July 1999
Earlier I had
gone to Chinese Consulate in Chiangmai to apply for a visa. On the 1st
July, riding a tuk-tuk on the way to the airport, I asked the driver to
stop at the consulate to redeem my passport. Thai Airways took off at about
14.15 and landed at Kunming in the evening. From the airport I took a bus
downtown and checked into Camillia hotel for 30Rmb for a dorm bed
 
Woke up early in the morning to a slight drizzle and started exploring the city. Exchanged US$100 for 807Rmb. Booked a bus ticket to Dali. Reached Xiaguan at about 2pm and from there took another bus to Dali old city where I checked into a shared room for 15Rmb. Dali reminded me of Yangshuo with lots of westerners thronging the streets.  
The next day I went for a conducted tour of the Er Hai lake for 125Rmb.The whole trip lasted from morning till the evening with the boat making stops at places of interest. At the last stop, my boat left without me but luckily I had the sense to jump into another one which was also on it's way back to Dali. I think I must have given my tour guide a scare. The next day I went to apologise to her as it was more my fault than hers. Arrived at Lijiang by bus on the 5th July. The old city is the place to go for cheap lodging and picturesque settings. While meandering through the maze of narrow streets I got lost and had to ask for directions to go back to my GH.  The
next day I took a local bus to Jade Dragon Mountain. While in the bus I
chatted with 3 local tourists from Kunming and decided to team up with
them. Arrived atWhite Water River first where we took some snapshots. After
that we proceeded to climb to the pasture on top of the mountain. One of
the girls rented a horse which turned out to be a blessing in disguise
as halfway through the journey, I was pumped out and the girl offered to
let me continue the climb on horseback.
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