Dali - King of the Road, Minority Villages, Trekking
The past two days have been great. Yesterday, I was blessed with fantastic weather, so I set off on bicycle to explore the countryside and surrounding villages. My initial plan had been to cross the lake by boat and then return by bike, but after checking in at five different hamlets where boats were meant to be - and failing to find a motorboat - I decided to change the plan. I did happen upon one larger port, but it was mainly package tourists who were being herded onto a ferry for a pleasant trip to an island.
I headed north. King of the Road again, I cycled along dirt paths through rice paddies and corn fields. I visited three different villages which were all connected by a bewildering maze of tiny roads and pathways. Several villagers had a good laugh at me since I was obviously lost a couple times and ended up doing a loop through their fields. The villages were peaceful, friendly, and completely devoid of tourists (and, at times, villagers). I made my way through narrow, paved alleyways, past barking dogs, smiling children, and random temples. Just when I would wonder where everyone was, I would stumble upon the main square, where everyone congregated. Old, squinting men, in their tattered, faded-blue Mao Suits and sun-bleached caps squatted, playing dominos and smoking long cigars. Nearby, women in colorful garb haggled over fresh produce and rancid meat. Teenagers huddled around a tired pool table, chasing the balls around the felt. Everytime I rolled into the square, an audible silence would fall as everyone turned to stare. Then, almost instantaneously, children would break out into friendly "Hallos! Hallos!" and then men would go back to their games.
After five hours of biking in the sun, I was famished. I headed for the mosque and found a friendly muslim family that had just laid out skewers of spiced mutton, beef, and lamb. To their astonishment, I consumed 12 sticks of meat, then another two bowls of rice noodles.
Today, I visited the weekly minority tribe market. It was a colorful, lively affair that was fun to visit. Everything from fresh produce to yellow combs was on sale. Surprisingly, despite its notoriety, there were very few tourists. After the market, we headed over the mountain to visit some Hui and Muslim minority villages. I was suprised to find that the Mosque looked exactly like a chinese temple. A wonderful Muslim family cooked us a delicious feast of 12 disshes of vegetables, beef, and mutton which provided strength for the afternoon's trek through the rice paddies to a couple of small huddles of wooden huts.
I'm off to Lijiang tomorrow morning.
I headed north. King of the Road again, I cycled along dirt paths through rice paddies and corn fields. I visited three different villages which were all connected by a bewildering maze of tiny roads and pathways. Several villagers had a good laugh at me since I was obviously lost a couple times and ended up doing a loop through their fields. The villages were peaceful, friendly, and completely devoid of tourists (and, at times, villagers). I made my way through narrow, paved alleyways, past barking dogs, smiling children, and random temples. Just when I would wonder where everyone was, I would stumble upon the main square, where everyone congregated. Old, squinting men, in their tattered, faded-blue Mao Suits and sun-bleached caps squatted, playing dominos and smoking long cigars. Nearby, women in colorful garb haggled over fresh produce and rancid meat. Teenagers huddled around a tired pool table, chasing the balls around the felt. Everytime I rolled into the square, an audible silence would fall as everyone turned to stare. Then, almost instantaneously, children would break out into friendly "Hallos! Hallos!" and then men would go back to their games.
After five hours of biking in the sun, I was famished. I headed for the mosque and found a friendly muslim family that had just laid out skewers of spiced mutton, beef, and lamb. To their astonishment, I consumed 12 sticks of meat, then another two bowls of rice noodles.
Today, I visited the weekly minority tribe market. It was a colorful, lively affair that was fun to visit. Everything from fresh produce to yellow combs was on sale. Surprisingly, despite its notoriety, there were very few tourists. After the market, we headed over the mountain to visit some Hui and Muslim minority villages. I was suprised to find that the Mosque looked exactly like a chinese temple. A wonderful Muslim family cooked us a delicious feast of 12 disshes of vegetables, beef, and mutton which provided strength for the afternoon's trek through the rice paddies to a couple of small huddles of wooden huts.
I'm off to Lijiang tomorrow morning.
posted by Ace at 4:36 AM
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