Leaving the uninspiring city of deqin was a great feeling. Yes the breakfast was delicious but the town itself is dismal! So off we go. The bus journey was pretty cool. The LP says during the 7 hour journey you will cross 5000m twice!!! Unsure whether it was the placebo effect of not but all 3 of us felt pretty rough at certain points in the
Journey.. My head was pounding.. We were certain it was altitude sickness. Pretty cool huh!? Haha. The views of the towering snow capped peaks were immense.. Other than that it was a slow journey and it's sad to say but the mountain scenery is losing it's charm. Being surrounded by it for almost 2 weeks has taken it's toll. Maybe a change of pace is in order.Hmmm

Anyways we arrive into a bleak, foggy and wet Zhongdian... With a hasty goodbye to Owen our trekking, translator pal (he got an immediate connection to Kunming) we left the shelter of the bus station in search for hostels. LP maps are a b****. They are never accurate Nor up to date and I damn well should have learnt by now not to trust them.. Bit this one we did.. And after 20mins of trudging the wet streets in poring rain with all or gear, unsure where the hell we were, we made a pact never to use the LP maps again.. After a short taxi ride, a few laps of the block and a few kind people directions we made it to dragoncloud guesthouse.. Our home for the next 3 nights! Ahhh bliss. A gorgeous room with a big comfy bed, clean bathroom and hot water - just what the doctor ordered!!

Indian for dinner then a wonder around the cute wooden village. Zhongdian AKA shangri -la means closest to heaven. The town sits at an altitude of around 2800m so the clouds sit low and the air is chilled. The touristy village were most of the hostels are is really really cute. The whole village has been preserved and kept old school with old cobbled streets, old wooden shopfronts and ancient decode. Now although the architecture is relic, the modern twist plays a large part in the revamped village. The old wooden shopfronts host many souvenir shops selling things from dried yak meat, to fur clothing, to jewelry and any type of western food you could imagine.

Over the next few days we relaxed. We found an Indian place with delicious breakfasts and ate with him each morning. Ah and on the last night we ate a glorious BBQ feast of tofu, broccoli, eggplant, mushroom and a random spicy doughy pancake on a stick! So cheap and so damn tasty!

Not much else to report. Ah yes.. We have definitely Made it back on the tourist trail... It's western tourist central. It's a weird feeling eating dinner across from white people.. Travel snobs??? Hmmm maybe a little! ;)

My first prayed wheel was pretty cool. Massive and gold! One day we went to visit a Tibetan monastery to find a relatively new looking, uninteresting building will to charge tourists ridiculous prices to enter.. Instead we walked next door to an ancient Tibetan archway and found a shrine with Tibetans praying amongst
the swarms of prayer flags.

I haven't really mentioned the Tibetan prayer flags in my blogs yet... They are everywhere in the south west. A lot of the places we have visited lately have high populations of Tibetans! On bus journeys the prayer flags Are draped between mountains, around buildings or over shrines. It is said that Tibetan Buddhists for centuries have planted these flags outside their homes and places of spiritual practice for the wind to carry the beneficent vibrations across the countryside. They are supposed to bring happiness, long life and prosperity to the flag planter and those in the vicinity.

With our Chinese visa extension sussed out ready for our return we leave shangri -La for Shaxi, a quiet town with unique architecture.

See you in a week Zhongdian.. Thanks for the yummy breakfasts!