Lijiang - Day 1
We're quite far west now but because China is all on the one timezone, the sun doesn't rise until about 7:30am. Our driver and guide Andy from last night says that things won't get going around town til about 10am. We're up at about 8 and go in search of a coffee, despite this warning. They grow coffee beans in Lijiang so hopefully the coffee will be good. Most places are still shut or just setting up for the day but we're in luck when we find a coffee shop open nearby. We order two coffees and the barista gives us a bunch of different coffee samples to try, some including yak milk. Not bad.
We can tell the owner doesn't get a lot of westerners. He grabs Jeff's wrist and pulls up his sleeve up a bit, amazed at how hairy his arms are. Then he wanted to know about Courtney's hirsuteness. Maybe this is more of the reason people point at laugh at Jeff's legs.
We head back to our accommodation which is a room in a teahouse, with a lovely courtyard area and a little pond with fishies, a vegie garden and (you'll never guess what) a teahouse! We've been advised that Aunty will cook breakfast for us each morning. We settle in at the kitchen counter and she serves up a traditional breakfast of congee with a side of picked veg, pumpkin, mini corn on the cob, eggs, bread and fruit. We chat with aunty over the translate app and ask if that's her veggie patch, which she confirms with a big grin.
We've got a 2 day hike planned for tomorrow, so today it's all about taking it easy and adjusting to the altitude as Lijiang is 2,400 metres above sea level. So far what we've seen is beautiful. The city is surrounded by mountains and the old city is all stone paved with quaint traditional buildings, for pedestrians mostly and the odd scooter but no cars. Lijiang is the traditional home of the Naxi (pronounced nashi) people who have their own language and customs. And apparently not very tall people as Jeff is bumping his head everywhere he turns.
It could be because we're feeling a little woozy from the altitude, but Shuhe is reminding us a lot of Cusco in Peru. The pace here is a lot slower than every city we've been so far which is perfect as we're in desperate need of a break. Lijiang has a population of only 1.2 million which is in stark contrast to Chongqing where we just came from, where they're rocking 30 million.
We wander around fairly aimlessly and slowly, just following the river/canal that runs through the town. It's crystal clear and flows under a number of stone bridges. All very ancient and traditional. We're definitely feeling the change in altitude, breath is a bit shorter and heart rate a bit higher, considering we're literally just dawdling our way around. It's also a lot colder with day temps in the low teens and nights getting to around 1-2 degrees. We take a break from walking and get a Didi to Black Dragon Pool Park. It's a lovely park with a mountainous back drop and a huge lake in the middle where two black geese are humping. We continue our glacial pace walking along another canal until we hit the modern Lijiang city centre.
We stop for some hiking supplies before walking over to Lijiang Old town. But first some lunch. We're both not ready to tuck back into the chilli and oil that is most Chinese dishes so we opt for the slightly less unhealthy KFC again. We feel a little guilty but we've got stacks of time in Lijiang to try all the things. Afterwards we continue our meander through this old town. It's similar to the one we're staying at but a touch more touristy and not as quaint. Once we've had our fill we head back to our teahouse to put on a load of washing. We avail of the complimentary tea and watch the fish in the pond. Washing done we head out for dinner. We're pretty spent still so we pick a restaurant nearby and head upstairs. We order a couple of yummy meat and veg dishes and then back to pack ready for our hike tomorrow.
