We’ve been hiding in our hostel room trying to recover for the past three days. I’m feeling much better but V’s is turning into a head cold. Besides watching too much ‘West Wing’ and listening to weird books (like Neil Gaimen’s ‘American Gods’) we have snuck out only to get essentials such as tea, biscuits & meds. Excursions are limited to a couple hours – after that we both start feeling horrid.

We’ve paid up our Tibet trip and made another change. We leave tomorrow night by train. It will take around 36 hours to get to Lhasa. After our 8 day tour we have booked a flight to Kunming (the cash we saved having two extra people join us has saved us from spending 3 nights on trains getting back to Kunming). We haven’t yet met the other two people – apparently two girls (from Belgium and Holland).

Yesterday we went on a bit of a mission to replace the camera. We hopped on a bus and headed South to the area known as ‘Digital Plaza’ (intersection of the first ring road and Ren Min Nan Lu). The place is incredible. Imagine a 6 storey mall with almost every square metre of floor space crammed with stalls and shops selling every piece of cool tech known to man. What a spot ! I could have blown our entire trip budget in 30 minutes. Walking around made us feel instantly better – it must have been all the excited electrons and wifi signals affecting our auras 🙂 We replaced our camera with exactly the same one (so I can pretend it never happened) for the same price we paid in Hong Kong. For sure we could have bargained it down but we were getting tired. One thing to note about the place – every time you go up a floor the price drops (and not by a little). I left there drooling. Across the street we found a strip of outdoor gear shops. Double bonus. Maybe not. Not the greatest selection of gear – mostly clothing.

On the we back to the hostel we stopped in at a pharmacy armed with some aids – photos of pill boxes that have worked before and a translation for Cortisone Cream – 氢化可的松（副肾荷尔蒙之一种）药膏 – from Google (I have got a nasty rash that is quite concerning). We entertained the pharmacy staff for 20 minutes before leaving with a pile of drugs – mission accomplished.

We only leave in the evening tomorrow so we have the day to get supplies for the train. Spotted a fancy bottle store the other day. Here’s hoping for a small bottle of decent Scotch.

[Pictures: There be a Mecca in there]

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We were dreading today. Another full day of road travel and we suspected that the minibus to Kanding would be as rough and uncomfortable as the last one. Sim is marginally better – still not at all well. We’ve seen the worst driver China has to offer and this morning we got into a much snazzier looking minibus that felt like it could go the distance. Pity the driver was the slowest and most inexperienced in the country.

We left the hostel at 8:30 but it was gone 9 by the time we actually left Tagong. Drivers tend to only leave when they have enough people so you end up waiting while they troll up and down the street yelling out their destination. Our one drove 10 metres then would stop, get out and have a conversation with some mates then repeat this process 3 or 4 times. We stopped in XinduQia and did the same thing. Our driver was incredibly slow (in more ways than one) and did not inspire confidence with his indicating when going round bends or slowing to a stroll when answering is cell. It must also have been a new vehicle – he stopped about 15 minutes from our destination and spent 20 minutes washing his van with all the passengers waiting patiently inside. In the end it took 3 hours to drive 100km! but at least he got us there and the roads were thankfully nice smooth brand new Tarmac.

Outside Kanding bus station we were immediately assaulted by a half dozen minibus drivers. We brushed them off and went into the bus station to buy tickets to Chengdu (Our LP indicating they leave every half hour and take 6 hours to get there). To our utter disbelief the only tickets available were for the following day. We really did not want to stay a night in Kanding so we went back outside, agreed to £20 each and braced ourselves for yet another minibus journey. It took another hour to fill the 2 mini-vans that were traveling in convoy. Ours was stuffed with 15 people (incl the driver) but it was a far more comfortable Hyundai people carrier.

As we got going it became clear that our driver was a real character. First thing he did once out of town was stop and change his number plates (fakes I guess) and add s Buddhist prayer ribbon to the front – yikes. He was a lunatic driver, chain smoker and cell user. Something like a SA taxi driver but without the carnage. He managed to hoot, nudge, shout and squeeze through some huge traffic jams and must have saved us hours of waiting (we did get completely stuck for 2 hours because of an accident though). After a stop for food and another disagreement with traffic we made it to a freeway and freedom. After removing the number plates completely our driver dropped the hammer and cranked up the stereo (only adding to Sim’s pain). We came to a screeching halt in Kunming 11 hours after leaving Tagong. A short taxi ride and we were lucky to find Mix Hostel (good thing V had picked up a map somewhere along the way). It was a very hard day again.

Seems all we have been writing about for ages now is long days on the road. We are seriously done with minibuses and have only one more long bus ride in China (the one from Kunming into Laos). Hopefully we’ll be able to write about cool things again and can leave the tales of bruised buts behind… for now !

On the up side. Sim is getting better. V is possibly getting a sniffle (but thankfully not flu) and Mix hostel found two more people to join us in Tibet which makes a big difference to the price. What’s next ?

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Sim is still feeling sick, so he has spent the day in bed staring at the funny creatures painted on the wall of our room, desperately hoping for his headache to go away and the fever to break. He managed to get some sleep and was feeling marginally better by the evening and coughing less.

I attempted to forage for supplies but was not entirely successfully. In my defense the dozen or so tiny spaza type shops were all selling the exact same things and there was not a lot to choose from. I spent the day holed up in the room with my love trying to nurse him back to health. The alternative would have been to go for a hike in the countryside on my own in the rain.

[Sim] My V was absolutely fantastic taking care of me and getting what we needed to survive – she is the best ! It was a really long crappy day drifting in and out of drug and virus induced comas. I was feeling so dizzy that the steep, narrow stairs down to the shower were a real danger. DuPont may have been interested in the stuff coming out of my lungs. It would have stuck to Teflon and confounded their scientists – no problem ! Not much else to say about the day. Was just bad and we want to get out of here but aren’t looking forward to more minibuses. I haven’t felt that sick in a very long time.

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What an absolutely atrocious day we have had. 7 hours of bone jarring traveling in minivans, Simon sick as a dog and the curse of the camera striking again.

It started out with Sim waking up with some sort of flu in the middle or the night. By morning it had developed into the worse case he has had in years. He was feeling horrible, but we were desperate to get out of Litang so instead of bundling Sim into bed for the day we chose to move on. It must have been from the bed – The sheets did not look clean and possibly the previous tenant on Sim’s bed was a day away from death.

Change of plan with the mini driver telling us he could only take us to Yajiang. We would have to transfer to another bus once we got there. It took us 3.5 hours to travel along 140km of very bumpy road that rollercoastered up and down mountains. We are getting bored describing how bad the roads are in China – let’s just say that in a mini-van with ‘go-kart’ sized wheels they feel far worse than in a bus. About an hour into the ride the driver took on more passengers so in addition to us and the two monks already in the van 4 more people plus luggage were added. The 4 of us sitting on the back bench made the remainder of the even more uncomfortable and cramped.

When we arrived at Yajiang we were bundled into another minibus controlled by the most sadistic madman in transportation and sandwiched between 6 other passengers plus a toddler. So again there were 4 of us on the back seat. But his time there was no room for our packs anywhere except on our laps. I cannot describe how awful this part of the trip was, more so for poor Sim who was already feeling like death without having a further 2 hours of what I can only call torture.

We bounced over every bump, lump and pothole in the road, our bums repeatedly leaving the seats and heads frequently hitting the roof. The driver didn’t give a damn about slowing down or trying to avoid any of the sharper jolts and indeed seemed to take delight when our heads hit the roof of the van. Sim, who had been quite all day with his eyes closed save for the odd groan, broke silence swearing loudly at the driver every time he crunched full tilt into an obstacle. We hope he understood the English. He deserved every curse. [Sim: I would loved to have smashed his stupid little face through a windscreen by the end of the trip]. We passed through towns along a vicious raging river that was frightfully at at eye-level from time to time. The kind of scenes you see on CNN when there is footage of an apartment complex collapsing into a river. Along sections the military where out rebuilding sections of the road and reinforcing the dykes as traffic continued to weave past. It was a very bad experience. By the time we reached XinduQiao it felt like our someone had pulverized us with a jack hammer. We would have been in better shape if we had spent 4 hours in the ring with an angry Mike Tyson ! Plus we were severely dehydrated as it was impossible to do anything except hold on for dear life. By far the worst part of our journey so far.

We sat on our packs on the pavement barely a metre from where the driver dropped us off and had to gather ourselves, eat and drink before searching for a ride to our final destination. Simon was by now feeling completely knackered but the end was almost in sight. Just another 30 or 40 km to go to Tagong.

This time thankfully there was some recently constructed super smooth concrete to drive on part of the way. It was bliss. I even managed to enjoy a little bit of scenery along the way. Lots of hills with thousands of colourful prayer flags, beautiful looking houses. It was just pretty.

Tagong is a bit ugly but a vast improvement on Litang. About 5 minutes after arriving Sim realized he didn’t have the camera on him. Usually it gets clipped to the day pack but he had unclipped it to take a photo and somewhere between getting in the van and taking our jackets off neither of us thought to clip it back on. Both knackered from the long drive neither of us noticed we had dropped it in the van until it was too late 🙁 The driver had carried on along the road and we spent about 2.5 hours waiting at the side of the road hoping to spot him on his way back. No such luck 🙁

We think we have backed up all the photos up till Shangrila and we don’t think we took too many of interest after that. It’s just so depressing to have gone through 3 cameras in just over 3 months. Sim feeling so sick is feeling particularly bad about losing the camera this way. I guess we are going to have to buy another camera, in Chengdu probably. We are both annoyed and saddened over this.

Sim is finally in bed dosed up with whatever meds we could find in our packs. The hostel, although better than Litang’s, is very basic and not really comfortable. No Internet, no electric blanket, shared bathroom. We will see how Sim feels in the morning. If he feels up to it we will try to move onto Chengdu as quickly as possible where we can be guaranteed some comfort for him to recuperate properly (and me if I catch whatever he has by then). If he is still really bad, a solid day in bed will be better for him.

Taking a loop north to get back to Chengdu has been a total disaster. The places are supposed to be amazing for views and day walks but we have been plagued with terribly cold and wet weather. The travel time and conditions are also so bad that you need time to recuperate in between each leg but we are on a tight schedule and can’t stop long. Add to that getting flu at over 4000m and losing our camera – you see what I mean !

[Pictures: Prayer flags on the hills above Tagong – construction cranes in the foreground – typical]

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Up early and waiting for the minibus to Litang. After being picked up the driver decided to pfaff around for half an hour sorting out one of his tires (they jacked the car and replaced the tires with all the passengers inside – but not as fast as an F1 pit stop). We got going eventually. The road was a little bumpy but not too bad. Would have been some nice scenery along the way but the weather was still being uncooperative. The young Israeli couple that were at the same hostel last night were very quiet. Sim asked them about their military service. They had been in intelligence and were not allowed to talk about it. We left it at that fearing that if they told us more they would have to kill us.

Arriving in Litang after 3 hours or so we checked into Peace Hotel which was a grubby little place down the road from the bus station. From our research we had been led to believe that there wouldn’t be anything better so we settled for it (When will we learn to check more than one spot ?!)

Litang, one of the highest cities in the world and an important place in Tibetan Buddhism (a couple of Lamas were born here – the Dali kind, not the ones with 4 legs), is described as one of the most atmospheric stops on the Sichuan-Tibet highway, ‘more Tibetan than tibet’ and a true treasure. It looked horrible. Construction causing chaos everywhere, pigs and yaks roaming the streets. Apparently atmospheric actually means poverty stricken dump that requires a 4×4 to safely commute down main street. Reports say it’s nice once you get out of town and into the hills but since it was still overcast, drizzly and freezing cold, that wasn’t going to happen for us. We wanted to move on, as far as we could which meant a bus to Kanding.

We immediately headed for the bus station to buy a ticket. When we eventually found the station turns out everyone was at lunch. We went to lunch ourselves at a smart looking Tibetan restaurant. Can’t say the food was that memorable. Back to the bus station we hung around the window until 2 people who appeared to work there arrived. One of them opened the window but then went and sat back down to carry on with washing her clothes in a bowl. Eventually the other one decided she felt like breaktime was over and seemed to come to the window. We were right at the front of the window but another woman immediately pushed in and ordered 4 tickets to somewhere. The ticket lady took 10 minutes to issue those 4 tickets I kid you not. I have never seen anyone work so slowly. First they all had to be given the official red stamp (nothing in china is official without some sort of red stamp on it) then she had to initial every one then count them all twice, then tear them off of the pad, fill in some other form, count them all again and pause every now and then to say something to her mate doing the washing. It was ridiculous. Then finally after the buyer had handed over her money, a monk tried to shove in front of us. Simon, fed up by now, promptly shoved him back out of the way. Think he was pretty surprised by this.

We eventually were told through the usual sign language that there were no tickets for tomorrows bus only for the day after. We could not bear the thought of staying in this cruddy looking town and went back to the hotel to ask Long life (the guy who runs the hotel) for advice.

We got chatting to a nice Israeli bunch that were on their way to Daocheng. They had come from Tagong and Danba which was where we were aiming for next. Even gave us a detailed map of the province and some advice to get off at XinduQiao instead of Kanding. We in turn recommended the hostel in Daocheng and the stone forest when they reached Kunming. It was a pleasant exchange.

Long life told us he could organize a ride in a minibus to XinduQiao the next morning for about £8 each which seamed reasonable. That organized we set of to go see the only sight in town, the tibetan buddhist monastery. It was a pleasant walk just outside town past interesting buildings and polite locals who all greeted us. A couple of cheeky kids dived into Simon’s pockets expecting sweets but were sorely disappointed to find nothing at all. [sim: I felt like swatting them – really annoying]

We reached the monastery, which was huge, in the drizzle, took a photo and took a slow walk back through the main part of town which turned out to be larger than we thought it was. Lots of monks around, on motorbikes too which always cracks me up for some reason. Tibetans swinging prayer wheels, and people working away fixing, making, cooking or selling things as usual. It was a nice enough afternoon walk but it was getting chilly (we were at 4000m after all) and we headed back to our hotels fly infested communal area for a hot chocolate.

We had dinner at Potala guest house which had gotten a lot of bad reviews but looked a lot better than the place we were in. Sim had a yak pie thing and I had cheese dumplings that were a bit odd in taste and texture (they come with a sort of condensed milk type dip) but were edible.

We retired to our room which thankfully had electric blankets though how they expect people to plug both blankets in when there is only one plug socket I don’t know. [sim: hehe. They didn’t expect me to have my own adapter – problem solved] We went to bed content in the knowledge that we had been to Litang and would be leaving the next day.

[Pictures: Useless bus station staff doing their laundry and the monastery complex entrance gate]

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Well we didn’t get our shower last night. Just after the power came back on the water was cut off – no idea why. We were up just after 5 to get a taxi to the bus station. It was way to early for us and I was feeling terribly groggy as we waited for the bus station to open – we were the first people there. Within a few minutes a local arrived. He was way too happy and talkative for that time in the morning but the smell of booze offered some explanation. Next to arrive in the dark on the steps was a food vendor. His bike trailer was packed with food, snacks, pots and stoves already burning. Our new drunk/happy friend insisted on buying us some steaming hot corn on the cob. We ate it with long teeth weary of the 12 hr bus ride ahead and the consequences of street food (in retrospect is was very good, and safe).

Seats 1&2 were extremely uncomfortable due to the layout of this particular bus – it was going to be a long day. The 3 hour ride up the Shangrila gorge was on good, if windy and narrow, roads. We tried to snooze without luck – good thing too because the scenery was amazing (even though it was overcast and drizzly). The driver was kind enough to stop so all the guys on board could have a pee break, a kilometer or so later he stopped for the girls. Around 10am we pulled into a stop in a little village so the driver could get some food and fill a water tank in the bus. The fun was about to start !

Shortly after leaving the village the road turned into a narrow dirt track which quickly became very steep and very slippery. The recent rain had turned the already bad dirt road to slush. The bus occasionally bopped, shimmied and slid as the wheels battled to find traction. I spent a good portion of the climb with muscles tensed and not at all distracted by podcasts as our driver relished in his ability to get precariously close to the unprotected edge of the road. The higher we climbed the steeper and worse the road got. Eventually we got stuck behind some bogged-down trucks. A chance to breathe ! Nope. As soon as we started moving again our driver decided to overtake the trucks on the perilous side of a road that I think is worse than the one in Bolivia. At the top of the pass (around 4300m :gps:[GPS]::28.57774::99.82734:gps:) we pulled over at an incredibly beautiful spot – towering mountains in all directions. The bus (driver included) emptied instantly as passengers scurried to relieve their bladders after the ordeal. It was worth it for the views in spite of the weather.

The cloud started to clear for the trip down and the road condition improved drastically. It almost seemed like we had driven to Morocco from the look of the buildings. Large trapezoids built from mud/clay bricks. Some painted white and most with brightly coloured doors and windows. Typical Chinese faces are almost as rare as western ones. While winding through valleys and criss-crossing rivers the landscape started to flatten out into wide plains still surrounded in the distance by mountains. We stopped at a police checkpoint in a small village and for the first time were asked for our passports. No trouble. More beautiful climbs and descents occupied the rest of the afternoon. 11 butt-breaking hours after we set off we pulled into the bus station in Daocheng feeling completely spent.

Getting off the bus we were surrounded by touts wanting to supply accommodation and/or transport. We just needed space to get our bearings and think for a bit but they would not take a hint. I ended up losing it (just a little) as we strided away from the madness. V was also on the receiving end of my mood but she knows how to handle me :). It didn’t take long to secure a room at a cool looking hostel we had seen advertised in Shangrila (Here Cafe). Built from mud bricks and wood, the ground level has loose stone pebbles on an earth floor with thoughtful authentic decor (except for the 20″ iMac and MacBook Air for Internet access – no complaint from me). The internal second floor is all wood and houses basic, but acceptable bedrooms. We dumped our gear and went for a stroll around town. Tiny, with only one major street, we walked looking for something interesting. Not too much was going on except to say that this place has a lot of mushrooms ! Huge bins full of them. Even clothing stores had racks of shrooms drying in their entrances.

Realizing how tired we were we headed back for food, the first shower in 2 days and bed (we didn’t care that it was hard). The weather is not looking at all promising so we won’t go to Yangding national park tomorrow, instead we’ll push on to Litang.

[Pictures: The cloud covered view from the top and V outside our hostel in Daocheng]

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It was even more difficult to get up today. Colder, wetter and no electricity in the city meant no hot water for a shower, no lights in our damp cave and no Internet connection – oh the humanity. The weather called for not only our fleeces, but jackets too.

Finding breakfast was a bit of a pain with most of the restaurants unable to function without power. Luckily our local hangout (Noah Cafe) is on the way to the bus station and they were still able to serve an excellent meal. We have acquired tickets to Daocheng for 7am tomorrow morning ! Seat numbers 1&2 which means we were the first to book, or the only ones crazy enough to risk the trip in this weather – hope we don’t end up having to push the bus out of the mud !

The rain has limited what can be done around here. It’s perfect video weather save for the lack of electricity. V found a book in the hostel and by the time she was half way through it we were both getting really cold. We headed back out into the rain in search of hot chocolate and cake in a warm cafe. This combination proved elusive so we stopped in at a supermarket to stock up for tomorrow’s bus-a-thon. As fortune would have it the supermarket is next to Noah Cafe. I think we now qualify as regulars. Hot chocolate and chocolate pancakes in a warm cafe… close enough. Before long I was falling asleep at the table as V ploughed through her book.

We got back to the hostel and with nothing to do had a snooze while hoping the power would come back on. About an hour ago we started packing up in the pitch dark of our room using our headlamps – this is what it must be like to live in Northern Finland during winter without electricity. The cold and humidity here collaborate to create a weird damp climate that causes steam to rise in the beam of my headlamp when I pee. Fearing the worst (no hot water for a shower) I started making a shower based on V’s design out of a 2l water bottle. We prepared a large flask of boiling water this mornig for tea, but a shower is more important. As I completed initial tests V open our bedroom door to discover the power was back on ! We have no idea how long we were unnessesarily clambering around in the dark for. LOL.

To celebrate the return of electricity, internet and hot water we are off out to find some type of yak meat to devour. Possibly no net for the next few days.

[Pictures: Noah Cafe’s mascot taking a keen interest in V’s book]

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It’s very difficult to wake up when your room has no windows and it’s freezing cold and raining outside. We both battled to get going this morning – sore and stiff from two days hiking. We decided to take it easy and spend an extra day here before heading back to Lijiang and then to Chengdu.

We have had to dig our shoes and fleeces out of our packs – my feet don’t know what is going on but it is rewarding to stroll through puddles without getting wet for a change. We went in search of breakfast on the way to the bank and found the well know Noah Cafe and an excellent western breakfast. That’s 2/2 brilliant meals here. Fully stuffed we walked it off while looking for a China Construction Bank branch. The only item on the to-do-list for the day was to deposit cash for our Tibet tour. Once again through sign language and a bit of blind luck we managed to deposit money into an account – could have been anyone’s account. We got confirmation later from the tour operator. Relief and success !

I got to spend a couple of uninterrupted hours on the PC at the hostel uploading photos and getting the photo link to posts working more or less how I want (it’s not pretty but it works).

After getting some laundry done using a fantastic contraption (I think it is called a ‘washing machine’ ?) we hung it out on the hostel roof with the aid of Martin’s wash-line and a break in the weather. The afternoon was spent wandering the streets and alleys of Shangrila old town. The place is tiny, completely geared for westerners and empty but with slightly more ‘character’ than the other ‘tourist’ towns we have been in. It has the added benefit of having a number of outdoor gear shops, mostly ‘North Fake’, and mostly clothing, but any gear puts an unjustifiably large grin on our faces 🙂 We didn’t find anything except a cap for V but it was ball. It only took only a couple of hours to stroll around the entire town. I snapped some cool looking buildings, streets, doors and windows. A great way to chill out in an enjoyable little spot.

After another (that’s 3/3) excellent meal (home made pasta and pizza) at a well know, Italian run restaurant in China ! (Helens Pizza), we returned to the hostel and started chatting to an older Italian guy. He is a true walking encyclopedia of Chinese towns and transport links (apparently he has been touring here for years). Once he starts imparting information it is impossible to get him to stop but the end result is that we will head North and loop back to Chengdu. Only the first 300km is difficult (takes 12 hours by bus) – we’ll see some incredible scenery and possibly a beautiful national park if the weather clears. A large portion of the trip is above 4000m – I’ll leave the details to V but it looks like we’ll be buying bus tickets tomorrow and heading off on Monday morning.

[Pictures: a Tibetean Stupa in Shangrila old town. The yak burger restaurant is to the right (out of shot)]

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Day 2 of TLG turned out to be an epic through no fault of our own. We did not get lost again in case anyone was wondering.

Part 1: A lovely stroll
Not off to a great start with luke warm showers and a bland breakfast of scrambled eggs for Sim and rice porrige for me against Sims advice. Next time I promise to listen to my love when he tells me to pic something that’s good for walking instead of trying something new. Anyway we were back on the trail by 9.

The weather was cool with the occasional drizzle but it was a marvelous 2 hour walk from Halfway to Tinas guesthouse. We passed 2 waterfalls in full flow after last nights heavy rainfall, and the only people we saw on the trail were a couple of locals. It was great.

Part 2: Raging river and ladders in the sky
After arriving at Tinas which is located on the main road we continued on down to the river. It was quite steep and necessitated another ‘donation’ but we were pleased to find that the donation got us a clean path with regular bins and chain handrails in some of the more precarious bits. At the bottom we came across a huge rock in the middle of the river and some enterprising locals who had built a rickety walkway to it and were charging a fee to get across. This was becoming a trend on this trip. We declined payment and carried on along the path to where another local had set up shop. This time they were charging for the path to get to the actual Tiger Leaping Rock (around N27.25621, E100.16494 :gps:(GPS)::27.25621::100.16494:gps:) and to get out of the gorge on their path and ‘sky ladders’. This time we paid of course and if the weather had been sunny instead of drizzly we would have hung around at the lady’s makeshift cafe as it really had a wonderful view and was quite nicely done. The river not far below us was roaring away. The rapids looked particullarly vicious and you would not want to fall in.

We continued on to the Tiger Leaping Rock which was basically 3 large rocks jutting out into the river. The LP says that the legend is that a tiger used the rocks to leap over the river thus escaping the hunter that was pursuing him, though where he would have gone once he got to he other side is a mystery as it’s a sheer rock face. I suspect that there may be more than one big rock jutting into the river and they are all trying to capitalize on the legend.

Regardless we had fun clambering over the rocks and staring at the rushing rapids, but since we were both getting a bit damp we decided to push on. Next we came to a fork in the path with a sign directing us to the ‘safe path’ and the ‘ladders’ no surprise which path we took hey. The ladders were made out of bits of welded reinforcing and wood taking you straight up the rockface. Probably would not have passed any sort of safety inspection in the UK or anywhere else for that matter, but they were actually quite solid and we made it up with no trouble at all.

Part 3: Beeeg rocks
We arrived back at Tinas at around 1pm. The descent into the gorge and back took us around 3 hours and was hard on us but well worth it. Though it had drizzled pretty much continuously since we had started down, the trail was still negotiable and we thoroughy enjoyed it even if my knees were starting to complain. We stopped in at Tina’s for a coke and had the intention of hanging around for some more hikers to share a taxi back to Janes. The info we had been given was that a taxi would cost us about £8 but on further enquiry we discovered that they were charging £20 as there had been some rockfalls on the road. We gasped at the price and opted to start walking as we had not seen any more hikers coming down. We calculated we could probably make it back to Janes by 4pm with a combination of walking and hitching. At worst we could walk all the way if we had to. About 10 minutes in, a taxi pulled up and we landed up paying £3 for him to take us to the first rockfall about 3 km away, an exhorbitant price in retrospect but it got us further along our way.

The rockfall was a serious one. Huge boulders had broken off of the vertical cliff face and had smashed down onto the road completely covering it. You have to check out the pics to understand. At first we though no way are we climbing over that but seeing some locals cross over we decided to press on. Sim went first with me not too far behind him. We got it over and done with as quickly as we could. It was not an enjoyable experience and when Sim loosened a watermellon sized boulder it reinforced the fact that this probably wasn’t one of our brightest ideas.

On the other side of the rockfall, was a large group of Chinese tourists who had evidently had part of their day tour upset by the blocked road. They cheered us when we got safely down and one of them kindly offered me a wet wipe after we had rinsed our filthy hands in a puddle in the road. The lady spoke good English and told us that there were a further 2 rockfalls disrupting the road but that they were much less serious than the one we had just clambered over. There was a fleet of stranded taxis (stuck between 2 rockfslls) a little further along the road and we paid £5 for one of them to take us 10km to the next rockfall.

The Chinese lady was correct, this rockfall was much smaller, just a couple of smallish boulders strewn across the road and was already being cleared by the workers who were constructing the road. We were still a bit nervous at the thought that there could be more rocks coming down, but the workers did not seem terribly worried.

There were no minibus taxis waiting on the other side though so we walked maybe half an hour before coming to a tunnel and the third and final rockfall blocking the tunnel exit. Serious construction was going on on the other side of the tunnel sending massive boulders flooding the tunnel exit so we waited with a French couple and some workers untill the excavator on the other side took a break.

A quick scramble over the rockfall along with everyone else and we were on the other side. We had hoped to be able to team up with the Frenchies and share the cost of transport if we found any, but they clearly were not interested in being anywhere near us and at first walked off very fast but then stopped and let us pass when they realized we were keeping up with them.

So we walked, and walked along the muddy half constructed road. When the wind let up and the rain eased it was rather pleasant and not at all difficult. We eventually managed to hitch a lift for £1 after maybe an hour of walking. You rarely get anything for free in this country and people who are going in your direction anyway will still charge you. The French couple passed us on the back of another vehicle along the way.

Part 4: More spiky French and getting to Shangrila
Back at Janes we retrieved our luggage and enquired about getting to Shangrila. There were 5 other people going that way, another French couple, a British couple that had hiked back from Halfway guesthouse plus a chinese girl. The French had already organized a minibus taxi for £20 and were sharing with the other three. We asked the French couple if there was space for 2 more, but got an evasive half answer. On further enquiry we were told that there was not enough room and that 7 people in the taxi was dangerous. Bear in mind that 7 people and their gear fitted just fine into the same type of minibus taxi that got us to Janes in the first place. This was the second time today that we had come across spiky (to put it politely) French people. Do we smell? Do we somehow offend them by our obvious lack of style? What? We always try to be friendly and at least polite to other people we meet along the way and would jump at the chance to share costs.

Sadly we also suspected that the staff at Janes were trying to get us into another £20 taxi. I say this because it took further prodding from us for them to eventually tell us that there are regular buses to Shangrila that leave from just up the road and cost £2.50 per person. Plus when the young girl told us this she immediately got an earful from one of the other ladies.

We trudged back out into the drizzle and down the road. A couple more enquiries along the way got us to a parking lot on the side of the road. We saw the Chinese lady who had given us the wet wipe and told us about the other rockfalls. As soon as she spotted us she came over to see if we needed help. Just goes to show that there are still goodhearted people out there.

We were on the bus by just after 4. Sims pretty good with his estimates of time and was spot on again. It took us around 2 hours to get to Shangrila. Along the way the scenery took on a decidedly Tibetan nature. The house styles changed (all have prayer flags on top) and we saw yaks grazing. Instead of fields of rice, some other grass like crop were being farmed (hey we’re not farmers ok) and the people’s faces seemed to have taken on a more Tibetan look.

Shangrila or Zhongdian as it was previously called until the government decided to change the name to something that would lure tourists to the area, was chillly and since we were dressed only in shorts, t-shirts and strops, we definately felt it whilst we waited for the city bus.

After an exhausting day we found our hostel to be a thoroughly charming mud brick construction, with a friendly owner, nicely decorated though windowless room and a super hot shower. We finished it all of with well deserved and delicious ‘free range’ yak burgers (probably thd best meal we have had in China) and went to bed, scrubbed clean and well fed.

[Pictures: V at the first waterfall on the way down from Halfway Inn. V Crossing a bridge at the bottom of TLG. The sky highway on the way back out of the gorge. Sim topping out of the insane ladders. The TL rock far below. Yak burger on the menu]

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An early and yummy breakfast with real bacon and we piled into a minibus with five other people for the drive out to the start of the Tiger Leaping Gorge (TLG) hike. We tried to get a bit of dialogue going, but the two poms were reluctant and the rest just plain unfriendly. It was a quiet trip out made even longer by the continuous traffic jams and roadworks but V and I passed the time with a little more Bill Bryson. The weather was clearing as we arrived at Jane’s guest house around 12 and realizing that we had at least 6 hours of hiking to do we stored our packs and hit the trail while the rest of the arrivals sat to have lunch – we guess due to the delays that they decided to hike tomorrow.

We almost took a wrong turn early on but my V got us going in the right direction and we started to climb. It was a pleasant hike and we were making good time in the overcast but warm conditions. A small 10l day-pack ensured we weren’t slowed too much by excess luggage and we hit the first toll booth (a ‘donation’ of £1 each and some expensive bananas), after passing through a few farms, feeling strong. Form there the trail got steeper and more tricky but by no means hard. Very few people were out on the trail and after passing one of the bigger Naxi villages we started up what was supposed to be the hard part – 28 switchback bends to get to the top of the gorge.

As we approached what we thought was the top (around N27.18825, E100.09781 :gps:(GPS)::27.18825::100.09781:gps:) we walked past a roughly painted sign at a farm-stall indicating that we should rest up and refuel for the 28 Bends ahead ! We ignored the warning and plodded on. Just after going round the ridge was another sign… “Game On”… I had to laugh.

I counted 29 bends to the top (the error possibly induced by lack of blood to the brain as it rushed to my skinny legs) and it was tough going but we topped out in 4 hours (precisely what was estimated from Jane’s). The view from the top, in fact for the entire afternoon, was magnificent. Some industrious and annoying locals had erected a boom and were charging for photos to be taken from the viewpoint – we declined. From the high point (around N27.19024, E100.10272 :gps:(GPS)::27.19024::100.10272:gps:) at 2600m the path descended, much to V’s frustration after climbing all the way up, through stunning forests and along gorge edging trails. With the views of the TLG it was an amazing walk. We had been concerned about our gear selection for the hike – some websites had recommended hiking boots, rain gear etc. We had no problems at all with strops, shorts, a change of underwear, thermal tops and umbrellas. Two hours after leaving the viewpoint, and not a moment too soon, we ambled into the Halfway Inn (Total of Six hours including a 15 minute lunch break and about 30 minutes of ‘strategic rests’).

There are some annoyances on the trail. Telephone poles and wires obscure the view for large portions, the roads at the bottom are an eyesore, litter is as always an issue along with horse dung, and every obvious rock has guest house advertising painted all over. It is still a stunning walk. The Halfway Inn is huge, slick, clean and advertises great views of the gorge from the toilet. We sat on the terrace enjoying the incredible view with a beer and barbarian portions of food until the cold and then rain sent us inside. Another awesome day (maybe 15 000 hotdogs).

[Pictures: V looking a little worse for wear at the top of the 28 bends and looking back from where we hiked. More in linked gallery]

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Turns out that the deluxe room doesn’t have solid walls all the way to the ceiling so we were up with the Spanish couple next door on skype till late last night. The morning’s mission was to finalize our Tibet plans and it ended up absorbing the entire morning. We exhausted all the possibilities for an overland crossing from here with the help of the hostel owner (May – who is from Inner Mongolia). She was fantastic; on the phone to agencies for us and getting information via QQ (Chinese Skype) and email all the while checking people in and sorting complaints. It seems impossible to get the additional military permit you need to cross from Shangrila into Tibet this year (even for locals). No matter which way we decide to do it (and there are a lot of options) it’s going to explode our budget.

We overheard an American chap talking about a similar plan but after spending a few minutes chatting to him it soon became clear that he was substantially more clueless than us and also unbelievably annoying. We couldn’t believe his arrogance. Complaining that there were not enough staff to solve all his travel problems instantly. These were hostel staff going above and beyond to help, not travel agents ! We decided to take a walk to clear our heads and consider our options (with the added benefit of getting away from the yanker).

We strolled through town and out towards the Black Dragon Pool with the ambition of taking the mandatory Lijiang photo. We had heard that you could avoid the £8 fee getting into the attraction by going around it but we didn’t try very hard and ended up coughing up. The weather was really not being helpful and we were generally disappointed with the park (and our shots of the pool). We also found the ‘free’ entrance which was easily accessible with a 20 minute walk up the road to the end of the park where a stretch of Mao era graves proved interesting.

On the way back into town we decided to celebrate Ro’s birthday (Happee Happee) with a treat and stopped at The Nordic Cafe. It was just like stepping into an American coffee shop – amazing find. We overloaded our sugar tanks on Oreo cheesecake and diluted it with an excellent coffee. For the next few hours we wandered around the old town gathering supplies for the Tiger Leaping Gorge (TLG) hike and trying to decide on Tibet. Lijiang is the least interesting of the tourist towns we have seen. Alley after alley looks as if the town planners used a Photoshop clone tool, even down to the ‘Silver-smiths’ hammering out flat-bar.

Back at the hostel we spent a frustrating evening plotting, but we now have a plan. We will spend a week backtracking to Chengdu after Shangrila (first time on the trip we have had to return to a place). The tour will take us by train to Lhasa and we’ll spend 8 days in Tibet (Land Cruiser and a guide) taking in the sights including Everest Base Camp. It will cost a whack (conservatively £1000 ea) and we hope to get the price down by having other travelers join us.

Have to mention dinner. We selected an arbitrary restaurant and sat down. After being presented with tea we watched a 20 minute hissy fit by what we assume was the head (or only) waitress. No idea what it was about but it was accompanied with flying order books and a lot of shouting. What a primadonna ! Eventually we gave up waiting and left – ended up eating back at the hostel. We are both looking forward to getting out to the TLG tomorrow – hope the weather improves.

[Pictures: Our shot at Black Dragon Pool. What it should look like with fancy camera, good weather and a generous helping of talent. Cake !]

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The ‘Dali’ and ‘Lijiang’ galleries (up to 13 Aug) are now up to date. I have also started adding some code to posts so if you click through you should now get a thumbnail gallery of all the photos taken the day the post was written (at the bottom of the post). Obviously, since I don’t upload photos as often as I post, it will be a little retroactive and will take some time to add the tags to all the old posts. Keep an eye out for the ‘Click to see full post, comments and linked gallery photos‘ links at the bottom of posts.

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Not much to report for today. We fetched our visa extensions from the PSB in Dali with no troubles – we now have until September 17th to get out of China. I have to admit that the PSB in Dali is brilliant, unbelievably efficient and a pleasure to use. Back at the hostel it took 15 minutes to arrange and catch a local bus for the 4 hour trip to Lijiang. We have become accustomed to getting buses to anywhere without any hassles – it’s just such a pity that for Tibet the regulations don’t permit it.

The trip was on reasonably good and straight roads with the odd bit of rain. Unfortunately the mountains to the west were hidden by cloud. We listen to audio-books and dozed. Our hostel information recommended that we take a taxi from the bus station – a minibus quoted us £2 we laughed at the guy and got a taxi for 90p (we are occasionally getting it right).

Lijiang old town is a compact and demarcated theme park village surrounded by the new town. Our hostel is good (the Garden Inn) even if they botched the reservation they made good by putting us in the ‘deluxe’ room for the first night. On arrival we got straight to the business of sorting out our Tiger Leaping Gorge hike and asking about Tibet. It looks like Tibet may not happen overland from this side but we haven’t given up yet. This news put us both in a disgruntled mood which was enhanced by the lack of food in our tummies – not a good combination we have decided.

In the evening we went for a stroll in search of food. Lijiang has very little to offer in the form of authenticity but what it lacks in that department it makes up for in over zealous lighting and blaring music from the endless bars around the main squares. The place was teeming with tourists (of all kinds) – not really our scene but we’ll give the place a thorough once over tomorrow.

[Pictures: Looking down the stream behind the snack street in Lijiang old town.]

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So the big day arrived. Time to stop relaxing and procrastinating and get out into the hills a little. After a quick breakfast at the hostel and a brief chat with some of our hostel buddies (a lady from New Zealand who works for Ice Breaker, the guys who made my merino wool t-shirts, and her dad who teaches English and lives in China) we hit the trail with a map in hand – what could possibly go wrong ? We started off in the general direction of the mountains and found ourselves walking through small farms and around new streets. There are lots of new building clusters in this area with a similar feeling to a complex in SA but without the walls, guards, electric fences and sewers.

Coming across a movie set turned tourist attraction we knew that we were at least heading in the right direction. No idea what the movie was, but the ‘set’ looked more like a mini fortified village. The ticket cost and general cheesiness prevented us from going inside and we carried on to the trail-head where we acquired tickets and a pamphlet. One of the guards insisted that we read the information carefully – it outlined security and other risks on the mountain along with tips on what to do in case of an emergency or getting lost. We had been told that there had been muggings in the past on the trails and had left everything valuable behind so we were not too concerned.

We soon realized that getting lost or into any kind of trouble on the mountain would take a superhuman effort. The ‘trail’ is a 2.5m wide, perfectly paved stone concourse complete with handrails, warning signs, toilets, rest pagodas, water taps and fire hydrants ! We were all alone as we climbed stairs up and up toward the contour path passing only one guy who was pulling weeds from the side of the trail. It took around 90 minutes of hard step-mastering on the mossy path through thick forest to reach the contour path – I can see why most people take the cable car but chatting all the way made it easy.

After a short rest on a convenient bench we strolled off along the path. It was wonderful. The trail wound it’s way along the mountains offering stunning views of the town and lake. Sections have been carved (reasonably aesthetically) into sheer rock faces and the trail cuts back into gullies as it approaches waterfalls with the greater mountains towering possibly 1000m overhead. Light rain encouraged us to stop under misty and cloud covered mountains to have a little lunch before heading back towards the chairlift. We took the hard way down – a muddy, slippery and dis-used horse trail that weaves it’s way down under the path of the comfortable looking chairlift. After trekking downhill and through a vast mountainside graveyard we successfully navigated our way back to the hostel. An excellent five hours out in the hills – we deserved the beer.

The proprietor and head chef at the hostel is a French guy who has been in China forever and he sold us on a ‘Special’ dinner menu. At 7pm we were on the benches with most of the hostel’s guests eagerly awaiting sups. It was excellent and simple. A cheese platter with real cheeses (including pecorino, brie & rocquefort) real breads, a salad that I even found delicious and a fruit salad for desert. We have not had real cheese and bread since Russia and I was shocked that he had been able to source it here. Combined with his home-brewed witblitz and the lively company (we preferred the quieter Belgium couple as opposed to the Poms and Israelis) it was a fantastic dinner, an unexpected treat.

[Pictures: None – we didn’t take the phones on the hike for fear of being mugged. Will upload pics from the camera soon]

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I woke up this morning feeling pretty terrible – so another day off for us after a quick walk into town in search of real medication. Pharmacies in China have been a challange. We walked in and were greeted by helpful staff who could not understand a word we were saying (our fault not theirs). We passed walls of little wooden drawers each containing various kinds of dried roots, mushrooms, animal parts etc. Chinese traditional medicine seems to be a booming industry (as ever). Along with all the other ‘Snake Oil’ we passed what could only be decscribed as ‘real’ Snake Oil – or what looked like a partially disected snake in a jar of liquid. After scanning the shelves in vain I made some ‘sore head’ and ‘coughing’ actions – the staff presented us with a few items in Chinese packaging. Evetually we found some real medicine with bad English on the box and inserts that at least indicated a few familiar active ingredients.

Back at the hostel we lounged in the lounge. V got a chance to scan some recent National Geographics and other books – I lasted less than an hour after taking a pill. After a good snooze I am feeling much better. It was raining on and off for most of the day – hopefully it clears so we can get out for a hike tomorrow.

Dinner on Foreigner’s street was cheap and nasty. I think we would rather have simple Chinese food than ‘western’ food prepared with all good intentions by a Chinese chef, it was barely edible.

[Pictures: Boring one. The lounge at the hostel. It is a fantastic place. The Lily Pad Inn – highly recommended]

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