From our guide book: Langmusi is a calm and tranquil monastic village in a beautiful woodland valley. It is said that the border between Gansu and Sichuan provinces runs straight through the centre of the village, technically placing the two monasteries on each flanking hill in separate provinces. Many legends and spiritual histories are associated with this area. The Tibetan name for the village comes from two such tales. Taktsang means 'Tiger's Cave', referring to local folklore of a tiger's lair in the woodland cave in the surrounding valley area. The word Lhamo means 'Goddess' and it is believed that her spirit also dwells in the same woods. Another legend tells that the Guru Rinpoche, who brought esoteric Buddhism to Tibet, destroyed a demon in this valley. Like Xiahe, the Langmusi area has served as a cultural blend and still has a small Muslim area in the centre of town. There you go, for those of you who like the details! So, we arrived in Langmusi around 6.45pm last night (Saturday), driving through beautiful mountain scenery. I instinctively knew I was going to like it here. Again, it is a very basic village, with one main street (unmade road), and on my way to breakfast this morning, there were pigs wandering along it! This afternoon, I witnessed a herd of at least one hundred sheep being driven along the road by a man on a horse. The people here are very friendly but give you more space than those in Xiahe and don't seem to stare so much! The villagers will often call out 'hallo' with a smile as you pass by. Our hotel is the most basic yet, but still much better than I was expecting. Hot water and electricity not available at all hours of the day. Had dinner last night at Leisha's cafe. Leisha is quite a character and has built up her little business which caters mostly for backpackers passing through. Her speciality is yak burger, so that's what most of us tried last night. It was like mince in a large flat bread sandwich, with onion and tomato. It was okay - a bit like having MacDonalds! You wish you hadn't eaten it afterwards! Peter rose to the challenge of eating a large yak burger - you don't pay if you eat it all. Now, Pete can really eat but failed miserably! The small burgers were more than enough for me. Drank a fruit tea, which was delicious - you are given a glass with all kinds of fruit in (not all identifiable) and flowers. Hot water is then poured on it and topped up throughout the evening - also contains lots of rock sugar. Very tasty. Have bought some in the local supermarket to bring home. Couldn't manage the apple pie for afters, which was cooked from scratch, pastry and all. Went back to Leisha's for breakfast this morning - I had natural yoghurt (ingredients from the ever-popular yak) with honey, followed by a banana pancake and jasmin tea. This set me up for a beautiful walk in the mountains, along a stream. We took lunch with us and sat on a beautiful grass plateau surrounded by mountains to eat it. A lovely clear day - it's supposed to be the rainy season but the weather has remained good so far. The more adventurous of us then set off to climb the higher peaks - that did not include me. The rest of us continued to enjoy the sunshine and chat. So I've found myself with quite a lot of free time this afternoon, as dinner is not until 7.30pm. I wandered around the local jewellry shops with Nikki but didn't buy anything. The local stones are coral and jade - not the real thing, which would be quite expensive. Had an opportunity to speak briefly to Do-Ja today. I told him today is a special day for Christians - the Lord's day - and discovered that he has Christian friends who have told him some things about the Christian faith. Getting on well with my fellow travellers, especially Nikki who is 36, was born in England, lived for 20 years in South Africa and now lives in Oxford. Peter is her boyfriend of one year. He lives and works in Indonesia so they don't see each other that often. His home country is Australia. We have quite a multi-national mix! Matthias and Emma are disappointed that Sweden have gone out of the World Cup - there has been a bit of friendly rivalry between them and the English contingent! Everyone is keen to see the next England match (well, almost everyone!). We are eating in another local establishment tonight; Ailsa likes to make sure more than one person in each village gets some trade from us. Intrepid, our tour company, are very into responsible tourism, which is manifested in various ways, one being to use local tour guides and transport, another being to round up the bill when we have meals and, at the end of the trip, give the extra money to a charity of our choice in the country we are visiting. Our oldest member of the group is Bill (74). He was feeling unwell today, so had a rest day. My friend Heidi has an upset stomach and so does Emma, so I feel grateful that I am feeling well at present. I have suffered a little shortness of breath at this altitude (10,000ft) but nothing serious. It just means you have to take things slower. So - our itinerary for the rest of China: yet another monastery visit in the morning, followed by school visit in Kalsangs village. This is also the village where we will have our homestay. Tuesday: 5 hour drive to Tangkor; evening music. Wednesday: Drive to Songpan. Thursday: Free day. Friday: Drive to Chengdu (10 hrs). Saturday: Pandas, free afternoon and optional evening cultural show. Sunday: early flight to Guilin; bus to Yangshuo, transfer to Chaolong. Monday: free day. Tuesday: bike ride in Yangshuo. Wednesday: afternoon departure and overnight train to Shenzhen. Thursday: Shenzhen to Hong Kong. Last night dinner. From there, we are off to Tokyo, then America, then home! Hopefully, when we get to Hong Kong, I will be able to download some more photographs. There are hundreds of them! Well, it's been a long entry and I don't want to bore you. Love to all. Thankyou for all your messages - they are sought after and gratefully received! Keep them coming and keep reading!