DAY 56 - KUNMING TO LIJIANG

The boys in Dali's old town

We hit the road at 7.30 bound for Lijiang with a stopover in the ancient city of Dali on the way. Dave had to be 100% aware due the incompetent Chinese drivers. We’ve never seen so many accidents on the road, including a large truck completely overturned on the way to Dali. We expect this to become even more common as the quality of roads and weather conditions deteriorates.

We finally arrived in Dali after a 3 hour drive. Dali is split between the old town with a population of 40,000 and the new town with 3 million people. We visited the old town which was established as the Capital of the Kingdom of Nanzhao in 738 and by 1000AD was one of the 13 largest cities in the world. Dali was also regarded as one of the major transit points for the introduction of Buddhism throughout the rest of China. With the snowy peaks of the Cangshan Mountains a short distance to the West of the Old Town (approx 4,200 metres at the peak) and Erhai Lake a few kms to the East, Dali has a perfect natural setting. The old Dali City was rebuilt in the early 1400s by the Ming Dynasty. What you see in Dali Old Town today is the rebuilt Ming town, laid out in a grid-like format and easy to navigate around. Check todays video highlights below.

So despite the freezing weather and our first sight of snow on CrazyJourney on the mountains in the distance, we got our winter gear on and entered the walled town for a quick look around. Our first impression of the old town was the annoyance of the innocent looking street vendor ladies who seemed to take a shining to Rhys offering him everything from cheap umbrellas to local marijuana. Not your stereotypical drug dealer! After a wander through the main streets we found a cosy spot called Cafe De Jack and sat down to lunch by the fireplace.

The 3 Pagodas

Next Jason recommended we visit the 3 Pagodas which are 3 towers built by the Ming Dynasty nearly 1,200 years ago. Despite surviving several severe earthquakes and wars through the years, the main tower was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution in 1986. Since then the Chinese government has invested millions in the re-furbishement and re-development of the site which now consists of over 20 gold leafed temples, surrounded by ponds and gardens, many of which are noticeably new with no historical value. It took us over 45 minutes to reach the top temple but the views over the Pagodas, Dali’s old town and Erhai Lake were incredible.

The boys at one of the many Temples on the 3 Pagodas site

We then set off towards Lijiang. As darkness fell so did the fog and Dave had to endure a 4 hour slog through windy cliff roads. We arrived into Lijiang late and after a quick feed, Dave and Fintan hammered through a few blogs till 5 in the morning.

DAY 56 ROUTE MAP - CLICK FOR DETAILS