Sure, I'd heard great things about Lijiang before, but arriving was another thing entirely. I set shop in Naxi Mama's - a legendary hostel whose proprietor was a veritable whirlwind of energy and hospitality that couldn't help but make you smile. Within a minute of walking into the door, she'd taken me by the hand, sat me down, gave me a banana, plopped down a cup of tea, all the while checking me in and calling me honey. Awesome. Awesome plus a tasty bonus - her hostel cooks up a daily six course communal meal for about $2.
I got organized and then headed out to wander the town. It took just a few minutes to quickly realize that Lijiang is a bit like the Venice of China, complete with its own unique hillside twist. Take dozens of narrow and winding alleys, a bunch of serpentine canals, coupled with unique wooden architecture spread out over a half dozen small hills. It must be a postman's nightmare but it's definitely a tourist's paradise, as with each turn, you couldn't help but anticipate what surprise might be before you.
As a rookie navigating the town, I started out with dreams of finding a well-regarded pizza place called Don Papa's and promptly got utterly, gloriously lost. I eventually got there, with a great thin crust pizza and world class people-watching, shopping, chatting or playing game after game of cards with friends. But even getting lost was a huge part of the fun of a day in Lijiang.
Swarmed with tourists it may be, the town's still got a good friendly spirit, and even the most jaded vendor can easily summon a welcoming grin to the visitor. Even the local dogs got in the act, as I got a warm slobbery hello from this ridiculously cute puppy:
Totally stuffed, it was time to hit the streets once more. A wander up to the hillside temple overlooking the city brought its own surprises, from a pot of pu'er black tea in a hillside shop to watching a woodcarver over a wall hanging...
... to snapping a sneaky pic of a local woman just taking in the scene.
Without major museums or specific attractions, Lijiang itself was the major sight. A few hours went by in a blur - from watching locals washing clothes in the canals just as in centuries past...
... to making friends with a Chinese kid who was packing some serious plastic heat.
The highlight though had to have been the tiny, tiny kitten who made its home at the junction of three lanes. Mewing for attention, it must have sensed I was a soft touch, because as soon as I sat down next to it, I had an enthusiastically purring lap buddy.
I guess that must have been a funny sight, as lots of locals stopped and grinned at the two of us. Thankfully it had a collar and presumably a home, as otherwise, I was giving serious thought to working out how to take the wee guy back to London!
The communal dinner was fun, as the six people sharing a total of five nationalities tried to decipher what exactly we were eating. But that's the fun of Chinese cooking... especially with the more genuine back alley or home-cooked variety...almost invariably, the dishes surprise with their tasty mix of ingredients, as long as just like hot dogs, you never inquire too closely as too what exactly you were eating.
The rest of the night was long... very long.
Initially, an Irish guy, a German girl, and a Yank joined me in finding a bar showing the World Cup, especially the first US game against England. All well and good, and we got situated at a really cool Dutch pub on the outskirts of the old town, thinking to get a drink in before heading back for a pre-game nap.
There was only one minor wrinkle to the plan. We arrived at 7:30pm, and the US game didn't start until 2:00 local time. After a few rounds, we made the somewhat foolish choice to just wait it out. With the hospitality of the Dutch barkeep, many, many Tsingtao or Dali beers went down nicely, and then it got worse, as we started chatting to some American English teachers, playing a game of 'flippy cup'.
Simple game, but with brutal consequences. Take ten people, five to a team facing each other, and each person with a half cup of beer in a plastic cup. At the same time, the first pair each drink their beers, and then try to knock their cups in the air so that they land face down. Once that happened, the next person goes as fast as they can and so on.
Simple, sure, but a blast... and one with a heavy toll, as a half beer every five to ten minutes gets... messy.
Still somewhat conscious though, we got to watch the US pull off a very lucky tie against England, with Clint Dempsey's somewhat ambitious long range shot was inexplicably bobbled by the keeper. Sweet.
(Sorry to all my British friends, but once more - here's the pic:)
Less sweet was the stagger home... take the already confusing layout of Lijiang, and add in a seriously drunken haze. A mile-ish walk became difficult. Very difficult.
Luck favors fools or drunks, evidently, but at the ripe hour of 5am, I found the hostel and staggered to a well-deserved sleep.
*****
After such a long night, I didn't get underway the next day 'til after noon, and that was only very, very slowly... all things considered, I did okay, trying a local Naxi speciality of a dry rice flour pancake for breakfast before sorting out my laundry.
The rest of the day was pretty unexceptional, except that it was still amazing just being in Lijiang. More playing with the kitten...
... then a wander around found me at a Tibetan place that served my favorite Nepalese dish of mo-mo's (spicy steamed dumplings), plus a shake and black tea.
A funny side note - I watched the local propane gas delivery guy load up his moped with a ridiculous number of cylinders, then rushing off down super crowded streets with 'nary a care in the world... coming from the States and the UK, I kept thinking "wow, that's a HUGE liability waiting to happen", looking for the local Health & Safety guy to put the regulatory smack down. As this was China, that just wasn't going to happen.
Dinner was pretty sweet too - at an Australian/Chinese couple's place that featured top notch imported Aussie pizzas, plus the finest Chinese tea. Before crashing for the night, we got in a good chinwag about expat life in China, and fun ways to try to beat the Chinese internet firewall - you know, all the critical information that backpackers need to share. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment