Some of us again sampled the local herbal bread for breakfast at 'Woody's'; this led to a rather hazy day. We were picked up, as arranged, at 10am to return to Lijiang. This involved two different minibuses and a succession of additional passengers who jumped in and out of our 'taxi' during the journey. The first part, back through Tiger Leaping Gorge, was not for the faint hearted; our driver zigzagged merrily across potholed roads liberally covered in boulders ...

The final day of our epic walk!!! We had a leisurely start at the Halfway House, probably because none of us could face the shared squatter toilets (even if they offered the best view in the world! - see pic). Yummy breakfast of Naxi bread sarnies and pancakes and off on the third leg of the trek. Today was a fairly easy day, all flat or downhill, in beautiful sunshine. We had to cross several waterfalls and crossed paths with a herd of goats, as well as watchin...

How do we put into words the experiences of today...? We awoke to the sound of firecrackers being let off in the yard outside our room, a New Years Day treat that was to follow us for the rest of the day. A special Naxi alarm clock. Breakfast was taken on the raised part of the courtyard where we had eaten our feast the previous evening. I had a ham pancake, a wonderfully fresh piece of Naxi bread, called Baba, with beautiful slices of fried bacon on top. Susie...

New Year's Eve here in the Middle Kingdom. Or very much to the west of this Kingdom! I have just watched the sun set behind the mountain in front of me, casting a beautiful clear, bright light on the Himalayan peak behind me. Firecrackers are going off all around in this tiny mountain village. So how did we get here? We woke up in Lijiang and stuffed ourselves with dumplings and steamed buns, ready for the walk ahead. Then back to our Inn, where we stored our hea...

We started the day with a table full of breakfast offerings!! A bowl of congee; rice, cabbage and chicken soup, very tasty and almost calorie free. A chipped bowl of porridge - which turned out to be watery rice - that we left. A plate of dumplings, a folded pancake with syrup and Sam had a fried egg! Susie and I had coffee, it is so expensive here!!! I guess we are in the land of tea. We then wondered around old Lijiang, nestling below the foothills of the Hima...