Dali

Tuesday, July 15, 2008--Dali (Continued)

The bus trip was a good one. I had a front seat with a good view. But it was the company that made it so good. Beside me was a student from Singapore who is traveling after completing 6 months of studies at a university near Shanghai. Across the aisle from me was a Chinese couple about my age. She is a retired physics professor and her husband is a retired engineer. And behind me was a couple from the U.S. and Canada who have been here teaching English. We all visited at different times during the trip that came down the mountains with lots of views of rice terraces and villages.

Now that I am down further from where I was before, the heat is catching up with me. It was so cool in Lijiang and in Shangri La that I needed my pullover, at least at night. Here, it is warm.

The first guesthouse I tried was not acceptable. I had gotten a brochure for it from the place I stayed in Shangri La. But it is across the highway from the old town, and the rates they wanted were too high. I crossed the road and entered the old town. I quickly found a very nice place for about half of what the other place requested. For $10 per night, I have a newly furnished room, free Internet, free laundry, etc.

Dali is similar, yet different from the other old towns I have visited. Here, the streets are wider. And essentially, there are just two streets--one that goes north and south and serves as the tourist street and one that goes east and west and serves as the local street. The shops tend to have the same things as at Shangri La and Lijiang. But the atmosphere is a bit different. There are big Chinese-style gates at various points here. There are walls part of the way around the old city. It's worth visiting here as well as the other places, I think.

They were filming outside the South Gate of the city when I explored in the afternoon. A group of women in native costumes were performing a dance. Then they were filming again on the tourist street. I'm not sure if it is for TV or what.

I had not eaten all day, so around 18:00 I went exploring for a place to eat. On the local street, I found a place full of people eating noodles, so I ordered a bowl. They were different from what I have tried before and tasted a bit like something I have had in Thailand before. They were thick, round noodles and were cold. They had pieces of chicken on top and were sprinkled with peanuts. There was a soy sauce-based sauce, and there were chunks of broccoli inside. It made a great meal for just 3 yuan--less than half a dollar.

I went to another place I had seen in the tourist quarter that had onion rings on the menu. I thought I would give myself a treat there. But a party of 9 people had entered just before me and the owner was overwhealmed. I sat there about 15 minutes without him even paying any attention to me. Then I just left. I really didn't need more food anyway.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008--Dali

It rained during the night. And I remember hearing thunder. This morning, it rained again around 8:00. But it has just been cloudy since. I stayed in my room until noon just relaxing and reading. Now I will go exploring again. I may go to one of the tourist places and have a big breakfast today.

I took 6 shirts to the lady downstairs to be washed. I don't know how long it will take them to dry with the cloudy and rainy weather. But since the laundry is free and the hotel is nice and cheap, I will stay an extra day to wait for them if necessary.