We left Shangri-La (former name Zhongdian and Xiangerilela like the Chinese write it in pinyin) in rainy and cloudy weather. Bikes on top of the bus, leaning against all the other bags. The ride lasted nearly 7 hours (185 kms) and mostly we were in the clouds and/or rain. We crossed two mountain passes, a sign on the last indicated an altitude of 4292 meters. Between these two passes the sky was more or less clear and we could enjoy the magnificient views of these Tibetan mountains, with snow caps on the summits and fiercely green rice-paddies deep down in the valleys.
In Denqin, in the very north of the Yunnan province and on the border of Tibet itself, it was raining. The view was nill. Therefore we decided not to continue to Feilai Si. This is a place another 20 kms further up and it is said to be the best view point for the Mei Li Snow mountains. As we understood it would remain cloudy for the coming days, so no use to go there.
From Decqin (3200 altitude) we rode south to the valley of the Mekong river (called Lancang here). After a good 20 kms we first spotted it, over 1000 mtrs below us in a gorge. (If possible a photo will be placed in the blog). A impressive view, a mighty river in so deep ma gorge. Somewhat later we started to descent and indeed after 40 kms, after a nice lunch in Yun lin we hit the river. Big, fast, rough and full of silt. We followed the river until after 84 kms we reached a small place called Cizhong. We had to climb some 150 mtrs to find a very nice guesthouse behind a (note!) Catholic church. This church was built by French missionaries in 1905. In the evening the church was full of people singening Gregorian songs. It sounden very special. The guesthouse was traditinal, simple and very comfortable, a nice lounge terrace on the roof and a wonderfull living room/kitchen inside. If we would construct a house ourselves….. We didn’t stay here to relax a day or so, which we regretted afterwards.
The next day we continued and reached Kampu (70kms). We just followed the river, but the road went up and down and it was very fateaging. We spent the night in a very basic guesthouse. But imagine: we had dinner, drank 4 beers (one bottle = 640 cl.), slept in good beds, had breakfast and we paid the total amount of 80 Yuan ( 8 Euros). But the toilet was a filthy shed with a whole in the floor behind the yard, where there also was a metal workshop etc….
The next day we continued to Weixi. We spent the night in a good hotel there, but the floor below was a kaoraoke joint. If you’re tired enough you will sleep anyway. We tried our very best to find someone who spoke English to help us find our way over the mountain to the valley of theYangtze river. But after an hour roaming through the street we ended in a China Mobile shop (they’re everywhere) where an employee helped us as well as she could and in the end called her English teacher on the phone. We decided to follow his advice and take a bus. The girl took us by taxi to the bus station and did not let us pay for the ride! Nice people or what? This bus station was only 100 mtrs from our hotel, but we could never have found it ourselves. It’s so difficult to recognise anything at all.
The bus ride was 4 hours, at least twice as long as we had expected. But then we were dropped off on a wide road in the Yangtze valley. We rode down the river untill a guesthouse just before Shigu. The most filthy stop untill now, you must see it before you believe it. But we’re still healthy and well.
Next stage was to Jianchuan, back again on the Asian Way of Life route and much climbing. Here we negiotated a taxi ride for the next day to Shaxi (Aku’s suggestion). This place, app 30 kms south of Janchuan, is a beautifully restored little town of the Bai-minority people and so charming that we decided to go back to it. After the completion of the restoration project (international long year project) they hope to realise a sustainable form tourism here and be a smaller counterpart of Lijiang, but without the mass tourism and its commercial consequences. A very lovely place. So now we’re staying in a jewel of a little guesthouse with all the small luxuries that one wishes, including some good computers with reasonable fast internet. We intend to stay here for a couple of nights. We will be advised how to return to the route to Dali by Shelly, a girl we met in a bar very nearby. In this bar they make a real cappucinno. The daughter of the owners is a 3rd year Ecomics-student at Tilburg university. It’s a small world, isn’t it. So what will happen next? We’ll keep you informed.