Last Days at the Zoo

Nov 19th-21st

I had taken an afternoon train to Dali after doing some final sauntering in Lijiang's charming streets and riding a bus with a man holding a falcon on his arm. I thought it was hilarious but none of the Chinese passengers even batted an eye.

Go figure.

I arrived in Dali after dark and thankfully there was a bus that took me nearly all the way to my hostel, the Lily Pad Inn.

After having a discussion with the helpful staff, I had decided to climb the Cangshan mountains the following day.

Although mostly stairs, it was nicely shaded and there was a donkey path next to the steps which was far more enjoyable than the stairs.

I wasn't planning on climbing all the way up but instead went to Zhonghe Temple and admired the views over Dali.

 Dali is a Bai community (another chinese minority) city and has a reputation of being the original backpacker hangout in Yunnan province.

A lovely small town/city, Dali has a laid-back feel that allows you to enjoy the tranquility of the town or explore the beautiful countryside.

Lately there has been an influx of local tourists, but where in China doesn't have mandarin tour groups these days?

After my hike, I just wandered around Dali's streets in search of Bai street-food and a place to rest. As luck would have it, as I was snacking away, I saw Andy and Suzy, the German couple we had met in Yangshuo.

I spent the afternoon chatting with them and enjoying the cool breeze and warm sunshine.

I asked if they wanted to visit Dali's iconic 3 Pagodas. Suzy wasn't feeling too well but Andy said he would join me. We walked quite some distance before finally reaching these beautiful structures.

The pagodas were built in the 9th century by engineers from Xi'an. The tallest is 70m and the two smaller ones flanking the central pagoda are still 42m high!

Since I love pagodas to begin with, I took my time to admire them from all angles.

Although you couldn't go up them, they were still very impressive.

Behind them were numerous rebuilt pavilions and temples, each one slightly higher than the last, giving beautiful views over the pagodas and the distant Erhai lake.

As we were trying to leave, they had locked all the gates and Andy and I found ourselves locked inside with the pagodas. We walked around in search of anyone to let us out and eventually found an unlocked gate.

I went back to the hostel for a bite to eat and I met an Australian guy named Corey.

I invited Corey to join me at Bad Monkey, a bar frequented by expats, where I was to meet up with Andy and Suzy for some drinks.

The following day, Corey and I decided to rent bikes and cycle around Erhai lake.

Erhai lake sits at 1973m above sea level and is dotted with tiny minority villages along its banks.

Our original plan was to bike along the lake until the road diverged from the lake, but after cycling for 2 hours and being still really far from that point, we instead decided to go to the tongue of the lake: a small outcrop on the west bank of the massive lake.

The ride was really scenic and had a nice mix of villages, natural beauty and farm land.

Dali is known in China for its strong, incessant winds. Those winds were unfortunately in our faces as we were headed back to the town. My legs were positively throbbing by the time we dropped off the bikes.

I had arranged to meet Andy and Suzy at Bad Monkey again before I made my way back to the hostel and headed for my night train to Kunming. Unfortunately, Andy was now feeling sick so I didn't get to say goodbye to both of them.

I went back to the hostel to get ready to leave. I was greeted by the owner, who told me I need to go to the ticket office immediately to pick up my ticket because there was only one bed left. I had asked her when I first arrived in Dali if I should book the train right away and she assured me that I would not have any issues.

I rushed to the ticket office and asked the clerk but the beds were already all taken. I thought alright, I can settle for a seat. Then she said there were no seats left: I would have to do this overnight train standing room only.

I bought the ticket and returned to the hostel to pick up my things. I was rather furious to say the least. I do things in advance to avoid situations like this.

The owner apologized repeatedly, but I just picked up my bags and headed to the train station.

I got on the train and it quickly filled up with seated passengers and then suckers like me who had standing room only tickets.

Sitting on a hard seat overnight is shitty enough, standing over night is ten times worse. Not to mention the entire train-car laughing and staring at the only Laowai standing in the aisle.

Two nice girls gave me a literal inch of space on their seat for around an hour but it made my ass numb more than anything.

The seven hours passed at a snail's pace and when we finally pulled up to Kunming' station at 5am I was more than elated.

I caught a cab back to Hump hostel and passed out immediately on their couch since I hadn't slept at all on the train.

I set my alarm for 8am and checked into my room. Unfortunately, I didn't opt to sleep, I still had one site left to visit: the Shilin rock forest.

I grabbed a local bus and made it to the east bus station in an hour. I then caught another bus which took an hour-and-a-half.

The Shilin rock forest is a naturally formed karst relief southeast of Kunming. It comprises perhaps hundreds of limestone pillars jutting out of the ground near ponds, forests and flowers.

I had no idea before going just how popular this site was, but as soon as I arrived, its popularity was more than evident.

Most formations have been given a name or have large Chinese character on them, and unfortunately the most interesting ones are the ones that are surrounded by hundreds of tourists (yes, all Chinese).

I did manage to find some quiet areas where I could reflect on my time spent in China, seeing as though it was my last day in this vast country.

Josh and I were overwhelmed by the amount of people at the forbidden city in Beijing on out first day in China. After 2 months, that same feeling was as fresh as ever at my final attraction. My time at the touristic zoo which is China had come to an end.

Up until now, this has been the longest I've spent in a country other than Canada. The wealth of cities, natural beauty and ancient history are unparalleled. The sea of humanity that surrounds you is unfathomable and infuriating all at the same time, especially coming from a country as vast and sparsely populated as Canada.

While our western sensibilities and patience are often challenged and pushed to their limits, I cannot fault the Chinese: if everyone were to wait patiently or be overly courteous to others, no one would ever get anything done or even accomplish the simplest goals that they set for themselves.

While I do understand, it was still an exercise in anger management in many instances.

China will always hold a special place in my heart and is in a bizarre situation for its simultaneous rejection and apparent desire to embrace western culture.

For all the challenges this country has posed to me, I'm confident that I can now push my way to the front of lines and throw elbows with the best of them!

I'll miss you China!

It's Gorge-eous!

Nov 16th-18th

My driver escorted me to the van and luckily I was joined by 3 other people: Gemma, a British photographer studying Chinese; Echo, a Chinese hostel volunteer ; and her brother, I'll call him Echo Bro because I could neither pronounce nor remember his actual name. The four of us would be doing a self-guided trek of the majestic Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Tiger Leaping Gorge is one of the deepest gorges in the world. It is 16km long and is 3900m from the Jinsha river below to the highest point of the snow-capped Haba mountains.

We would be following the higher route, which winds over 1000m above the river and provides spectacular views of the mountains across the gorge.

Our van dropped us off at the starting point and we got a beautiful panorama of Qiaotou and the Jinsha river. We continued along the dusty path, stopping frequently to take pictures along the way.

Gemma quickly revolutionized the way I take daytime photos in bright sunlight by teaching me about exposure compensation. I am forever in her photographic debt.

The hike was surprisingly straight-forward and well-signed. There were some inclines but most were gradual and intermittent.

We snuck past a haphazardly barricaded lookout point to get some breathtaking and iconic views of this natural wonder.

We soon reached the quaint village of Nuoyu and then the most challenging part of the hike began. This portion is known as '28 bends'. We stopped a few times on the way for water breaks and turning down old women offering us marijuana.

After finishing the 28 bends, the path flattened out and actually started descending. We continued along the path, admiring the Chinese rural life unfolding around us.

After walking for longer than expected, we finally reached Bendiwan village, home to our guesthouse for the night, the beautifully crafted and aptly named half-way guesthouse.

What was refreshing and almost unheard of in touristic China was that we didn't pass any Chinese tourists the entire day. I guess the fact that there was no chairlift and they would have to walk all day is a clear deterrent.

That evening we enjoyed some beers, good food and laughs with some of the other tourists who arrived at halfway shortly after we did.

Gemma had been studying mandarin and she blew me away with her ability to converse with some of the Chinese who joined us at our table.

In the morning, we got an early start towards our next check point, Tina's guesthouse.

We took a brief pause to admire the sun peaking above Yulong Xueshan before continuing on our way.

The trek to Tina's was easy going and mostly downhill. It only took us an hour-and-a-half to make it there.

From there we walked towards walnut garden and descended towards the river. The path here was a bit more treacherous but gave us an indication of the power of the Jinsha river.

We had to pay a series of trivial local tolls before we arrived at Tiger Leaping Stone, where a tiger is said to have jumped across the Yangtze, giving the gorge its name.

One of the tolls gained us access to a sky ladder which was a vertical climb of around 30m.

Quite scary!

After this point it was a pretty steep ascent along a set of dubious stairs cut into the rock (damn stairs, can't avoid you!).

We returned to Tina's guesthouse and caught a bus back to Lijiang.

Upon our arrival, I was surprised to see David and Camille were staying at the same hostel. They joined Gemma, Echo and Echo Bro and I for dinner.

Even more coincidently was that two other Montrealers were staying at the Garden Inn and one was a Physiotherapist who knew and worked with some of my good friends from university.

Small world indeed!

Yunnan Bound!

Nov 12th-15th

My time in China was coming to an end and I decided to spend my last few days in Yunnan province, known for its rugged, raw terrain and multi-ethnic demographic.

Josh and I gave a nonchalant goodbye and I made my way to Yangshuo's bus station.

Upon my arrival back in Guilin, I went to Guilin's near abandoned alternate train station.

As I waited for my 18-hour night train to Kunming, Yunnan's capital city, a group of ladies started dancing in the terminal to the delight of the other passengers.

My train arrived nearly an hour late and since I had booked my ticket at the last minute, I was relegated to a hard seat. The hard seat is much cheaper than a hard sleeper but with a near 90 degree angle and inability to recline even in the slightest, I knew it was going to be a long night.

To make matters worse, the already narrow, rock-hard bench I was sitting on was shared with a violent brat slapping his unassertive mother, screaming and generally disturbing everyone around us.

The ticket taker soon asks me a useless question (judging by the dopey grin on his face) and the starts yelling through the whole train car to find someone who could speak to me in English so I could answer his inconsequential question as everyone looks on laughing.

To add to the already uncomfortable ride, dark-skinned minorities try to smoke in a windowless train car filled with babies. I motion for them to smoke outside the car and they surprisingly oblige. Not to mention the man across from me pulling out his rotting toe nails one by one.

The only saving grace was all the adorable Chinese babies crawling around the train car, although it was disturbing to see them eating food off the ground considering it was likely glazed in human excrement.

As soon as I arrive in Kunming and off that infernal train, I hailed a cab to the Thai consulate to get a 2-month Visa. I made it just in the nick of time and I would receive it the next day.

From there I walked to my hostel, The Hump (http://www.thehumphostel.com/), and checked in. To my surprise, Camille and David, the two Quebecers we met in Songpan were also staying at the hump.

After visiting the Tang dynasty's West and East pagodas, I joined Camille and David on a stroll around Green Lake Park.

Kunming, known as spring city for its mild climate and relaxed atmosphere, was a nice continuation to Guangxi province and a stress reliever after that train ride from hell.

The next morning, I went to the Thai consulate and picked up my passport. From there, I hopped on a bus to Dian Chi or Lake Dian. I walked along its banks until I reached a gondola which brought me to Xi Shan, know in English as the western hills.

I became what I hate by taking a chair-lift to the top rather than walking. The chair-lift brought me to Dragon's gate: a group of grottoes and sculptures made by Taoist monks in the 18-19th century. While not that impressive, it provided fantastic views of Dian Chi and Kunming.

That same night I had booked a night-train to Lijiang, Yunnan's unfortunate version of Disney World. I managed to secure a bed this time, so the 12-hour journey was much more enjoyable.

I had to move around Yunnan quickly because my ambitions were high and my time short, so as soon as I arrived at my hostel in Lijiang, the peaceful Garden Inn, I booked a van to bring me to Tiger Leaping Gorge the following morning.

Lijiang is a UNESCO world heritage site and a truly beautiful city. As a consequence to its allure, like all of China's famous sites, it welcomes thousands upon thousands of local tourists per day.

While not as saturated as Pingyao during national holiday, it is still quite busy considering I was visiting on a week day.

I explored this ancient Naxi (one of Yunnan's many ethnic minorities) town, with its many narrow lanes, cobblestone streets, bridges and delicate waterways.

I climbed 'looking at the past' pavilion which gave me a great view of Lijiang and the nearby Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

The following day I would be headed to Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of China's great hikes. The most amazing thing is unlike the other hikes we have done in China, this one has absolutely no stairs!

Hurray!!!