Sightseeing in Northern Yunnan

The past five days we behaved like real tourists: after a few really hard and long riding days we reached the city of Dali last Friday. We were all glad to spot the big walls surrounding the old town and once we rode into the old quarters we were happy to see that this first milestone of our trip was as beautiful as we had imagined it to be. After all we were a bit tired of uncharismatic modern Chinese cities.

We spent all afternoon strolling through the old town, looking at souvenir shops and pagodas at the same time. Horst was amazed by the look and feel of the "old town". He said that 10 years ago, when he was last in Dali, this area was very shabby and run down; not really a place to hang out. But since then it seems that the modern Chinese tourism industry has learned how to contribute to curbing the economy and the entire old town was renovated and turned into a popular place to visit for upper class Chines people. Some Western backpackers were also spotted. Sipping cappuccino and eating cake we had good fun just sitting and watching the crowd of people wandering around in the old town.

Dali's tourist area is flooded by shops selling outdoor cloths and equipment of all renown brands for mountaineering gear around the globe - or fake versions of them, sometimes it is hard to tell. I was able to buy a new pair of hiking boots and challenged Boris to stow them somewhere on Rocinante. Horst and Simon geared up for the cold days yet to come in Tibet with jackets and jumpers.

On Saturday we got up late and continued to Lijang. This is also a nice city, pretty much "same same but different" to the experience of Dali, with a nicely renovated old town. We were lucky to find a hotel right outside of the pedestrian area and enjoyed watching a thunderstorm pass by from the balcony of a nice little pub sipping ginger tea - a group favorite by now (as Beer Lao is definitely more tasty than Dali Beer). Finally, on Sunday we drove another half day and arrived in Shangri-La. The drive up onto the high plateau was very impressive. We followed some narrow gorges and took many sharp curves until we arrived on the plateau, which is at an altitude of around 3200m. On the the way up we passed over a pass which was 3700m and rode through beautiful pine forests. Once in a while there was a Rhododendron bush staring to flower. We hope to see more of these beautiful plants which in some parts of Tibet apparently form whole forests.

The town of Shangi-La is again quite similar to Dali and Lijang when it comes to scarf-and-jewelery shops and outdoor equipment outlets. However Shangri-La is dominated by Tibetans. We already noticed this comming up onto the plateau. The Houses here are of completely different style compared to the Chinese houses we saw before. The houses are built out of massive timber logs and have massive white walls, very thick at the bottom and then becomming thinner and thinner towards the top. They are decorated with colorful ornaments and wood carvings around the doors and windows and look like small fortresses. It reminded me a little bit of the Engadina valley in Switzerland. Behind every thick fortress-wall you can hear the low voice, powerful barking of the giant shepherd dogs which guard the house - and the yaks! Yes, Shangri-La is not so much about farming anymore, but about herding, and the Yak seems to be the king of these herding animals.

The "old quarters" of Shangri-La are also built in Tibetan style. Originally we planned to stay in this town for one full day, but then ended up staying a day longer as our new guide did not arrive as planned. We didn't mind this, as it gave us more time to explore and more time to adjust to the higher altitude. We all felt quite tired and every quick step, or walking up the stairs seemed exhausting. Simon had a bad headache for a full day, so it was good we had a bit more time. Boris knew a great hotel to stay. It looked like a typical Tibetan house and was located right in the old town. And: the beds had heated blankets! An absolute novelty for me and a winner as it was quite cold at night time in the unheated house. Boris and I went to visit friend Kevin and his family, who have lived in Shangri-La for twelve years now. Kevin is an absolutely hearty person, probably knows everyone in town and always has some very good stories to tell. We had a great time out eating Tibetan hot pot with Kevin's family and a bunch of friends.

Yesterday it rained only once, starting in the early morning. So we all had a lazy day and pretty much hung out all afternoon at Helen's Pizza restaurant, which is basically run by the Italian Marco. He straight away remembered Boris and his plans to come through by motorcycle and spoiled us with hot tea and fresh fruits and we chatted all afternoon sitting next to the warm stove. Fortunately it cleared up today, so Manny, Boris and I went on a bicycle ride around the lake outside of town - 40km flat road, but still exhausting. After lunch, when our new guide arrived we headed off in direction Lhasa, our next main destination. Again we passed through some stunning scenery ended up in a small town along the way to Dequin at the Tibetan border, which we hope to reach tomorrow- but you never know about the road conditions. At times they are superb, then again the road is full of pot holes and under construction. So let's see how far we get...