Leaving Shuanglang Ancient Town, our next stop was Little Putuo island: a positively tiny island at just 20 sqm but with a small temple on it. The temple is accessible by a small boat that one has to pay a fee to cross over. We were contended to stay on the main land side: the kids and wife explored the general area and fed the local wildlife (i.e. seagulls), while I took the DJI Mini Pro 4 this time for several flights over the island, and also Huanhai road that runs along Erhai Lake. The general area was pretty busy with many locals enjoying the sea breeze and taking walks.
A quick compilation of the drone videos from Shuanglang Ancient Town, and also Little Putuo Island:
https://youtu.be/NElvXh_qB5g
Our next stop was Li Xiang Bang, or more commonly known as the ‘fake’ Santorini, in that the architectural design is copied out from the famed Aegean Sea location in Greece. And to get it completely out of the way: do not bother visiting this place. All those stunning pictures of the white walled roof tops and walkways that you see on social media? You need to pay $ for access to them: and the best views are for guests who are likely forked out a lot of money to stay at the hotels in this area. Both the missus and I felt pretty let down, and could only conclude that the many influencers who post those pictures were either sponsored by cafes and hotels located in the area, or paid a lot of money on their own to get access to those facilities. The area was also filled with visitors many of whom were carrying selfie sticks and handheld tripods, and jostling to get their pictures of whatever limited scenery the free version of the area was offering.
We spent maybe just 30 minutes in the area before concluding that this place really wasn’t for us. It was late afternoon by the time we’d descended back to road level, and we headed back in the general direction of Dali Ancient Town for dinner and to explore the general area. The town was teeming with the weekend crowds, and as we were pretty doggoned tired by this time already, finished dinner and walked the 15 minutes back to our hotel.
That’s a wrap for Day 02: we essentially did a circuit around Erhai Lake. We’d be leaving Dali tomorrow morning and making our way to Lijiang next, so more to come soon!