I left Kunming a day early and decided I was going to make my trip to Dali in an overnight train. This proved to be a little less fun than anticipated and I spent most of my time trying to fall asleep with the lights on and to the hum of Chinese chatter that went way late into the night. Lesson learned: I was going to stick to buses where at least people fell asleep.
So upon arriving in Dali, I quickly noticed how really lovely this little town was. The city consisted of a few touristy streets within a town that was still holding on to its old heritage: Ancient buildings, city walls and the old city moat are the sites most frequented by visitors. The area is surrounded by mountains on the east, west, and south, and has the Erhai Lake in its center which I spent a day biking to.
Oh, and did I mention the Ganja? Yeah, that's sold here like any other souvenir...
I met a good group of people there as well. It seems that we were all looking for a break and some fresh air, which is exactly what Dali gave us. The hostel I stayed in was fantastic and even had peanut butter and jam for my toast which I grew to love every morning with a pot of jasmine tea (I can still smell its sweet perfume to this day! Mmm)
I’ll remember the old stone houses that crumbled but held on to their foundations even hundreds of years into their existences, and the fresh markets that sold scallop the size of my fist, and of course Foreigner Street that sold beautiful hand-dyed Batik fabrics. I will definitely remember biking all day to Erhai Lake, through rice and corn fields, and watching the mountains follow us the whole time. It was a good little place that offered blue skies, great pictures, and some piece of mind.
Old good-luck charms on a door
One of the great Dali gates
The farm ladies still carry all of their goods the 'old-fashion' way... She probably walks over an hour with her goods slung over her shouler like that.
xx!
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