It was night time and we didn't have to look around too long to find a guesthouse. It was a simple room around an old courtyard. Lijiang was a touristy town, popular because of the 'old Lijiang', a town dating back over 800 years and retaining much of its stunning ancient architecture. Intricate waterways sliced their way through the town and it was a pleasure meandering through the old streets and walking over the old bridges. We had a great nights sleep and work early the next day to a pleasantly cool morning due to our altitude of over 3000m. We had a lazy stroll around the old town's streets and found a wonderful little cafe where we had a fantastic breakfast of grilled goat's cheese, thickly cut ham, a potato pancake and toast. Believe it or not, this continental style breakfast was a local dish, 'farmers food' popular with the Naxi People, an ethnic group who inhabit the foothills of the Himalayas.
Lunch was similarly rustic food, a delicious blood sausage kebab, grilled on a stick along with some griddled baby potatoes. After two months of noodle soup in Vietnam, this heavy, hearty food was definitely a welcome change.
Feeling rested, fortified and ready for a challenge, we took a bus to the gateway of the majestic Tiger Leaping Gorge. The weather was cloudy and drizzly and we had been warned of landslides in the area. We'd also heard rumours that the hiking path was officially closed but we weren't going to turn back, not after coming this far. The trek was long, steep, winding and the weather in places was horrible. We were pretty soaked through and our cheap camera we bought in Thailand was definitely feeling the strain. A delicious bag of spicy ginger candy that we bought in Lijiang was our fuel and munching on this gave us the energy we needed to get to the top. Upon reaching the top of the gorge, the clouds parted and tired, soaked and hungry, we managed a smile as we finally saw the rich, blue sky. For most of the trek it seemed we were the only two people on the path, apart from the occasional goat. We walked across the top of the gorge and found an old, traditional house where the owner offered us rooms for the night. We were the only guests and the kind lady who lived there cooked us up a delicious meal of hand-cut ham and onions, fried potatoes and stir fried chicken. Facilities were basic but the views of the snow capped Snow Dragon Mountain and the raging Yangstze River deep in the gorge were breathtaking and it was a meal we'd never forget.
The next day's weather was perfect and the trek down to the road was obviously far easier than the arduous journey up. Unknowingly however, the most dangerous leg of our journey was now upon us. We got on a minibus to take us along a narrow gorge road to the main road and our path was blocked by a landslide that had occurred the previous evening due to the bad weather. We had to get out of the bus and clamber over the fallen rocks with the raging river roaring far below us. The path we had to navigate was probably around a foot in width and to make matters worse we had to crawl under some rocks whilst Chinese builders were drilling all around us trying to clear the debris! Watching small pebbles giving way under our feet as we navigated the precarious path was one of the most nervewracking moments of our travels thus far and we were grateful to get to the other side of the landslide in one piece. After experiencing this it's easy to see why there are so many building accidents in China, our safety was not once taken into account by the crazy builders who wouldn't stop working whilst we passed. Shaken but in one piece, we got on another bus that took us to the main road.
We were waiting for a bus to take us up to Shangri-La and an enterprising individual who saw us waiting offered to give us a lift, for a price. We managed to find a couple of others to join us in his little minibus and we set off. Not long into the journey, his minibus broke down!! It didn't take our driver long to fix the problem and before we knew it we were on the road again. The journey was very scenic and we passed wonderful meadows of wildflowers with immense snowcapped mountains dotting the landscape. The temperature was noticeably cooler and the air fresh. Shangri-La was a quiet town and we found a great guesthouse with the best hot shower I think we'd ever had. After our soaking on the Tiger Leaping Gorge, it was just the place we needed to get our head down for a few days before we made the journey back to Kunming. The bed had thick, warm blankets and we had a wonderful nights sleep.
The next day we had a walk around the town and had a great breakfast of assorted meats and veggie kebabs with delicious flatbreads. The weather, at around 3000m high, was cold enough to warrant jackets and the hearty food was warming and comforting.
Shangri-La is located where Tibet, Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province meet and is settled by Tibetan people. The cuisine is heavy, Tibetan fare and we had several great meals. Our favourites were the Tibetan stuffed breads, similar to an English pastie, filled with minced meat and onion. Also, the barley salad was fantastic, like a heavier version of the Arabic Taboulleh. Another great snack was the dried yak meat and there were countless shops selling this local delicacy. It is very similar to beef jerky and came in many different varieties. Our favourites were the original and the Sichuan pepper coated types. We also tried the yak yoghurt drink which, made from yak milk, was thick, delicious and very tasty.
Our trip to the large Tibetan Buddhist monastery, Songzanlin, was a very peaceful way to end our expedition into the mountains and our bus journey back was memorable as we sat next to some old, local Naxi ladies who were dressed in their colourful, traditional garments. They were sniffing something off their hand, and, noting my curiosity, offered me a go. One of the ladies put some dusty looking substance on my hand and encouraged me to sniff. When in Rome I thought..... SNIFF!! It immediately made me cough and splutter, then my eyes started watering. The rest of the packed bus all turned around and found it immensely funny and before we knew it, everyone was roaring with laughter, including Melissa! Don't think I'll be trying that again in a hurry!
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