have them for lunch?

So I pointed to the green onion pancakes and the steamed pot stickers. The onion pancakes came first and were very sweet. Then the pot stickers came. They had a barbecued flavor but were also good. I got an extra order of the green onion pancakes. My meal came to 18 yuan and I was trying to leave a tip of two yuan. They followed me out the restaurant trying to give me the change. Trying to tell them I didn't want it was difficult. The woman went running back to tell her coworkers she got a tip. I guess I shouldn't be tipping here. In India it was expected to leave something.

I walked to the end of the road and got to South Road. This little tidbit will help later when I want to go back to the pedestrian square. I will know the correct direction to go so I don't have to take a taxi.

Now I was stuffed. I was tired too. I took a nap. I guess I'm still on the wrong time zone or not getting enough good sleep. Or maybe we did a lot of walking this morning.

I wrestled myself up at around 5. Then I did some quick research on bars. I wanted to go back to the Yunnan University area at night and see what it was like. I didn't really want dinner since I had a late lunch, but just a beer.

So I walked out and it had just started to sprinkle. It was such a light rain. I walked towards the square I went to yesterday that was pedestrian only. On the way, I saw the East and West Pagodas in town. I kept walking and looking at the map occasionally. This area is really happening. I almost stayed right here. But I knew I would be the only westerner. I kept walking.

It seemed a little bit more residential. People were walking their dogs, kids were roller skating and skateboarding. I kept walking and was getting very close to the bar I wanted. I may have passed the street, but I showed a young Chinese couple the Chinese name in my guidebook. They pointed up ahead. It looked like they were walking that same way. I kept walking with them. Eventually we turned down a street. Then we crossed to the other side. There was a narrow street with tons of people walking. They took me to a place called Salvador's. This was a Tex-Mex restaurant in the guidebook. They had a small outdoor bar, but it was mostly a restauant. There were some westerners here and they said hello. I got a menu and started chatting with an older guy. I asked him if he knew the Half Way house. He said it was very close by. It was a nice place with good music and I would like it. He gave me directions. It sounds like I must have just walked by it. I tried again. I looked around where it was supposed to be and still nothing. So begrudgingly, I got out my iPhone and did a map. It had these plastic long blinds at the entrance, but then it looked normal inside. I walked upstairs and ordered a Tsing Tao. Two westerners started chatting with me immediately.

So it sounds like there were a group of 9 Marines hanging out here tonight. They were all going to graduate school at the National War College in DC. It was a 12 month program. Currently they were traveling in China. They had been to Beijing, Changsha, now Kunming. They were going to Hong Kong before going back to the states. They said the day following their special tour of the Forbidden City, major architectural treasures were stolen. The thieves had dug tunnels. Apparently there were hidden cameras and the Marines were never accused.

It sounded like they had a very rigorous schedule. They were in meetings with the Chinese Army since they arrived in Kunming and tomorrow would be their first sight seeing day at the Stone Forest and caves. Today's meeting had ended for them at about 2 or 3 and they had been at the Halfway House for awhile. They had a room upstairs and said they had counted and there were something like 90 empty beer bottles. I arrived at about 8 or 9 so some of them had a lot to drink.

It seemed like most of them had either moved on to whiskey or water now. I allowed the US government to buy my beer. It was nice to get something back.

Some more of the guys filtered downstairs. They were telling me about their graduate program. It sounded interesting in that they were taking classes with civilians (from the State Dept and other branches) and it added greater depth and perspective to the program. I usually stay as far away from anyone in the military as possible but even though they were "pretty happy" at this point they were very respectful. Most of them were around my age or a little younger. They were all interested in what I was doing and were a little suspicious of me. They couldn't understand how I could possibly be traveling all this time. I guess being US citizens and in the military since college, had never taken time off either. Most of them were married. One of them was telling me how hard it was for military families.

They asked me if I had heard about Osama bin Laden. I told them that I was in India at the time. On TV in India, they had been abbreviating updates to the story as OBL.

They told me that in the military they called him "UBL" because his name is pronounced "Oosama" bin Laden. Another thing I mentioned is that my blog was all of a sudden blocked once I got to China. I told them that I just had a small little blurb about the Dalai Lama and Tibet. I said I stated a fact that China invaded Tibet in the 1940's during WWII. They laughed and said "that would totally do it, duh." China doesn't think that was an invasion even to this day.

They told me they were staying at the Green Lake Hotel and there were cameras all around. They said that they were probably being watched constantly.

They were telling me some of the latest news stories. Apparently Jon Krakauer has called Greg Mortensen a fraud. I'll have to read about that story when I get back. Also, they said the latest gossip in the US was that Arnold and Maria are separating.

Some other topics that came up were "don't ask-don't tell". They said it's a non issue now. It's not even a blip on the radar. No one cares. In the military, they just want you to do your job whatever your sexuality is.

We also talked about the whole motor scooter issue and why isn't the US investing in these electric scooters. I told them my guide says about 80% are electric. I have only seen one gas powered scooter so far. We need to get on this in our country. It would be perfect for commuting in San Francisco.

Also, most of the guys had been in combat about 4 times. It was really interesting to actually meet military people and talk to them because I had pre-conceived notions of what they would be like. They were all from either West Point or Annapolis. They were all the same rank and were soon to get promoted.

So it sounded like they were going back to their hotel. They asked me if I wanted to join them. I said ok, as they were harmless. We all went to the lobby bar at their hotel. It seemed like the group had shrunk. But then two State Dept guys appeared.

They were all excited because they had gone to a restaurant on their own. They thought they pointed to a hot pot on some one else's table and were getting the same thing. But they think they really got a hot pot and of pig's intestines. The one guy was so funny. He said the waiter ran into the kitchen when they arrived. They got the only Chinese person in the whole place that spoke English. They said he only spoke about 7 words. Anyway, they said their dinner was really fun and they had gone for a few beers afterwards to wash it all down.

We all drank a pot of puerh tea. Hopefully this would help with the hangovers they would undoubtedly have tomorrow. One by one, they all disappeared. I finally gave one of the guys that was most suspicious of me the url to my blog. I took a taxi home.