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Hey all...
Lots to update you on, the last week has been pretty crazy and internet access has been pretty sporadic. We are now in Dali which is in the Yunnan Province, Southern China.
We finished the first part of our trip in Kunming last week and gained 6 more members to our tour group ( 5 more Auzies and a Brit wohooo!) before heading off to Lijiang on the route to Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Lijiang was the beginning of both Freya and my downfall in terms of shopping : o ) - Freya now has an addiction to scarf buying. We also embarked on a bike ride and visted the renowned Dr. Ho (Chinese Medicine Dr) in Bashi village, however we did not check the weather and on our return trip we were almost canoeing through the streets, diving in between buses and txis and finally skidding to a hault in from of yet another Moa statue! (took about 3 days to dry off after!)
We also made a new friend in Lijiang - Xiao Do Do the cutest puppy ever who loved to nibble on all of our, bags, toes, shoe laces etc etc.. at this point freya would also like to mention she has made a song for him (video to follow)and i am sure will be buying a puppy once home.
From Lijiang we were meant to go to Tiger Leaping Gorge to begin our 2 day trek, however it was closed by the Government due to recent landslides and even though the trek is now considered safe by the local guide, we were not allowed to enter the gorge due to government restrictions : o ( It was really dissapointng as we were so close and even had to drive past th Gorge (which is stunning) but could not walk through it, meant to be one of the highlights of the trip.
Sooooooooo.... we went straight to Zongdian (80Km from Tibet - we did consider flying over to Lahsa, but did not have enough time) and spent three days there. Our timing in Zongdian turned out perfect as there was a festival on and a different "cultural' show in the town every night we were there. We feasted on Yak lots too.. do you know how much you can make from Yak???? Yak curry, Yak dumplings, Yak stew, Yak cheese, Yak Yoghurt, Yak butter tea (umm)....as well as Yak hats, Yak coats , Yak hair brushes ... ...
A group of us got together and arranged an alternative trek instead of the gorge. This trek was up a local mountain range on the outskirts of the town.. where wait for it we trekked up to 4000m above sea level (thats pretty damn high!) going up was painfull and coming down in the rain was eventfull! (i fell on me bum quite a bit!) but the reward at the top was deffinately worth it, looking out above the clouds was brilliant.
Today we travelled back down to Dali on an 6 hour bus journey, with our crazy bus driver playing the latest Chinese pop music (niiiiiiiiiiinarrrr woooooo warrrrrrrrr etc etc)and chain smoking all the way ! (our ears popping all the way having been at around 2000m for the last 3 days)
Tomorrow we are off to Shapping market on the edge of lake Eri , ahhhh the shopping possibilities are endless.,.. then hopfully up the cable cars behind Dali. for a great view of the lake.
Can't believe that this time next week we will both be sat at home at notts and cambridge probabley eating baked beans on toast or marmite ... seems a million miles alway right now....we LoVe ChIna xxxxx
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