It took us – according to schedule – 4 days to reach Lijiang. The countyside is rather mountainous, between Jura and Alps I would say. We moved between 1350 and 2788 meters altitude. The last stage was just over 100 kms with a 39 km climb after 50 kms. When we croosed the bridge over the Yangtze river and we looked up to the hairpins winding up against the steep slope we lost our courage. So we decided to stop a vehicle. A bus stopped, the bikes were put on the roof and one hour later we were on the pass. From there we rode the last 10 kms to this fantastisc historic place.

Temperatures are extremely high for this time of year, we’re told. We always have over 30C, and I measured a max. of 40. Not pleasant any more. The scenery is beautiful, the valleys are wide and scattered with villages. People everywhere, at this moment many of them are harvesting the rice.

Lijiang might very well be China’s major tourist attraction. It is wonderfully historic, with narrow streets, stone bridges over small rivers etc. It is crowded with mainly Chinees tourists. There is no house that is not being used as a shop, bar, restaurant or guesthouse. A stroll through mainstreet in the evening is passing discoes and restaurants with live music. And the Chinees appear to like it LOUD! A comparison with Dutch Valkenburg or Italian Florence would fit, but really beautiful.

We intend to stay here for 3 days. We’ll meet Aku soon, the husband of the daughter of a friend of ours. Coincedence exists.

We hope to gather enough information on the last part of our Chinees itinerary, to Laos, as we know not much about that now.