Dali & Lijiang

Old Dali is a great place with a stunning mountain backdrop and the nearby spectacular Erhai lake.The hotel we stayed in was also very cool with much more of a relaxed hostel vibe, some cute dogs and great breakfasts.More importantly Dali beer is probably the best brew in China and one of the cheapest, so we had to have a few to make sure we agree.On our first full day we got on some horses and plodded off to the top of the mountain to take in the views of the town - after the shock of riding down a driving lane on the motorway with beeping horns we got to the bottom of the mountain and with a muddy trail underfoot were hapy to be on horseback.The temple on the top was a relaxing half way point and the views pretty good too.Ian even had a well behaved horse for a change (because it was a male of course) and it was great to do some exercise after sitting on trains and buses and drinking Dali beer.The city was great fun and the beatiful old streets fun to explore in the evening, then the next day we rode bikes through the town, past the farmers in the rice fields to the edge of the Erhai lake. We took a cruise on the lake (once we managed to get on a boat after a sh*t fight with a million Chinese tourists trying to do the same thing on national day) and over to a couple of islands.It was great fun wondering around the the temple and onto a small port full of stalls selling food, souvenirs & Dali beer.Cylcling back past the pagodas we then freshened up and went out for a cultural evening of karaoke where liz sang her heart out and Ian avoided the microphone, chipping in with some air guitar.Next morning it was off to Lijiang - another beautiful town with a big Tibetan influence - to see a local show and get ready for Tiger Leaping Gorge