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Okay, last update then I really have to pack my bag.

After leaving Lake Erhai we stopped in a a place that does tie dye. I never really understood how the process worked, so seeing the cloth being tied and then dyed (duh) was actually pretty rad. Some of the patterns were pretty awesome, and we left the place with a new tablecloth!

Last stop for us was to see the three pagodas at a temple on the edge of town. The entrance fee is extortionate, so we were content with hanging out front andtaking some photos for free (even if we had to wait an age for a group of businessmen to finish taking theirs first).

It’s getting later and later and I have still got to pack my bags for tomorrow! Here are a bunch of photos taken around Lake Erhai and inside a crazy house that is owned by a friend of our driver. The owner is a famous artist, and designed the house himself. A local architect took his drawing and turned them into plans so the house could be built. It is a pretty spectacular building, and being Chinese, it has very little in the way of safety. The top deck is several stories off the ground, but has no railings at all. There are stairs that run up the outside, but the railings there are only at ankle height. It does mean that there is nothing getting in the way of the view, but it does give you a bit of vertigo when you are up there.

Well, I am way behind now! We are currently spending our last night in Lijiang before we head off to Zhongdian (Shangri La) tomorrow. Since I last updated I caught a nasty cold, so I didn’t feel like updating the blog even though we have had the most consistently reliable internet connection here.

I am going to break up our last day in Dali into a few posts, as we packed a lot in and it was too hard picking just 10 photos. First up we have some photos taken at a couple of markets in villages near lake Erhai. The locals were harvesting broad beans and were laying them out to dry on the roads. They would let vehicles run over the stalks to crush out the moisture and break open the pods. They would then sift out the beans at the end. It is quite a clever idea, but after seeing trucks spewing out diesel smoke all over the place I am not quite sure how hygienic it all is!

Michelle already jumped on here and explained what we got up to yesterday, so here’s some photos to go along with it. These were all taken in/on the Cangshan ranges, along the Cloudy Tourist path.

Looks like I am going to always be a day behind! Ah well. Yesterday we took a bus from Kunming to Dali, a 4-5 hour trip away. Dali was one of those undiscovered gems, places that people would reluctantly talk about for fear or spoiling its untouched beauty. Well, it has not only been touched, but fondled, poked and molested! While still a far cry from the madness of the cities, it is full of shops, stalls and street hawkers (including old ladies trying to sell you ganja, I kid you not).

Yet somehow, despite all the tacky tourism, Dali is still a fantastic place to chill out, take in some breathtaking sites and try some crazy food. Michelle and I walked around the old city walls on our first night, and we managed to catch a guy setting off a huge amount of firecrackers on the street below. We then headed into town where I ate some grilled local yak cheese and Michelle bought some peanuts wrapped in spun sugar. Yummy!

Because the region is mostly made up of ethnic minorities, they are allowed to have two and sometimes three children. This combined with the fact that they are a bit more laid back than their urban cousins means that the kids are far less spoiled and therefore are much more approachable. In fact, the locals on the whole are just a touch friendlier. Even the street hawkers will give up after the first “boo yao” (do not want).