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21 August: Lijiang

The alarm went off at just before 08h00, we wanted to double check prices and times for the bus to Chengdu, before buying from Mama Naxis. Along the way we stopped for a breakfast of beef noodles and also some dumplings on the side. Most of the shops were still closed at this time and unfortunately so were the travel agencies. We found one open and checked for a bus, she could give us the departure time and price, but couldn't book for us. We double checked at the tourist office in the market square before returning to Mama's and asking her to book for us.

Too bad, our luck wasn't in, the next available sleeper bus to Chengdu was on the 24th! We had only one option, take a local bus to Pansegui, get a taxi to the train station and then a train to Chengdu. Problem was that often the trains are also booked in advance and we couldn't book form Mama's since it was in another province. We asked her to book the next available bus, it would only leave tomorrow at 07h50. At least we still had another day in Lijiang. The other option would have been to fly, costing us double, but taking only 30 minutes, instead of the grueling 10h bus ride and another 10 train ride...o well.

We did some research on the route but in the end decided to leave it and hope for the best. We then decided to go to Baisha town (now that we had extra time), about 5km according to our LP (Lonely Planet), we checked the bikes available at Mama's and decided on the two best ones. Bags on our backs, we headed to Baisha, praying it wouldn't rain again, but first we would have to get out of the old town. Finding the way was another story, our map, although seemingly accurate, made for complicated navigation, often we relied more heavily on the directions of locals.

The road to Baisha was the main highway to Shangri-La, strangely there was minimal traffic on it as we peddled onwards. The road was lined with pine trees along the inside, while the surrounding landscape was relatively flat. The fields were mostly filled with plantations and the odd construction site, while being engulfed with high mountains in the distance. We continued on the highway for the best part of an hour, at least 8km, before turning off on a small road leading to the town of Baisha. The entrance to the town wasn't very spectacular, a few locals standing around, but nothing more. We looked for a spot to leave the bikes, but one restaurant owner indicated that we would either get a fine or have to pay him to leave them there, no idea which one. We rode further to an embroidery school, where Leanne went to ask if we could leave the bikes there, they had no problem with it.

We barely locked the bikes, before he started to explain the ancient art of embroidery. He had been kind enough to allow us to park the bikes, so we indulged him, listening to what we had heard before. He was however able to educate us with details we hadn't known before and also show us how it was performed. After the demonstration we were led to the exhibition hall where all the art works were kept. It's AMAZING, we just wished we had enough money! Some of the art works took up to 2 ½ to 3 ½ years to complete by masters or teachers and carried a price tag of R30 000 to R60 000, containing in excess of 800 different coloured silk thread! Walking closer, to the side or further away, would each time give another aspect of the artwork. Most of the items were between R3 000 and R5 000, but the difference between the work of the masters and that of students was evident.

We continued through the streets of Baisha, buying an ice cream along the way. For the first time in China stall salesmen pestered us like in Thailand. The stalls sold everything from silver works, coins, stamps, woodcarvings, opium pipes, wood/metal Buddha's, batic cloth and even fossils (after the 3rd one looked exactly the same, we concluded they were fake). While walking past one of the stalls and Leanne saw a beautiful bangle for sale at 60Y, she bargained a bit for 10Y, and finally the lady said yes , it really is a nice bangle for the price!

We wandered further to Dr Ho's medical chambers, famed for his work and dedication, he has been featured in Readers digest, Travelers guides, medical journals and more. Known as the most famous man in China, he has a PHD in herbal medicines and his work has been used in various studies relating to a variety of deceases. We were first introduced to his son, who handed us each a paper to read regarding his work and accomplishments. After finishing them we wandered outside to his herbal garden, where his son caught up with us again and handed us each new material. The walls were full of newspaper clippings, while buckets of herbs were packed at the sides and inside his consultation office, nothing more than a small room. We spoke to him briefly and took a photo as a remembrance.

We walked back to the embroidery school and collected our bikes, before continuing back to Lijiang. The weather was changing and we didn't want to be caught up in a storm like we had witnessed the day before. Lucky for us the ride home was less strenuous, as it was mostly down hill and we could free for the largest part of it. About halfway back small drops started to fall, we stopped to put the camera in the bag and retrieve our jackets. The misty rain drops continued for another 10 minutes then faded away as blue skies emerged although at the backdrop thick sullen thunder clouds lurked. We came to a park and decided to jump over the little canal separating it from the road, in order to get a good look at it. After climbing the small hill, we found that a man-made dam had been constructed, small Pagoda's could be seen at different places and people either walked, sat or swam. We walked back, still afraid of the pending rain and hungry for food, it was almost 17h00 and we hadn't even had lunch!

We found a nice restaurant as we entered the city where we could try the cold noodle salad, very similar to that of Thailand, but not as spicy. We wanted to have some dumplings also, we had grown quite fond of these treats, but the restaurant didn't have. At least we knew we would only have to travel a few meters to the next restaurant who would have. That was the case and after our dumplings came a soft serve ice cream, although it was more ice and less cream!

Back at Mama's we wandered off into the market for one last time. We still needed post cards of the places we had been and those we couldn't make and wanted still to see one day. It didn't take long to find them, one old lady sold them to us for the bargain price of 30 for 15Y! For some reason both of us were still hungry and along the way got Yak milk yogurt and a Lijiang hamburger to share. The hamburger was nothing more than a small "roosterkoek" filled with noodles inside, interesting. The yak yoghurt tasted almost exactly like our plain yoghurt - yaks and cows can't be that different then... Later the evening we joined the group from England, we had dinner with the previous evening. We chatted a while before retiring to our room, we would have to be up early for the next days travels.