A Sluggish Day with Consequences

Wednesday, July 16, 2008--Dali

It had been raining during the night. And the day remained cloudy until the afternoon. I felt very sluggish. I stayed in my room most of the morning and read. Finally, I pushed myself to get up and do some things. Coming back from taking laundry downstairs to be done, I forgot there was a step-down as I entered the balcony way to my room door. I was barefooted, and the middle of my foot hit the edge. I lost my balance. My little toe got caught on the edge as I went down. Fortunately, I caught the edge of the balcony and didn't fall completely. But the little toe got pressed back. It is bruised and it was cut slightly along the bottom edge of the toenail.

I decided to have a western breakfast. I went to a place recommended by my guidebook. It was a big plate with scrambled eggs, fried goat cheese, two pieces of bacon, sliced tomatoes, a pile of hashbrowned potatoes, and a small banana shake. It came with a slice of buttered toast. I enjoyed it, but I was still a bit hungry for some reason afterwards.

I really didn't feel like exploring, so I returned to the room and read and napped until 17:30 when I went out again. This time, I decided to find a place with onion rings, since I still was sorry not to have had them last night. But I wanted a different place. I started making the rounds looking at the menus posted outside the western restaurants. At one point, I had to go around a construction area and had to pause for traffic to do so. There was a wheelbarrow there, and when I saw traffic was clear and took off, my leg hit the hande. It scraped the skin off. So I had my second injury of the day. Neither one was really anything bad. I can live with both, but it was just a sluggish, bad day in general.

I did find a place for onion rings and ordered them. They were okay, but the batter was more chewy than it was crispy. They don't compare to the kind that are my favorites from home. I wasn't hungry for more, however. So I enjoyed them and then explored town some more.

Dali Old Town is different from the other old towns I have visited. It's difficult to describe. One factor, however, is that it has not been fixed up to look pristine. There is grass growing from the tile roofs. Not all of the buildings house tourist shops; many have local businesses that serve the neighborhoods. Dali is different, too, in that the tourists here do not seem to be as successful as those at Shangri La and Lijiang. In the latter two towns, they are obviously upper-middle class tourists. Here, they are from lower economic classes in general. In a way, that makes this a more "authentic" experience. I like Dali.

There was a rainbow in the sky as I was walking through the old town. Many people were still out exploring and enjoying themselves. But I was still feeling sluggish. I returned to my room and was in bed early--about 21:30, I think.