Mark and I spent a wonderful 4 days in rural China in Yunnan Province a few weeks ago. Looking back now so much has happened subsequently in our lives, I can appreciate the blessed time we had.
Ljiang was beautiful, with the caveat that it would be hideous in Golden Week. Cannot believe that the place would fit all those people when the hotels are full. It took 5 minutes to drive past one hotel.
We had a wonderful volunteer Guide, Jack, who showed us round the museum, temples and the old town; he had great sense of humour. We missed him in the evening when Dayan Town became like some Universal Studios theme town, with every shop thumping out music and the place losing much of its charm. Afer a drink in the 'Sexy Tractor' bar and a quick pizza in a restaurant looking out on hill decorated with a beautiful golden temple, we were glad to leave; our guide had told us that UNESCO has raised concerns about the level of commercialism and we could really see why. The next day we drove to Shangri-La, via Tiger Leaping Gorge - the Chinese equivalent of the Grand Canyon, and if the tourist signs are to be believed ... deeper, more impressive and providing a better 'communing with nature'. We walked, in the pouring rain, about 2k along the side of the gorge, the walls elevated around 100ft on either side. At times we were steered into tunnels to avoid rockfalls, the tunnels were so clean and white they felt like operating theatres. Stationed along the walk were men, dressed in camouflage, armed with loudhailers who barked orders alternatively in English and Chinese to stand back from the edge if anyone emerged out of the shadow of the overhanging rock. These disengaged voices turned out to be pre-recorded, presumably to avoid any creative licence being applied. We were both a little underwhelmed by the gorge, and pleased that it was en route to our next desination. Many people were making the 5 hour round trip from Lijiang. But then it had been so foggy in Lijiang we couldn't even see Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, let alone go up it. We arrived at Banyan Tree Ringha in the early evening- it really feels different up there, closer to the Tibetan way of life; What a very special place. The wooden house we stayed in looked like a village house on the outside, but inside rather different from the open fire to cook on, sharing the room with animals, no lighting etc...The next day went for a trek, our party was Mark, the tour guide and 2 'sous' guides who brought the horses and the picnic lunch. Actually it was no party, we climbed up to around 4800 metres and the altitude certainly made us catch our breath a few times on the steep climbs. The scenery was stunning and what was so special was to see rhododendrons, irises, varieties of snowdrops, crocuses and other bulbs that I associate with England but which probably originated from Asia. I'll leave Mark to write about our lunch experience in another blog as it deserves its own posting. Then we hacked back down on these wobbly old ponies. My best memory is listening to the guides singing as we ambled down the mountain in the sunlight, rolling with the gait of horses and taking in the multiple shades of green of mountains covered with pine trees and surrounded by rhododendrons. Amazing.
