After a long five days in Thailand I finally made it to China, where once again I took the easy option to start off with, this time by doing a tour. I joined an intrepid tour in Kunming for 10 days travelling around Yunan and trakking Tiger Leaping Gorge. Our group consisted of 5 aussies (they do get everywhere!), two Swedes, an American, a French Canadian guide and me the token Pom. It was a really good mix and lots of drunken nights were to be had, of course with a mix of Chinese culture.
Our first stop was Lijang, a 9 hour bus trip fom Kunming, but the bus did have an english speaking film so that was a bonus. We arrived in Lijang with an hour to spare before dinner to explore the town. This was a shame as it was such a pretty town although very touristy. Dinner was lots of fun as all the local restaurants have a singing competition with each other. One bar will sing and then challenge people in other bars to beat them, so of course we had a go and I impressed them all with my version of swing low sweet chariot!
The next day we had a 2 hour journey in the most uncormfortable bus in the world into the gorge for the start of our trek. The trek was pretty tough going and as expected I was last by some way. I probably wouldn't have made it had our very nice guide carried my pack for me! nevermind I made it in the end. It was simply stunning, the views were amazing. It is so sad to think that in a couple of years it could all be gone if the proposed dam gets the go ahead.
After two days treking in the gorge we made it to Zhongdian, which is 3200m above sea level so was absolutely freezing. Apart from the cold it was a very lovely little town. Every evening in the town square all the locals gather to dance, which was great to watch and of course we all had a go...
After two nights freezing our bottoms off in Zhingdian we moved on to the much more pleasant Dali, where I unfortunately got sick and therefore managed to miss the 70km bike ride...very good timing I think!
Then before we knew it we were back in Kunming saying good bye to our travelling family of the past 10 days. I had a great time and doing a tour is definately a great way to ease yourself into a new country.
So now I'm back by myself... which is a little bit scary! I'm off tomorrow on an overnight train to Chengdu and who knows from there....
