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11 August: Dali

It had been raining the whole of last night and continued when we woke up. We wanted to take a bus to the next town and then a ferry to Dali old town, but first we wanted breakfast. We headed back to the restaurant we had eaten the previous evening for more of the same. Afterwards we got our bags and tried to find out when the bus would come. Unfortunately there was no longer a ferry going across to Dali, so it was pointless getting the bus, we decided to take the only option left to us and find a bus directly back to Dali.

One of the locals directed us to the bus stop where we waited, within a few minutes a bus arrived, but many locals had already been waiting before us and they filled the bus quickly. We sat down and waited for the next bus, at least they came every 30 minutes. The local who had directed us to the bus station had told us the cost was 15 yuan each, still a little unsure we asked a woman standing next to us what the cost would be. We hadn't noticed earlier that she was in fact the money collector, she asked a man standing near to us who told us the cost was 20 per person, because of our bikes. Should have known that the more people you ask the likelier it becomes that one of them will try his luck.

The bus came and Leanne rushed in with the backpacks to get two seats, before all the rest take them. I helped the driver tie the bikes on the roof, just to check he did a good job. If they were tossed off on one of the turns we would have to pay a pretty penny for them. Back on the bus we started off to Dali, most of the seats had been taken, but every 5 minutes we would stop to pick up more people, soon the bus was so full that in the isles people sat while others had to be contend with standing up. At least we had good seats for the 2 hours drive back. The rain had affected the road so much that we would not have been able to cycle back. Everywhere were potholes filled with water and the occasional boulder that had rolled down from above. Looking back it was amazing to have thought we had driven here by bike yesterday, some of the roads were incredibly steep as they climbed up the mountainside and down again into the valleys.

We arrived back at Dali just after 12h00, dropped off on the side of the road, unsure of where we were. At least the bus driver indicated a general direction in which to head, we tested it with other locals who weren't able to give us much confidence, but we continued onwards, again on our bicycles. After about 15 minutes ride up hill we came to the north gate and Bo ai street, the main street of Dali. We continued onwards to our hotel, where we found my bag outside in the foyer standing on its head, the one in which we had stored the laptop. Leanne's was not in sight, but at least we knew it would be there. The lady took Leanne up to a new room which was a better room than the one we had booked, it had a western toilet and it was not directly next to the kitchen! We settled in and freshened up before heading out for what we had waited for so long, a coffee shake!

We headed down People street, buying a vetkoek with some type of green chili inside, delicious! The street was filled with small backpackers and other shops, built in the ancient style. The roads were all cobble roads leading down to the eastern gate, with willow trees lining the way. From there we walked north, before turning back to Peoples street to find some lunch. We found a small restaurant where they cooked 3 types of noodles and vegetables in a small basket, then placed it in a bowl filled with soup. After lunch we headed to the southern part of the city, walking past masses of shops and stalls lining the streets and a small river running over rocks on the left side of the street. We crossed a temple in the center of town where the road ran under, before coming to a marble market. Another very famous craftsmanship of the ancient city. Everything from ashtrays, dragons, vases, statues etc and dirt cheap, unfortunately our bags were heavy already and neither of us want to carry around 1 or 2 kilograms extra.

We walked further to the south gate and turned west back to our hotel. Meeting up with an elderly German couple and chatting about some of the different sites. Back at the hotel we rested an hour or so before returning to the sites. We headed first to what appeared to be either a newly constructed complex or a restored ancient city, complete with temple, water features and accommodation. It appeared to be a cultural center which would be used for performances of some kind. The architecture however was stunning and we spent some time walking through it admiring how it would have been to walk through the same streets a thousand years before.

In foreigner street we decided to look for some vegetables, seeing as the past few days we had a minimum intake thereof. We found a restaurant which looked like they would give us what we were looking for, we were however a little skeptical so we headed into the kitchen and asked them to show us what vegetables constituted seasonal vegetables. The lady pointed to some leaves and then to some other vegetables, we asked about aubergine, cabbage and some mushrooms and she indicated she would add it. We sat down and waited for our food, problem came when it arrived, it was only leaves, I got up and spoke to the owner in the kitchen and in the end we walked out, no hard feelings by either of us.

We walked down people street looking for a restaurant, but not wanting to stop at the one we had eaten at earlier. Problem was it was obvious that all the restaurant were offering the same vegetables dish and anything else was substantially more expensive. After having walked up and down more than twice we settled at the same restaurant we had been at earlier the day and ate the same noodle soup dish. This time it wasn't as nice as earlier, the man had placed to much bitter sauce or something in. We finished up and decided on some nice desert, a chocolate shake for a change, today wasn't our day with foods and drinks though because although it was still nice it was very diluted. We headed back home as it was already late and the sleep would be much appreciated tonight.