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11 2004
At last -- the sun is out, last 3 days I've seen more rain then I cared for, still one cant let a "little" rain get in the way, so yesterday hiked the Western Hills, a place just outside of Kunming, famous for its resemblance of a reclining woman and carved into its cliff face are Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty temples -- 21:32:53 08/01/01
rain rain rain -- everywhere, landslides, floods and the 7th typhoon about to hit sth China. Holed up in Dali for the last 4 days - a packpackers delight with a "foreigner street" full of western food cafes (though I stick to Chinese food, much cheaper and taster). This is a very beautiful spot (even with all the rain) surrounded on one side by Lake Erhai and the other Cangshan mtns, in between padi fields. On the lake I tried to find the cormorant fisherman - but was told they are a dieing breed with little fish the fisherman and their cormorants are disappearing -- 21:24:28 08/01/01
Tiger Leaping Gorge -- Back from a 4 day trek from Tiger Leaping Gorge - so called because over a 100 yrs ago a hunted tiger tried to leap the narrowest section of the gorge, and I been the intrepid adventurer followed in the tiger's paw prints, only to have my face suddenly make contact with huge rock (it didn't help matters that it had been raining all day) and shoes filled with water. As the story goes tiger falls to death and this intrepid adventurer's face feels like I've just completed 10 seconds with Mike Tyson though I still have my ears. But the gorge is sheer, breathtaking and beautiful and a touch scarey -- 21:43:58 07/24/01
Lijiang, -- home to the Naxi minority and the city is one of the contenders for the title for John Hilton "Shangri-La" from his novel "The Lost Horizon" - based somewhere in the mountains between Tibet and Yunnan. Surrounded by snow covered 5500m plus high mtns, Lijiang (Old Town) is also listed as a World Heritage Site with the UN. With its winding waterways and canals, cobblestone alleys and traditional Naxi-style homes - its a great place to spend some time -- 08:15:40 07/19/01
Yup, -- I'm "flying like the wind" in the last 3 days, 36 hours of them have been either on a bus or train, with at least half a day spent waiting for one or the other. Now I'm in the sub-tropics of China, where the people here have more in common with Thailand then the Chinese
-- 08:04:12 07/18/01
Moving like the wind -- will be leaving Chengdu by train this afternoon for Panzhihua (16 hrs ride) then bus to Lijiang (8-12 hrs), Dali, Kumming (capital of Yunnan). From there maybe Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore -- 03:06:20 07/16/01
Last 2 weeks -- I've been lazying around in just 3 places - Songpan, Langmusi and Xiahe - all in China but all part of the mountainous "Greater Tibetan Region", here I did a little bit of horse trekking, lots of hiking, lots monasteries (even got invited to have tea with the monks), saw 3 Sky Burials and of cause lots of waiting around to catch buses, all in all a very relaxing time spent -- 02:55:18 07/16/01
Sky Burial -- Today high up in the mountains I watched a Tibetian Sky Burial with maybe 30 to 40 chinese, 4 westerners, details I wont go into, only to say it was a cold, misty/cloudy morning, the vultures were called and they were magnificent flying out of the high peaks through the misty sky, on the ground well ..... vultures are vultures.
There was no ceremony, no relatives, just the low humming of 4 monks and the dull thump of axes on flesh and DEATH well ...... just turned into a spectator sport - entrance Y10 (US$1.24)
-- 02:11:38 07/16/01
Hi Bill -- hello Bill, hope u having a great time over there in this incredible voyage. The best to u Paulo -- 14:05:17 07/02/01
- Songpan
- bill - bill@trax2.com
Hi Paulo -- still in China, just finished a 2 day horse trek in a "remote" mountianous area that looks very much like the alps of Switerland -- 09:39:47 07/03/01
