Yesterday afternoon I went for another walk into town to the shop and stopped to sit in the sunshine whilst it was warm. I started talking to a Chinese guy. He was from Sichuan and had finished uni and worked in the city in adertising for a while then came to Lijiang to visit a friend in the countryside. He decided he didn't want to leave so he became a chef in a restaurant. He was good to talk to and told me a lot about the area.

Once the sun went down it got cold so I said goodbye and went to the tourist information. They gave me a map and showed me where to book tours for Tiger Leaping Gorge. I had a breif look then went back to the hostel and internetted for a while until the hot water came back on and I could have a shower! (Finally)

Thankfully it was a lovely warm shower and it made me feel much better. Three Danish irls arrived who were staying in my room and I had a chat with one of them, they had just finished Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Once I was sorted I went for a walk around the old town then went to a cafe I had been to in the afternoon. When I was there earlier the live music had been recommended to me so I decided to check it out and maybe make some new friends.

When I arrived it was empty except for the two waitresses, the boss/musician and two of his friends. Regardless he got up and did a set whilst I drank my coffee. It was brilliant, he was an amazin singer, although I did feel a bit awkward being the only audience.

Afterwards I went back to the hostel and read my book next to the fire, and went to bed nice and warm.

Today I woke up early, washed some clothes, and wento to try to find Black Dragon Pool. I failed miserably, but I now know where the Mu Mansion and market are! I also tried the "Lijiang Baba" caked for breakfast, wasn't good.

I went back to the hostel, sorted out my washing and then went back into town to look at the tours again. I decided to go for it and booked my Tiger Leaping Gorge trek and then went back to the hostel and rented a bike.

I went to Lashi Lake. It was a little difficult to find my way, especially when I lost my map! But people were very helpful and I managed to find the big stupid hill I had to bike up. "A little bit up" hahaha! I made it most of the way, after two hours, one of which was straight uphil, I was getting tired and all uphill efforts after that were walked.

I finally saw the lake and had a nice downhill roll to get to it. I followed a small road around the outside but it didn't seem to be going anywhere so I followed some horses and headed to the water. There was a few buses and it was obviously the place to go for pony rides, but it looked like the type you got on a beach in Blackpool, so I decided I wasn't missing much.

The ride home wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I pushed my bike back up the hill, got assaulted with rice and firerackers from a wedding party, then rolled all the way back down, which took some time and made me realise I'd actually biked a long way uphill before I'd given in!

Back at the hostel it was too early to shower so I went for some food, then came back and uploaded some photos onto facebook. After a long warm shower I took another walk into town. I was trying to find somewhere to chill out to some music, but I wasn't keen on spending 25rmb on beer/coffee so I bought another "Chinese Hamburger" (pita bread with cold noodles and chilli mmmmm) and went back to relax at the hostel. I had a fire, 1rmb nescafe and the cutest dog I've ever seen!

Time to decide where to go next!