Going South / Arrivederci Cina/ Dalej na Poludnie
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2011
1
24
39
Trip End
Apr 30, 2012
Where I stayed
Mama Naxi Guesthouse
What I did
Lijiang, Yunnan, China
Friday, November 18, 2011
12-18.11.11 Yunnan Province (English version)
Sichuan roads will stay in our memory for long - the last lap proved to be the worst. Route from Litang to Xiangelila (Yunnan) is hell of a journey. I think I discovered the source of two english sayings "pain in the ass" and "pain in the neck". It must have originated from experiencing long travel - originally, probably on the horseback. It definitely applies to car travel in this part of China.
Xiangelila - supposedly an inspiration for fictional and mistic place of ShangriLa is a disappointment. It's much too touristy - it means dozens of soulless and ugly hotels, dusty streets, crowd of loud, chinese tourists. Another cause of our disappointment is the temperature - it's cold to the bone. We were hoping for a bit of warmth after freezing nights of Sichuan but we have to wait a bit longer.
Quick decision, we are not staying in Xangelila more than one night - we go stright to "Tiger leaping gorge" - one of the must see spots in Yunnan. For the hike there we join an English/ Welsh couple we met in Litang - Andy and Bethan. Early in the morning all 4 of us catch a bus to Qiaotou where after a decent breakfast we depart for 2 days long hike in the mountains. The day is beautiful. Enjoying the landscape and engaged in a conversation we stray off the track and have to do 2 hours detour. As we get more tired and the path gets steeper we feel a bit nervous - we don't fancy a prospect of walking in darkness. Luckily, we reach the Tea& Horse Guesthouse - the place of our night rest - right in time, maybe half an hour after sunset. We dine till late that night but not miss the sunrise the next morning. The place is very picturesque - the fact we couldn't appreciate the previous night. The second day of the hike is mostly going down towards the river encountering tiny Naxi settlements on the road. The accompanying views are definitelly worth the effort we put in to arrive here. We reach the tarmac road down in the valley in the afternoon. After 2 days of walking we feel too tired to walk deeper down to the river to see the famous "Tiger Leaping Stone" - what a shame:) Instead we catch a transport stright to Lijiang - another super pretty, super popular, super touristy town.
We arrive there in the night and check in Mama Naxi Guesthouse - great place to meet other travellers. Suprisingly, Lijiang and Mama Naxi feels a good spot to hang around for a couple of days so we do it. While staying there together with Andy and Bethan we make a half-day, bicycle trip to Baisha village where we visit a herbal clinic of doctor Ho - 90 year old, worldwide famous herbalist. He's still in a quite good shape.
After awhile we get bored with the pretty "old" town of Lijiang and decide to continue our trip further south....
12-18.11.11 la Provincia Yunnan (versione italiana)
Lasciamo la provincia Sichuan, abbiamo ancora un'ultima tappa nel nostro itinerario in Cina: la provincia Yunnan.
Le 12 ore che separano Sichuan da Yunnan sono velocissime (per me) un po' meno per Beth che piange e si dispera per la guida dell' autista.
Si vede che non ha visitato la Cina, a mio avviso quest'autista é stato uno dei migliori durante il nostro viaggio.
Le strade bianche si dimenano tra rocciose e imponenti montagne, foreste foreste e foreste e piccoli villaggi, bellezze naturali che ancora una volta lasciano senza fiato.
Arriviamo a Shangrillą a notte fonda, siamo nella provincia Yunnan, finalmente ...o purtroppo.
Restiamo profondamente delusi da questa cittadina, un altro (imitazione) centro storico costruito probabilmente 10 anni fa o poco pił...o poco meno.
Un'altra meta turistica, decidiamo di lasciare la cittą l'indomani mattina, ne abbiamo fin sopra i capelli di queste cittą.
Ci dirigiamo verso sud, ancora, alla ricerca del caldo, e veniamo accontentati tra le montagne di Haba e Yulong Xue, lungo il fiume Jinsha, dove facciamo due giorni di arduo "trekking" nella Gola della Tigre (che salta ?), considerata una tra le pił profonde del mondo, lunga 16 km e profonda circa 3900 m.
Spendiamo questi due giorni imersi nella natura con due nuovi amici Beth e Andy.
Scendiamo ancora verso sud, Lijiang stavolta. ci resteremo circa 4 giorni, scrivendo il blog e riposando la mente e il corpo prima di ripartire all'assalto per una nuova avventura in un'altra nazione.
(polska wersja)
Drogi Syczuanu nie odpuszczaja nam zbyt latwo - ostatni odcinek naszej podrozy w tej prowincji, trasa z Litang do Xangelila (Yunnan) to 12 godzin ktore daje nam najbardziej w kosc. Xangelila- podobno byla inspiracja dla mistycznej, fikcyjnej krainy ShangriLa - dla nas byla duzym rozczarowaniem. Jest zbyt turystyczna - oznacza to dziesiatki bezdusznych hoteli, ulice pelne pylu i tlum chinskich turystow. Jeszcze jedno rozczarowanie to temperatury tu panujace - bardzo zimno. Nie na to liczylismy po zimnych nocach syczuanskich. Szybka decyzja - spimy tutaj tylko jedna noc i jedziemy prosto do "Kanionu skaczacego Tygrysa" punktu obowiazkowego do zobaczenia w prowincji Yunnan. Wczesnie rano razem z angielsko-walijska para (Andy i Bethan ktorych spotkalismy w Litang) lapiemy autobus do Qiaotou. Tam po przyjezdzie zjadamy duze sniadanie i wyruszamy na 2 dni w gory. Po drodze tak sie rozgadujemy ze gubimy droge i musimy dolozyc 2 godziny. Trasa robi sie coraz stromsza a czsu coraz mniej. Na szczescie docieramy na miejsce noclegu zaraz po zachodzie slonca. Biesiadujemy z Andym i Bethan do pozna ale nastepnego dnia rano udaje nam sie obudzic odpowiednio wczesnie aby podziwiac wschod slonca. Drugi dzien drogi jest duzo latwiejszy. Spacerkiem na dol do doliny podziwiajac przepiekne widoki. Nastepnie autobusem do Lijang - cukierkowo malowniczego starego miasta. Tam odpoczywamy i wreszcie wygrzewamy sie troche w sloncu. "Mama Naxi Guesthouse" - gdzie sie zatrzymujemy, to miejsce gdzie mozna spotkac wielu podroznikow z calego swiata. Bujamy sie tam przez kilka dni. W miedzyczasie robimy wypad na rowerach to wioski Baisza gdzie odwiedzamy slawnego zielarza - doktora Ho. Staruszek ma juz 90 lat ale calkiem dobrze sie trzyma. Wydaje mi sie ze moglby on byc pierwowzorem Doktora Pai Hi Wo z "Akademii Pana Kleksa":) Po naladowaniu akumulatorow wyruszamy dalej na poludnie......
