On March 11th We took the train to Lijiang. We had specifically chosen accommodation where we knew that the hostess spoke good English. I was able to explain to her my problem with the Laotian visa. I have since found out that I could pay for the visa using WeChat (the Chinese version of WhatsApp). Only I don't have WeChat. The host was kind enough to pay for my visa using her WeChat. I gave her the money back in cash. And boom-ding-dam: a few days later I had my visa! Yey!Lijiang is a nice old town with equally old houses. Small streams where people used to wash vegetables or laundry or fetch water are gurgling happily everywhere. The Naxi people live in Lijiang. A Naxi dish is called “Baba” and it is filled dough cakes. Very tasty! The Naxi writing is very interesting because it consists of hieroglyphs. Unfortunately, supposedly only 13 people can read and write scripture. Nevertheless, the city of Lijiang did not miss the opportunity to write the Chinese script and the translation in Naxi everywhere. Naxi font The Naxi were also a matriarchal people. Since China has stopped this, they have abandoned this way of life. But in the Naxi language the matriarchy lives on: for example, there is a word for stone. If you put a feminine word in front of it, the stone becomes a rock. If a masculine word is placed in front of it, the stone becomes a pebble. From Lijiang you can see a foothill of the Himalayas: the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain! Beautiful and majestic with his whitish-gray robe. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain The next day we rented e-bikes and went to Baisha. Also an old city. There were stone cats sitting on many houses with their mouths wide open. So-called roof cats. They are said to bring good luck. Roof cat Ivar had to do another photo shoot in Baisha Our e-bikes
We visited a Tibetan Buddhist monastery. It was very nice and when we arrived there were monks praying. Their murmuring of prayers and musical instruments accompanied our visit and gave it a spiritual touch.
Birth mills On March 14th We were picked up early and taken to the so-called Tiger Leaping Gorge. This gorge is one of the deepest in the world. The Jinsha River flows its way through and has made this gorge deeper for millions of years. The gorge owes its name to the legend that a tiger jumped over the river at the narrowest point in order to successfully escape its hunters. In this narrow place the river is about 15 meters wide and the water bubbles and roars incredibly loudly! There is a famous hiking trail that leads along a little further up the river. It was part of the former tea route that ran from India to Laos. We were dropped off at the start of the trail, or rather close to it. We first had to go up a street. Because of the cars and trucks, it wasn't that idyllic at first. However, suddenly there was a camel standing on the side of the road! First just up the street... The poor thing had a screw through its nose! At the beginning of the hiking trail there was a restaurant where we fortified ourselves. Then the real hiking trail started. At first I complained because the path was concrete. But luckily that stopped at some point and we got to the climb. I still had room to complain
The path goes up the mountain in 28 curves. If you can't take it anymore, you can take a horse for 200 yuen and let it carry you up.
Luckily it's no longer concrete, but it's steadily rising! A Chinese man lets himself be carried up. With a smoke in his hand, of course. But Ivar and I managed it alone and without a long break. From above you would have a great view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain opposite. It was drizzling slightly, so it was cloudy. We thought the view was still good! Once at the top After the climb it was flat. At the spot where the tiger supposedly jumped over the river, the water roared up to us. This is where the tiger supposedly jumped over and this is also the narrowest place for the river. We hiked for 5-6 hours to the “Tea Horse Trading Guesthouse”. We booked a simple room there. The inn had a viewing platform. The clouds had cleared away, revealing the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. We drank a Tsingdao and enjoyed the view. What always amazes me is that we sometimes end up in areas where it can be cold and sometimes it snows. Nevertheless, people live in houses with thin (board) walls and single-glazed windows. Any cozy warmth is condemned to bow to the cold temperatures. Luckily we had an electric blanket in bed! What can I say: I'm getting old now and I think these inventions are excellent! Our humble accommodation The next day we also hiked for 5 hours. We get up early at 7:30 a.m., fortified with soup. At the "Halfway Point Guesthouse" (which, contrary to what the name suggests, is not located at the halfway point of the route, but rather at the last third) we drank tea and enjoyed the view of the mountains, behind which the sun was slowly coming out . Beautiful! The toilet. Privacy: 0/10, View: 10/10 We passed a waterfall, met a goat herder and then we went downhill until our knees hurt. The hiking trail ended for us at “Tina’s Guesthouse”. Apparently you can go further, but the path gets worse and you probably need a guide. Our large backpacks were also delivered to Tina's. From Tina's a mini-van took us to the city of Shangri-La. This is a last city before Tibet. Unfortunately, foreigners are not allowed to enter Tibet. You have to apply in advance and have a guide for the entire time. Although Shangri-La is part of Yunnan, many Tibetans live in this city. Unfortunately the city center burned down. But it was rebuilt according to old models. The city is at an altitude of 3,200 meters. Oxygen was sold everywhere in small gas cylinders for the chain-smoking Chinese. It was cold, around 12°C during the day and -2°C at night (in poorly insulated rooms!). Tibetan architecture On March 15th we looked at the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan. Called Songzalin, it has gold roofs, whitewashed facades and colorful decorations in the Buddhist colors of red, white, blue, green and yellow. Chinese town musicians?! The walls are inclined inwards by 10° because they are in a seismological area.
There were a lot of Chinese women walking around in costumes to take photos.
We looked at the different temples and walked around in a clockwise direction (that's how you should do it). In front of the monastery there is a lake which we circled. From the lake we also had a wonderful view of the monastery. Songzalin Monastery The next day we went on another hike. We walked up a small mountain. What we didn't expect was the snow that was partly on the paths. At the top we had a great view of the surrounding mountains and Shangri-La. So we still had snow! The path down proved more difficult as the snow is more slippery going downhill. So we shimmied from tree to tree or walked alongside the path where the snow was still loose and not that thawed-and-refrozen-poo poop. Halfway down we took a different path and walked through nature in a really lonely way. There was one more thing I wanted to see: yaks! The cows in the highlands. This wish was fulfilled when suddenly a herd of yaks stood in the middle of our hiking trail! Instead of walking through the middle, we preferred to avoid these large animals with their huge horns! Yak herd On March 17th We borrowed e-bikes again in the morning. We drove to Lake Napa. However, this lake is seasonal. When we arrived it wasn't there yet, but there were wide meadows and some wet meadows where numerous birds cavort. We parked the bikes and walked a little cross country. Again we saw yaks and a few horses and sheep.
We had a coffee in a café before we had to go back to Shangri-La.
At 4:00 p.m. our train left from Shangri-La to Kunming. We spent the night there and then took the train back to Laos the next day.
