One stop to Shanghai, I left at the beginning of November. Phoenix to Los Angeles and then Los Angeles to Shanghai.
I got a private guide for a day in a city that reeks of feng shui. Having seen the city before from a smelly tour bus, it was great to have a guide to give me a little exercise. After walking from my $85 a night 5 star hotel to Yuyuan Gardens, the Bund, shopping on Nanjing Road, to Jing’an Temple, it was time for lunch.
Most people hire a guide and go from one place to another by taxi. We walk. After passing through the Parque del Pueblo, it was lunch time; the guide did not know the neighborhood. We walked some more and ate duck, vegetables and good Chinese beer in an exclusive place. Normally I would eat where the locals do, but two places we passed were filled with cigarette smoke.
Going through some alleys, shops, we succumbed to taking the subway to Pudong, where I had an expensive cocktail on top of the Hyatt Hotel. It was taller than the eastern television tower he had been on before.
In the morning, I did what most tourists don’t do. I saved the 100 yuan or so for the taxi to the airport and took the subway for 5 yuan, about $0.70. To Kunming, where the Flying Tigers were based. I arrived at the Kai Wah Plaza Hotel with its huge glass atrium lobby. Too bad they didn’t pay their gas bill because it was 50 degrees F in there, too cold to enjoy a drink in one of the few nice bars in this part of China.
Lunch the next day was smoked duck with pine needles. What a delight on the way to the Stone Forest. We wandered the rock formations all afternoon and pondered the “don’t disturb the grass, it’s napping” signs. It really was a stone forest and it would have been easy to get lost in the formations.
To Dali, where our guide said, “All the tourists think this is great until you get to Lijiang and Shangri-la. The cobbled streets, most of them blocked to traffic, were a joy to walk while looking at the shops, a mix of shops for tourists and everyday shops for locals.
After some shopping for some crafts we found the Monkey Bar. On “Foreigner St. we grab a seat at the bar with real cocktails on the menu. Usually if you can find Western liquor in China the menu will just say “whiskey, gin , scotch, rum”, etc. Or just list the brand names The Monkey Bar has a variety of cocktails by name, a bartender who knew how to mix drinks and the must have Chinese rock and roll band.
Outside of Dali are the Three Pagodas. Before the earthquake a few years ago, you could climb the Pagoda that overlooks the lake. We made a stop at the local batik factory. They call it a factory. It was actually a small three-family business of dyeing cloth with indigo and making various items out of the cloth. They used a large stencil to put wax on the cloth and then dyed it with a blue solution. The design was then transferred to fabric.
Moving on to Lijiang and its old town, our luggage was brought into the city in a mini-mini-van, as regular vehicles are prohibited. The canal with old rules for the use of water was still in operation moving hydraulic wheels. The cafes were a delight after climbing to a lookout point to photograph the splendid roofs of the old town. That night we went to a classical Chinese theater. They played music from different dynasties. My ears were ringing and an hour in an unheated theater was enough. I went to a coffee shop for coffee and to my warm hotel room.
Across the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is Shangri-la. We meet our new guide, Maria. She gives us a white handkerchief as it is a traditional greeting for guests. On the way, our minibus drinks water to cool the brakes. After a walk through Tiger Leaping Gorge, 500 steps down and 500 more steps, we had dinner overlooking the valley. The lovely cafe was up three flights of stairs. For dessert, Maria introduced us to the Naxi pears, a pear with the crunch of an apple.
That night we were greeted with hot ginger tea at Songstam Retreat, Shangri-la, which reminded me of Sedona with its stone construction. My room had a heavy blanket over the wooden door to protect it from drafts. The bathroom was well equipped with a copper sink, a hot shower with a wooden bucket, a ladle and a stool. The room had steam heating and a wood burning stove in the corner. Open the curtains and you will have a wonderful view of the back of the Monastery and Shangri-la. The views of paradise from the spa were wonderful. What a place to get a massage. If only it had been spring with the mountains covered in flowers!
That night we are treated to a traditional Tibetan dinner consisting of yak prepared in 5 different ways, including yak butter tea. We mingled with the locals as they performed dances in the town square after dark. Back at the Songstam Resort I had a cocktail at the bar and went to try out my wood stove. It was November, the end of the season, and it was quite cold outside.
In the morning we drive back to Lijiang and visit a Tibetan village on the way. The house has the barn downstairs and the bedrooms upstairs, and a loft upstairs for hay.
Saying goodbye to Maria, our Tibetan guide, we meet Jack upon arrival in Lijiang. We take a walk through a Baisha Naxi village and have lunch in a charming courtyard. I pick up some goodies at a local bakery.
We entered a park for a leisurely walk around the Black Dragon Pool enjoying the mountain views and the reflection of the water. There are some shops, a small museum, small pagodas that make for a picturesque walk. After about two hours we entered Lijiang, we visited the Dongba museum where we met a 16th generation priest. We finally sat down and had a cup of tea in a hotel lobby.
To Jinghong in Lucky Air. Yes, that is the name of the airline. In Xishuangbanna we participate in a traditional barbecue of the Dai people. A variety of grilled meats and fish prepared on sticks were thrown unceremoniously on the table. Various hot sauces were served along with a delicious peanut sauce.
Time has changed for us. Now it is hot and humid. We drive to a place called Wild Elephant Valley, which is a nature reserve for elephants, and travel through the jungle by cable car. It was more like a zoo with huge aviaries, a butterfly cage, and a few other animals. On the long cable car ride the locals take pictures of us because we are the attraction because we didn’t see any elephants.
After lunch drive to Ganlangba, visit Water Dai Village where lunch came from the small lake our table was on. Evening visits to the Yellow Pagoda and the Rubber Garden did not impress anyone. The weighing, sorting and loading of pineapples was much more interesting. We picked up some pineapples for our evening dessert.
We left China crossing into Laos. The river was closed to river traffic due to drug violence that occurred two months ago. China plans to patrol the river between Burma and Laos, but as of this writing, the river is still closed. The Laotian countryside is beautiful. We dined at a delicious cafe along the way and then crossed the Mekong to Thailand in a sampan.
We walked about six blocks to the Chiang Khong Teak Garden Hotel. After some of us check in, head to a bar a few doors down and have a whiskey and water at a very low price. They even had ice. That night we dined overlooking the Mekong and were introduced to Mekong whiskey. It’s actually dark rum made in Thailand. I ask the waiter to bring me a quarter of lime, some sparkling water and just enjoy savoring the moment. Outdoor dining and all that water, we didn’t see or feel a mosquito.
At this point, we have one more day of touring to get closer to an airport. We sailed a bit on the Mekong Sun. Hans Engberding, a German businessman, has built two riverboats on the upper Mekong. “The pride of Laos” they are called. Built on two long aluminum hulls, the wooden boats ply these waters when the river level allows, taking tourist first class around the Golden Triangle for cruises of four to seven nights. With well-appointed river-view cabins, air conditioning, a full bar, and occasional bootleg ribs, Hans feeds his European clientele a mix of German/French cuisine and some local flavors, too. He gives us a short course on Asian fruit snacks available at convenience stores.
Lunch on the Terrace of the Imperial Hotel overlooking the Golden Triangle was unique, in fact this was the first time I had seen lettuce in two weeks. At the opium museum, we walked out of our lunch and found out about the queen. Opium in Thailand has been mostly replaced by coffee.
On our last night at the Dusit Island Resort in Chiang Rai, the red carpet was rolled out for the princess as she held a private party at the hotel. We went to the night market, picked up some trinkets and rode a tuk-tuk motorized rickshaw back to the hotel. The red carpet was gone and so was I when I started a series of flights home the next day.