We arrived into Lijiang very late, and so much of our day was described in Alex’s post above. Just a word on our hotel, however- we got into our cab after arriving to a bus station via a shuttle from the airport. When we told him our destination, he told us that our hotel was fine, but that he knew of a place in the old town – the main destination of the town itself – that had just opened. We were skeptical at first, but he insisted, saying that one of us could go check it out and he would turn off the meter. It turns out to have been among the most fortunate turns of the entire trip.
The driver's girlfriend, in fact, worked at the hotel, and for two huge rooms with comfortable beds in an open-air hotel in this mountainous paradise, we paid a whopping 200 yuan a night, total. That's about 25 bucks. The hotel's proprietors are a young man of about 30-35 years, with a strong Beijing accent – I'm actually able to pick up on these now – and his wife, along with their young daughter. They have been nothing short of exceptional – setting us up on tours at prices normally for locals, serving tea in the afternoon, doing laundry, etc. When we were finally settled around 11 PM, the man even found us a place still serving food for us to grab dinner before an early bedtime.Here’s a few pictures of the hotel – which is right in the center of Old Town Lijiang, a gorgeous and tranquil mountain town (we're at about 8,200 feet up in this village):
I have to run – we're getting up early for a ride out to Tiger Leaping Gorge, the largest valley in the world – so more tomorrow!
Mike
P.S. One more thing – we're struggling with getting photos up, as the internet is weak – thanks for your patience.
P.P.S. Largely due to some of our previous comments (Forbidden City and Xi’an), we can no longer view the post ourselves until we get to Hong Kong on Saturday – but please don't let that deter you – we'll catch up soon!
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