3 May – day trip to Baisha (stronghold of the Naxi tribe and so far unspoiled by tourists)

Lie in – finally.

Little van conveyed us all over cobblestones to the nearby village of Baisha, where the local Naxi market was in full swing.

As we arrived early-ish we were able to get a few bargains as the stallholders wanted to kick off their day’s earnings and were prepared to barter, and not prepared to lose their first sale as that would have been very bad luck.

Beautiful veggies, nut, fruit and unknowns were being sold. And the Naxi tribe was thriving.







There were some wonderful murals to guess at.

And some remarkably intricate embroidery.
Less silverware evident in this village, but plenty of copper-banging and metal “objets”.

But we all walked away – 5 hours later – with a chess board, a vanity box, 2 metal warriors (mini versions of our Heavenly Kings – but still weighing a ton), some batik tablecloths, more bells, and some pashmina scarves (to snazz up the missing evening wear).

We had some very tasty Yunnan coffee and some freshly made veggie dumplings for brekkie.

This afternoon it poured down – we have been lucky with the weather as nothing has stopped play on this trip. And it was nice to spend a few hours cramming gear into our bags and reading back Economists so that we can throw them away!

Our night out was eventful.Due to the rain, any idea of more walking to raise Deluth's step total for the day were abandoned. Enforced rest instead.

After a 10-minute taxi ride to somewhere on the road between Lijiang and Shuhe, Sarah insisted we stop first at Sweet World to collect breakfast; Joey managed to drop her underwear on the floor of the shop (not recognising them at first) packed by mistake into /sliding down her trouser leg!


Quick embarrassed exit after selecting a few cakes (that we admired) to buy and eat.







Dinner was in a Naxi style BBQ restaurant with a name we can't write or pronounce even though Joey offered to write it down for us.

Chef's night off: we cooked our own dinner, taking it in turns to stir the bowl filled with chicken bits, mushrooms, veggies, simmering over charcoal.

The broth was delicious. A fine ending for our adventures in Yun Nan. (Yunnan). An early night due to a 5am start Weds 4 May and back to HK.

We were very lucky to have Mandarin speaking friends with us for the trekking/shopping part of the trip in Tiger Leaping Gorge and Lijiang/ Shuhe. This made the holiday cheaper, remote parts/restaurants accessible to us; it was easier to get around by taxi without language problems/being ripped off and there was no need to take an expensive tour with lots of other Westerners (not that we actually spotted many for the 10 days of our break). Deluth and Joey were also able to research the best reasonable local restaurants with the tastiest food therefore we went to places we would never have gone to on our own.

To follow in our footsteps in YunNan you would need to either:
1. Try your luck with English guide books and know enough Mandarin to figure out the signs for yourselves or
2. Travel with some Mandarin speaking friends or
3. Accept the cost and hire an English speaking local guide/taxi driver.

We saw a few Western backpackers trying 1. They did ok but everything took longer and there was a high chance of getting ripped off. In Tiger Leaping Gorge we were told to take a taxi or a bus as things were far away when in fact they were less than 2k away around a corner.
We combined 2 and 3 and on the whole had a very enjoyable time thanks to our local guide in Shangri-La and of course: Joey and Deluth.

2 May- descending Tiger Leaping Gorge and heading to Lijiang/Shuhe.

Started early at 7.30 to avoid heat and allow Sarah to race ahead to take in the descent to the Middle Tiger Leaping Stone.

Deluth, Joey and Jo sauntered down the track, passing 2 waterfalls and resting from time to time to enjoy the views. The sun finally rose over the mountain at c. 8.15.












Lovely, airy, “balcony” walk.

We had breakfast at Tina’s guest house after 2 hours. The view was still spectacular.

A large more Western place but not reflected in the food!

Sarah managed to beat the crowds down to the middle stone.

No one was around and all you could hear was the thundering river.

A little family had set up shop below on the water’s edge and built a string bridge.


It really felt like string! Sarah was happy to give them some money for their efforts. Heading back up was even more fun as there was a vertical ladder – with a little weedy old man at the bottom gesticulating to advise to hold on tight.

I certainly did that!






















Mr Yang (taxi driver from Shangrila called Deluth and after a long conversation with Joey, insisted on taking us by car to Lijiang (who were we to argue). This involved a 2.5 hour drive from the TLG walk.

We arrived at The Bruce Chalet Guest house and relaxed a little

before heading out to the local ancient town in Shuhe.

sauntered around Shuhe main mountain region this afternoon and enjoyed all the local handicraft stalls – buying all sorts of bells, and bowls.  Highlights were ornate temples and cherry blossom in all its glory.

We were on the look out for Pu'er tea as neither of us has ever had really good Pu’er – just the

standard fare served in most Chinese restaurants.

Pu’er tea can be a real delicacy and can be stored for many years – with the different vintages and tea estates being the differentiating point. Rather like wine!

Enjoyable dinner down a back street at HaNi Shi Fang restaurant; Jo and Sarah managed to turn their back on a rather nice-looking Belgian pub and sampled the local beer instead

The place was recommended to Joey by a local who was a Canton-Kiwi wanabe. And it was a great place with delicious food although it did not start well – strong smell of dog pee plus the band eating takeaway!

The night lights were very appealing.

1 May- the best bits of Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek

The map -provided by Tina's guest house

Started early at 7 on 1 May in Naxi guest house with a special porridge prepared by Sarah - oats, hot water, sugar in a paper cup stirred and eaten with the handle of a comb. Class!!

Followed by Yunnan coffee/ banana pancake (looked suspiciously like a pizza) and eggs and ginger tea for Jo:)

The sun put in a brief appearance as we set off at 8:15 onwards and upwards to conquer the 28 bend track.

Sarah raced off and counted 38 bends before stopping and retracing her steps to help carry Deluth's rucksack.

The viewpoint is normally guarded by a local demanding ¥10 per person but as we were very early no one charged us.

Round this bend we finally caught sight of the rest of the river below and lost the pounding of the bridge construction site.




Peaceful walking at last!
Only a few Yaks on the track and us.

We arrived early at The Tea Horse Guest House in Yu Cha village and had more ginger tea to warm up. Found another friendly walker to take our group photo.

Too early for lunch, we continued to our overnight stop.

Many of the guest houses have sign posted rocks along the track to entice trampers to stop for a break/ food. Although an indication that we were on the right track, Deluth and Joey still managed to head off in the wrong direction and were rescued by Sarah once more retracing her steps for extra exercise.








The sheer drop down the cliff face down to the river, the magnificence of the mountains opposite and the peacefulness for at least half the day, were the highlights.

Shame about the electric wires following the track and the pipes.

Descending once more, we reached BenDi Wan village and our overnight stop at the 'Come Inn'. Supposed to be recently renovated, the bed was more of a sheet and electric blanket on top of a wooden board, we could see through the floorboards to the floor below and hear the people above, and the insulation around the window was an orange plastic tape.

Not too much strenuous exercise in either day's walking and definitely not enough for Sarah as she took off again for a stroll around the village after a quick lunch.
Jo has been walking very carefully/gingerly (must be all that tea) so as not to slip. The track is currently very dusty and despite the occasional dump from horse and Yak incredibly dry.

We were invited to a BBQ dinner with Gerry the owner and his family and friends at The Come Inn. Drank lots of Dali beer with “Ganbei” (bottoms up) toasts to all taking turns to sing songs in English, Tibetan and Mandarin. Tried rice wine but set your throat on fire! The star of the evening was the young lad singing Canto pop with Joey and Deluth