Dali, Yunnan Province

20/04/09

We're headed off to Dali...

Breakfast 1st and we get to chat with Karen and Richard (from NZ) before we head to the bus station. They're heading to Dali also and we're going to try and meet up.

The bus station is a bit crazy but we find our bus with no problem - the tickets are in Chinese so I just ask someone with a uniform on - works every time. We've noticed that the buses in China are a step above others we've taken recently. But some things can't be helped - the 4 hour bus trip ended up being 6 - there were a few strange detours - I think maybe the freeway is only completed a little here and then a little there - that is very strange.

We ultimately got to our guesthouse - the Jade Emu - probably one of the best we've stayed in. Nice rooms, wonderful staff - Dave and his wife Song have the details down!!

We got some info from Dave and we took off for a walk into town. The guesthouse is about a 5 minute walk outside the Old Town.

Dali has been in existence in some way since the early 700's. It was built and plundered and finally rebuilt in it's current state in the 1400's. It has 4 pagoda'd entrances - North, South, East and West. Within the Old Town there are tourist areas and also residential areas with parks and schools. Each day we would see the children (all ages) walking to and from school in their different uniforms.

Dinner tonight was at the Dali Chicken House.(photos #2) We stopped at the grocery store and picked up a bottle of local red wine (36yuan - $6.00). Wine making came to the region via French monks years ago - it's not too bad!!

21/04/09

Quiet morning - breakfast, internet and then into town to walk around.

We stopped for lunch at cafe across from Dali Chicken House. I checked out their menu last night. Alot of the restaurants in this area display their fresh produce in front and then you can pick what you want and they'll make it. We were going to do that and then we saw dumplings on the menu - couldn't resist (see photo).

We were trying to decide what to do in the afternoon. We started talking with a Chinese couple who had just come down from from a chairlift ride and hike on the mountian above the town. Sounded good to us - off we go. We were going in the right direction but kinda took a wrong turn and ended up hiking about an hour (up a cobblestone road that turned into a dirt road that just stopped) to the south of where we needed to be. With my lack of skills in Chinese, it ended up being a game of charades but we found it but not before almost walking into a Chinese Army Compound and then walking the trails in the fields. It was quite an adventure but a pleasurable one.

We got to the Chairlift that goes up the mountian - think Bristol ski area in the off season. There was no one there - so we had to wait about 30 minutes till they started it up again to bring people down. It took about 30 minutes and the views were wonderful. For years, the local people have used the mountianside as a cemetery and there are hundreds of crypts (grouped by family) to each side of the lift.

When we got to the top we had an interesting experience. There were a couple of temples. Usually there is no one inside but at the 2nd temple there were a couple of men outside that eargerly invited us in. They offered us incense (you're expected to make a small donation). The younger man tried to get Jim to make a "donation" of 100 yuan - he gave 50. Then they lead us each to different corners - I thought it was to sign a guestbook - oh no - they had us write names and birth dates and then told us how much yuan we "should" give them and they gave us each amulets. This had never happened to us before - donations are always voluntary. They told Jim he should give 600 yuan (about $95US) and me 99 yuan - he told them "no" and gave them back their amulet...but they now insisted it was free - I guess it's bad luck to get an amulet back.We didn't feel threatened but did feel pressured. It made for interesting conversation on the lift ride back down.

There is a trail under the lift and it can be walked - if we hadn't had our "extra" hike earlier, we probably would have walked down - again nice views.

Dinner that night was at the Tibetian Cafe - it was just OK...not much flavor. We've been spoiled with other SE Asian food I guess. As we were leaving, we saw Karen and Richard (from Kunming) with a group having a beer. We stopped and chatted and made a date to have dinner on the 23rd.

Back to the GH and to bed - we were pretty weary.

22/04/09

Had a restless night sleep but got up and had breakfast before being picked up by Colin for our cooking class,

......See next entry for cooking class info......

....after the cooking class we wandered back to the GH and it was time to get online and try and figure out how we were going to get to Xian. To take the train was just too long - it would have taken us 36 hours from Kunming. Neither of us was willing to give up that amount of time, so we decided to fly. With Dave's (GH owner)help, we got reservations via Chengdu - good times and it cost less.

With that off our minds, we played some cards and ate our leftovers from class - yes, they were just as good the 2nd time around.

I went to get on the internet and Jim was invited to play some pool (there is a nice table in the courtyard). Our entertainment that night ended up revolving around the pool table. The one game of "Killer" turned into 4 - 5 games. We started with 5-6 players and the last game ended at about 0100 after 18 people were eliminated. It was great fun. There were guys, girls, Brits, Americans, Canadians and also 4 from Holland. And of course, in the end - Dave won.

23/04/09

Why is it when you "can" sleep in ...you can't. I was up at 0700 and even though it was a late night I didn't feel too bad. Can't say the same for the rest of the group - seems they had fun at a late night place until about 0430.

After Jim got his butt out of bed and had some breakfast we headed into town to the local internet cafe to download photos Grabbed some lunch, did some grocery shopping and headed back to the GH.

When I was at the internet cafe one of our emails was again from B of A about "Irregular Activity" on our account. Apparently, they didn't like that we used both ATM cards to take money out. I've found calling the US on someone else's cell is never easy. I couldn't get through. Jim got on line and was attempting to text message on line help - but who ever he was texting with just didn't get what he was trying to tell him.....SOOOO - we've finally come of age in the 21st century... we've got a SKYPE account - patricia.gregory.burke I was able to call and take care of the situation in 2.3 minutes. We were both very happy to have that taken care of.

Late that day - we headed back to the internet cafe and downloaded photos of the cooking class (that I thought I had inadvertently deleted). We met up with Karen and Richard for dinner - again at the Dali Chicken House...so much food for about $10US a couple.

They are great fun and if we get to NZ next year we hope to see them again.

Off to Lijiang tomorrow so it was back to the GH to pack but not before a couple of games of "Killer Pool". A bit more subdued tonight - only 2 games for me. I left Jim down there at 2330.

Tomorrow..."On the road again!!"

Apr 20, 2009

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