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Dan

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Trips:

Been there, Dan that!

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Big Buddah!

Leshan, China

Immediately after arriving in Chengdu we jumped into a minivan a drove south to Leshan to see the biggest seated Buddha in the world.

The last part of the crazy queue

Somewhat stupidly we went on May the first, a national holiday, to one of the most important and popular tourist destinations in China. Thought we'd got away with it at first as we only had to queue 5 minutes to get tickets but then after wandering up the hill to the top of the big fella I saw the queue. It was like Alton Towers on a bad day as the queue went on for 6 or 7 25 meter long sections before heading round a corner and up some stairs for yet more lines.

The main man
First instinct was to give it a miss but this Buddha was the biggest in the world and it wasn't like i was ever going to come back. So we joined the line and 3 hours and a couple of ice creams later got to the front and descended the cliff to the feet of the chap. He's massive (71 meters tall) and he's sitting down! Carved into the cliff face over looking the river he took 90 years to complete and was started in 713 AD by a Buddhist monk who wanted to calm the river waters and protect the local fishermen. Apparently the surplus rock from the carving was thrown into the river so it did slow down but locals say its the Grand Buddha, or Dafo, that is the cause.

Despite the madness it was an incredible experience especially standing at the bottom and looking up, it defies comprehension as to how they managed to do it especially when you consider that they included a water drainage system inside of the body to prevent erosion!


We returned to Chengdu that evening shattered and promptly booked ourselves on to a panda tour for the next morning.

permalink written by  Dan on May 1, 2008 from Leshan, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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Third times the charm!

Lijiang, China

Back again.

This time for 2 nights, more excellent hospitality at Mamas then a monster trip to Chengdu, bus east in the morning 7 am then a train north arriving 6.30am thurs morning.

Woohoo its gonna be fun!

permalink written by  Dan on April 29, 2008 from Lijiang, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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Lugu Lake

Lugu Hu, China

200 km North east of Lijiang is the second biggest freshwater lake in China, Lugu Hu. Surrounded by villages inhabited by the Mosu people one of the last matriarchal societies on Earth. Sounded really interesting so i took a bus there from Lijiang, 8 hours later we arrived and the view as we came over the Ridge and into the valley was excellent, a crystal blue lake surrounded by pine forest with a few villages scattered around the edge.

The decent view of the lake
Sadly as we descended to the lake the weather started to change and the clouds rolled in quickly turning the lake to a more average shade of dark blue. Not to worry my guide book points me in the direction of a little village on the north edge of the lake. "A serene little place where only you and a few other adventures backpackers will make it to" Not so the village it self has been flattened (the traditional house is a wild west style log cabin) and replaced with 2 story guest houses. Worst of all the work isn't finished so there's building works everywhere. Serious disappointment but its to late to go anywhere else so I got a cheap bed for the night and plan to move in the morning.

Next morning the weather has worsened, high winds and driving rain and the lake resembles the north sea. I head to the main town all the same and though its a similar story there the guesthouses have been around much longer so don't look so ridiculously out of place, the day though is a washout and I resort to my book.


rain sinks the rafts!

The weather on day 3 is no better so i took a bus back to Lijiang. That was the other thing the Lonely planet was wrong about. Hopes of carrying on north are scuppered by buses leaving at odd times and i didn't want to end up in a random industrial town at 1 am.

Massive disappointment all in all, as all the locals (sensibly) stayed in doors and got not real views of the lake or any chance to cycle or walk around it. In fairness its been the first failure in 7 weeks travel so my odds haven't been to bad.



permalink written by  Dan on April 27, 2008 from Lugu Hu, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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Back to Lijiang

Lijiang, China

Because of the problems in Tibet and the surroundings i am uable to travel any further north without backtracking. So a beast of a bus ride back to Lijiang followed by 2 days doing very little in the relaxing surroundings of Lijiang before another bus north east to Sichuan province.

Welcomed with open arms (of course) by mama though and plyed with bananas!

permalink written by  Dan on April 25, 2008 from Lijiang, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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Eastern Himalayas

Deqin, China

Deqin is the last stop before Tibet. Its and ugly town crammed into a crease between the Yunnans highest mountain ranges, it is at 3500 meters above sea level West from here is the himalayas proper but the surrounding countryside is equally beautiful with great valleys down to the Mekong river and snowy peaks and glaciers reaching 6800 meters.
The countryside and trekking there in is the reason to visit this remote outpost and it was well worth the trip. So much so in fact i stayed here for a week in a tibetan guesthouse in the countryside village (about 10 houses) of Raringkha.
The first destination on arrival though was further from Deqin town, another village called Felai Si where you could apparently get stunning views of the local mountain range. We arrived there in the evening and stayed in a cheap bed with the intention of getting up at dawn to watch the sunrise on the mountain peaks.
We were very fortuante as the next morning after rising at 6am the view was clear so we watched unimpeded as the high peak of Kawo Karpo mountain turned from snowy blue to a warm orange. After breakfast we caught a taxi back towards town and jumped out at Raringkha and Tashi's mountain lodge a traditional tibetan house where we would base ourselves to do some trekking.

The crazy colour contrast. The pink is cherry blossom

To my great surprise the place was run by 2 Irish fellas one of whom had just been travelling when he was offered the job and had then invited his mate, a trained chef, to come and help him run it.
The place was beautiful with big comfy beds and huge kitchen dining room with a warm stove and plenty more areas to relax in.
They kept pigs and chickens and the communal meal in the evening was excellent. We had Paella the first night!!!
When we arrived there was only another Belgian couple there making 6 guests in total
but the place soon filled to 12 with the comings and goings of other travellers and families over the week. Er yeah intended to stay a few days up here but with such a comfortable, chilled out place to stay it soon turned to 6 night, though only Nick and I stayed the last 2 getting an extra trek in for good measure.
A couple of walks where done while we where here one a 2 day effort that we did in 1 from Felai Si the aforementioned viewpoint down (very steeply) to the Mekong river then up the other side and across to the Migyong Glacier. Sadly we didn't get up to the glacier as we had arrived to late but the views where cool all the day.
After a rest day (and a bit of archery, the Irish guys had a bow) Danny and Kiki went back South whilst Nick and I stayed a couple more nights and did another day trek up the mountain behind the lodge. A tough 3 hour climb up Yak trails for us too the snowy ridge at 4500 meters with Deqin and the surrounding villages specks below. The altitude here really began to take its toll with deep breath in not really resulting in a lot. The last hour up in particular, probabably only about a kilometers steep walk, was especially hard.
The views though where incredible with a 360 degree panorama of the surrounding mountains.

Doing my Saroman bit!

Long bus ride back to Lijiang tomorrow morning, then up to Sichuan via a lake! Cant travel North from here as originally planned as the roads around tibet are closed to travellers.



permalink written by  Dan on April 22, 2008 from Deqin, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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Into the Tibetan regions

zhongdian (Shangri-La), China

Zhongdian or Shangri-La as the government renamed it recently is a strange place. Perched on the hills of northern Yunnan at 3300 meters above sea level its inhabitants are 80% tibetan. It is a fast growing town as most of the traffic out of eastern tibet travels through it so there is a sprawling new city sprouting up around a small but pretty tibetan style old town. It was the old town in which i stayed in a pleasant little hostel, sadly though the dorm rooms didn't have electric blankets and the nights here i discovered got VERY cold.

The biggest prayer wheel i've ever seen.

First day in town was spent wandering the old streets, the layout here is very different with big tibetan houses and wide open streets. Sadly there was the usual tourist tat being sold but this place was far less busy than anywhere else i'd been thus far. The small town square also became a dance floor in the evening, all the locals turning up around 7pm to dance to local music being pumped out of someone's shop. It was really cool as everyone new the dance moves so you had around 100 people doing synchronized moves in a big circle for getting on for 2 hours!
The second day was spent at Ganden Sumtselling Gompa, the most important Buddhist monastery in southwest China. It was more of a walled village than a monastery with ancient mud walled houses surrounding the monastery which was perched on top of the hill. 600 monks still live and work there and they were very welcoming allowing you into all the parts of the temples. It was a colourful place with vivid tibetan frescoes adorning the walls and bright gold bells gently tingling in the wind.

Sadly that evening i ate something dubious and was struck down with my first serious bout of food poisoning. This meant my last day in Shangri-La was spent in bed.
Next day was spent on a bus and an incredible bus ride it was too passing a 4100 meter pass to the small hillside town of Deqin.
The ride it self is worth a note across dubious roads worth regular landslides and hunks of snow impeding progress. The view from the top was stunning with white peaked mountains all around. Sadly my battery had run out on the camera so it wasn't until the next day that i could start photographing the views. Deqins surroundings though certainly didn't disapoint!

permalink written by  Dan on April 15, 2008 from zhongdian (Shangri-La), China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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Tiger leaping gorge

Tiger Leaping Gorge, China

One thing all backpackers seem to do round here in northern Yunnan is the tiger leaping gorge trek, for good reason too as it is stunning! Its only quite a short walk, 24 km and can be comfortably done in 2 days. Some understandably take longer just to take in the views.

Dawn

We got a bus from Lijiang in the evening and stayed overnight at the start of the trek to take advantage of the cool early morning setting off at 7am. It was a good move too as place soon became baking after the sun had risen over the mountains on the far side of the gorge. We walk about 16 k's the first day to a lodge up in the mountains where we stayed the night.

The view from the dorm!

The next day was mostly a descent right into the bottom of the gorge and its vertical cliffs where you can get right up to the thundering rapids and to the rock from which the tiger lept!
The river itself id the Yangzee by the way before it heads north east to Sechuan and the East across China.
I don't really know what else to say about the walk except it was beautiful so check out the pictures!

The GORGE!

permalink written by  Dan on April 11, 2008 from Tiger Leaping Gorge, China
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A short time at Mama's

Lijiang, China

Lijiang is a strange place, its one of the few remaining complete old towns in China and is protected by UNESCO. Obviously this is great but sadly it means that the small chinese streets are insanely busy.
Its an incredibly picturesque town with streams, even more than Dali, running down the edges of the paths and little bridges connecting the maze together.

Stone bridge and cherry blossom. There were even goldfish in the streams

The must fun in Lijiang was the accommodation a simple comfy dorm run by mama Naxi (Naxi is the local chinese minority) she with her army of girls and Baba (her husband) ran the hostel brilliantly. Creating a really friendly atmosphere whilst never failing in seeming to go insane at every turn.

Back at mamas hostel
She organised everything including dinner for the many travellers staying there every evening, tickets and tours to anywhere and always making sure you where topped up on tea and fruit. All of this done at maximum decibel just to keep us on our toes! The hostel itself was in the old town but situated outside of the main tourist arteries so it was quiet too.

Lijiang old town, with genuine locals

To get a real taste of local Naxi village you had to leave Lijiang and head to one of the surrounding villages.

View during the cycle.
On yet another bicycle trip we did just that and it didn't disappoint, not only did we not get lost we also found ourselves in the silent countryside with great views of the local mountain and then quiet streets to cycle through were Naxi people were still living. Sadly in Lijiang the locals have sold up (apparantly perfectly happily) for tourist vendors to use there houses as shops.
Despite the crowds Lijiang is a great and surprisingly peaceful place and i would have happily stayed there a little longer but the weather was great and we (still with the aussies by the way) had a trek to do.

More locals in Lijiangs streets

permalink written by  Dan on April 9, 2008 from Lijiang, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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Back north

Dali, China

Have seen the best weather yet here in Dali, deep blue sky and refreshing winds, deceptively cool as the sun is quite harsh.
Heading back north has seen me climb again and Dali is situated around 2000 meters above sea level. I'm staying in the old town, which is walled by grey brick. Its very picturesque and Chinese looking.

quiet streets usually shoulder to shoulder with chinese tourists

Arrived in Dali from a bus direct from Jinghong, a mere 17.5 hours to travel the equivalent length of south Korea i wont be doing it again in a hurry! The beds were even more ridiculous than the last bus wit beds that had metal bars down the sides that were too wide for my shoulders and the bed was too short to be able to lie comfortably on your side without sticking your feet into the aisle. The road was also insane, from about 10pm to 3am we were on a twisting bumpy road obviously climbing a fair altitude but not really suitable when your trying to sleep.

Not impressed with the leg room on the bus!

After arriving in the new town at around 10 am we then had to get to the old town, waiting for the bus as instructed by the lonely planet proved unsuccessful as it didn't turn up so we took a taxi for the 20 minute ride to the old town. Only as we drew up did i realise in my tired state i'd left my flask (kindly handed down by Helen) on the bus, that thing had already been round china once so i'm a bit gutted to have lost it. However my loss was eclipsed seconds later when Kiki realised she'd left her ipod under her pillow!!! Sadly it was an hour since we'd exited the bus so going back was no good.
The resulting sleep deprivation meant the next day was spent flopping around the hostel. The next day was more fruitful though as we spent the day (i'm still hanging round with the 2 Australians and the Swede by the way) checking out the town,

funky stream down the streets
walking along the wall and eating from the street stalls, really nice savoury potato pancakes, and generally taking in the place. the town itself is flanked by a large freshwater lake to the east and 4000 meter snow topped mountains to the west.

view west from the wall, to the montains

The next day we hired bikes with the intention of catching a ferry across the lake and cycling back round. However the LP's price of 2-3 yuan for the ferry had in fact increased to 50 yuan so we decided to stick on the eastern shore instead and check out some local villages. The cycle was nice but it got very hot and despite 3 liberal applications of sun cream the 7 hours cycling in the sun saw me get a bit burnt. I know have sandal marks on my feet like a proper englishman.

View on the bike ride

Due to extreme saddle saw today has been officially designated a rest day before another (short) bus trip north tomorrow.

permalink written by  Dan on April 6, 2008 from Dali, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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The curios incident of the big toe in the night-time!

Jinghong, China

I was really excited about Jinghong after lots of positive reports from Helen and the LP. However i wasn't as taken by the place as i had expected. The town was nice enough with palm tree lined streets and friendly inhabitants but there wasn't a massive amount to do within the city and i was struggling with the heat, humidity and mosquitoes. In comparison with SE asia it probably chilly but i was being properly northern and sweating a lot!!!

Jinghong though isn't praised for its town its there on the traveller itinerary for its surrounding jungle with lots of trekking and cycling possibilities and i had intended to do so.

Jungle is massive!

After my first day in JH recuperating from my first (and unfortunately not last, the only way back out was another bus) of chinese night buses. I went to check out the few tourist attractions the town itself had to offer, mostly parks and gardens.

water lilly
the botanical garden was really nice with all sorts of cool things you never see outside of the tropics. The whole place was like the little hot house at the botanics in Sheffield only there was three acres of it.

Botanics gardens - odd architecture
Met an Australian chap in there whom i had chatted to previously at the hostel in Kunming. We both expressed the desire to trek and both reported back the same problem of most of the treks only being available to groups of 2 or more. So we agreed to check out the options in the cafes later that evening. First though i was planning on checking out the much recommended blind massage school. So I searched it out with Chris and we signed up for a full collaterals massage! whatever that was. Turned out to be pretty good if a little brutal, mostly working on your spine there was a lot of pressure and use of the elbow. Was good though especially the head massage at the end.
We then strolled down to the cafe to check out the treks and bumped into some more folk form Kunming 2 Aussies and an Australian. Chris and I booked ourselves onto a 3 day trek and all 5 of us went to check out the local Dai barbecue scene. The scene was distinctly quiet a whole sort of market area by the mekong was set aside but there we few people there. We stuck in all the same and had such delicacies as bbq snails (removed from shells) which were good and slightly mouldy tofu (the equivalent to blue cheese) bad!
It was getting late but the day wasn't over yet, next a trip to the 24 hour sulphurous springs was in order to help digest our dinner? The springs were in the nearby village of Gasa so we piled in a cab and got there at about 10.30pm. Warm sulphurous swimming pool steaming in front of us we dived in got the gentle taste of eggy sandwiches in our mouths whilst floating around the pool. Now of course it is time for the curious incident which was to shape my travels for the next few weeks. Whilst extricating (a dainty procedure) myself from the pool i slid my right foot against the wall of the pool to aid my exit from the sulphurous waters and caught my big toe on a broken tile which painlessly sliced an cm square off the bottom of my toe. I felt something but not until i was wrapped in my towel did i notice the large amount of blood relieving itself from my foot. 30 minutes 2 tiny plasters a bunch of tissue paper and much debating with the proprietors as to whether they'd ring us a cab later i was sitting in said taxi pissed off and thinking i'd need a tetanus jab.
So no trekking then and after I dressed my foot properly, raiding the incredible array of medical equipment sent with me. I was left to contemplate what to do next.
Bikes i discovered was a good option as no pressure was placed on my toe.

rubber tree including rubber
The other Aussies and Swede were hanging around too so i wound up cycling through rubber plantations with them and playing roadside pool in the suburbs of JH.

roadside pool

A couple of days later i could walk fairly well too and now deciding i'd hang around with the Aus Swede contingent as they had a similar itinerary to mine (an option they agreed too) We booked ourselves on a mini Jungle trek to a local waterfall before catching a bus to northern Yunnan.

looking grumpy for some unknown reason
The trek was really nice, amazing sounds of the jungle and incredible high canopy, but after 4 hours in the jungle i was wet through so who knows what would have happened had i been out there for 3 days?!

the sun came out whilst we were in the clearing

permalink written by  Dan on April 1, 2008 from Jinghong, China
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!
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