Lugu Lake to Tiger Leaping Gorge

Hello all!
I am once again back in Kunming, so no more posting via blackberry (at least for the next couple of days). Actually, my blackberry doesn't work at all in Kunming, so any emails sent to that blackberry email address won't be received until I head back out on the road.

Lugu Lake was fantastic. For fellow Californians, it reminded me of Lake Shasta, minus the houseboats and ski boats and resulting pollution. In fact, the lake was as clear as any body of water I have seen in China and not a single motorized boat on it. The only entities allowed out on the Lake are the traditional dug out canoes used in Mosuo culture, the reigning ethnic minority of the area. Those were used to shuttle tourists back and forth between the mainland and a few of the islands on the lake, at least one of which contained a Buddhist temple. Still, these boats were few and far between, and the lake huge, so for the most part the water was completely still. It was very peaceful. There are two areas that have a gathering of buildings - guest houses, restaurants, and tourist shops - called Luo Shui and Lige Dao. The first is the more popular one with more to do, but more hustle and bustle. We were told it was a little chaotic during the May holiday, but we arrived on Friday night and didn't make it over to Luo Shui until Saturday, after most of the tourists had left, and found even that area calm and pleasant. The place we stayed was supposed to be the laid back counterpart of Luo Shui, but when we arrived, we found it to be one huge construction site. The government had recently made all of the buildings move back from the lake to prevent sewage and pollution leaking into the lake, so several of the buildings were torn down in the process of being rebuilt on the other side of the road. Not quite what we had been hoping for, but having just finished a 4 day hike and being in desperate need of a shower (hot or cold would have been fine at that point) and a decent bed, we settled for one of the two remaining guesthouses. After a lengthy nap, we all gathered at an out door xiao kao (like Chinese barbeque) restaurant and ordered a leg of lamb, tons of veggies, bai jiu and pi jiu (alcohol and beer). Toasts were made to finishing the hike, good health, and a peaceful weekend at Lugu Hu. We stuffed ourselves to the gills and then retired to a very peaceful night of rest.

On Saturday, after a breakfast of pancakes and coffee at the other guest house, we decided to try to find our way over to Luo Shui, a 20 minute hilly drive from Lige Dao. After a bit of an argument over prices with our guesthouse owners, we walked away in a huff with slightly injured pride to try to find our own ride. There were no cars to be found and the boats cost too much and took to long, so we took to the road hoping to catch a ride on the way. We all found it slightly ironic that our first day off, we found ourselves hiking yet again to a place that would surely take us at least all morning to get to. By the time we figured out there weren't many cars, we were too far away and too proud to return to the guesthouse and pay the 50 kuai, so we persevered. As the road wound further and further up, Eric continually declared he wasn't walking another step, he'd wait right THERE for a car to come. His declarations turned to pleas and finally bribes (I'll pay you guys the 50 kuai just to stop walking!) until we finally hit a main road and found a car. Rescued! Like I said, Luo Shui was mostly empty and fairly relaxed and along with the tourists, the inflated prices were gone. We walked along the wooden buildings on the water, did some jewelry shopping, ate a very tasty Chinese lunch, used the internet, walked around some more, took a boat to a nearby island with a temple, ate some more, played Uno, and finally returned to our guest house at Lige Dao.

The next day we woke up bright and early and took a car to Ninglang - a nearby (2 1/2 hour) town with easy transfers to Lijiang. We ate lunch there and hopped on a 1:30 bus to Lijiang. The bus was dirty and smelly and cramped. We were the only foreigners on it. It took us about 4 hours to get to Lijiang, and most of the way was on bumpy, unpaved, mountainous roads. You find yourself doing a lot of bus riding when traveling around Yunnan. Only a handful of cities have airports and very limited train system that doesn't run South of Kunming. You are usually crowded in with people both sitting and standing who haven't bathed in a while and are smoking and spitting on the ground or out the window. And I love it. Aside from the lack of time efficiency, I really like traveling by bus through Yunnan and I think that that is the strongest image of China that will stay with me after I've left. I usually stare out the window at the breathtaking scenery, get lost in my thoughts, or people watch. This is the situation that makes me feel the most like a traveler. As I get jolted and tossed about for hours on end, I realize that I can go anywhere, do anything, get off the beaten trail. Nothing fazes me anymore. I know China, I've done China, I can handle China and most anything it can throw at me. I am so glad that I'm out here, doing this, that my parents were crazy enough to send their youngest daughter off for a year. I am a China traveler and I've never been happier.


I realized that would have been a good place to end the entry, but I'm not quite done writing yet. Sorry, guys.

Sunday night, we got into Lijiang, checked into a hotel, and went shopping. Lijiang is a bit of a tourist center and the "old town" is made up of shop after shop after restaurant for the sake of tourists. One can get a little huffy and proud after doing something as off the beaten path as we have, but if you can put your pride aside, Lijiang is a cool place. The shopping is pretty fun and it is a place that travelers from all over the world meet. For some, it is the final destination and others only a stopping point on their way to more remote places like the famous Tiger Leaping Gorge and Shangri-La. Once you get outside the hustle and bustle and chaos of the center, the winding streets and traditional architecture are quaint and endearing. Not a place I like to stay for long, but definitely a fun and rewarding stop over city. After a bit of shopping, Michelle and I met up with the boys for our last meal together at an outside restaurant lit by lamps that gave the area a fun red glow. Early the next morning, Michelle headed to the airport to get back to work. After a bit I met Eric for breakfast and we walked around and shopped for a few hours before meeting up with Dave at his office for lunch and more shopping. In the afternoon, Eric and I went to the Mu Family Mansion, a massive preserved residence once owned by a ruling Nasi family. It was certainly impressive and the taller buildings offered a great view of the rooftops of Lijiang and the surrounding mountains. That night, Dave also took off for Kunming for work, so it was just Eric and I left. We decided to spend a day at Tiger Leaping Gorge - a Yunnan must see that we just didn't feel justified leaving the area without viewing. Early the next morning, we got up and headed to the bus station hoping to catch the 9:00 am bus to Qiaotou, a town at one end of the gorge. The ticket lady was none too pleasant and established that not only was there only 1 seat left on the 9:00 am bus, but that was the last bus of the day heading up towards Hutiao Xia (Tiger Leaping Gorge). After failing at an attempt to hire a car at a decent price, we found out that there was another bus station that might have buses to Hutiao Xia. We got to that bus station and managed to buy tickets on the 11:00 bus and then proceeded to walk around and kill time until it got there. The bus was half an hour late and when it did finally leave (this is the best part), its first destination was our FIRST bus station. And there were definitely still seats to be bought. Eric wanted to go give the ticket lady a good talking to and only the risk of missing the bus kept him in his seat.

We didn't really get under way until about noon, which meant we didn't get to Qiaotou until 2:00, just missing the only bus at 1:30 that takes tourists to Walnut Gardens - supposedly the most scenic part of the gorge and our destination. We stopped in a cafe for refreshments and to try to hire a car to take us, but the only car the woman could find wouldn't be able to pick us up for an hour. I set out to find my own car, asking around and talking to people until I finally found a driver and negotiated a pretty rediculous price, but at least we were finally on our way. I'd say all in all it was a very unsuccessful, inefficient day of travel. But the gorge was breathtaking and impressive and despite only having a 4 or 5 hours of daylight to enjoy it, it was worth it.

You really are meant to hike the gorge, but having just completed a hike and having neither the time nor the energy, we took the pansy route. The hike is 3 to 4 days and supposedly not too difficult. Hutiao Xia is more known and therefore more developed than the hike we did (our hike isn't even in Lonely Planet). The path is easy (or easier) and clearly marked and lined with guesthouses, so I'm guessing it would have been a bit of a let down after our trip. We did get to spend about 4 hours hiking around, climbing as high as we could with what daylight we had to get a good view of the gorge. The mountains in the area were overwhelming steep and massive, it was a lot to take in. Just looking at the mountains gave me vertigo. I wish I had had more time to stay, but I'm glad I got the chance to see it at all. That night, we had a great dinner at our guesthouse (Tibet Cafe is the name and I highly recommend it - the people running Sean's Guesthouse down the road are rude and the rooms dirty and over priced) and sat around drinking with a bunch of Aussies and Canadians that were also staying there. Despite certain difficulties, it was a pretty good day.

This morning we rose with the sun and took a car leaving at 7:00 am back to Qiaotou where we caught an 8:30 bus back to the Lijiang. It was a much more efficient day of travel, which was good because I still had some shopping to do before catching our 2:30 flight back to Kunming. And now I'm back in my apartment in Kunming, home sweet home, exhausted and satisfied with my trip. A little recuperation, some washing of clothes, and I'll be off for my next trip to Xichuanbanna. China, here I come.