Musings

It took us another 2 hours’ drive to get from Tiger Leaping Gorge to Dukezong, and the drive up gradually increased in elevation: from 1,900 meters at the Gorge to Dukezong’s 3,200m. Dukezong is a Tibetan town in Shangri-La county,

Our itinerary for Day 05 today was light: we said goodbye to the lovely and very warm hospitality of our stay in Lijiang at 9:15AM, and were picked up by our next driver for the Shangri-La segment of the trip.

Our place of stay in the city of Lijiang was the E-Outfitting Boutique Hotel, a small establishment that has maybe 8 or so rooms. Our notes and comments from the two nights we stayed at this property! Windhorse Tours initially

We stayed two nights at Z Garden in Dali. Random notes and comments! Z Garden is a small boutique hotel located just outside Dali Ancient Town’s south gate. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the hotel to that south gate

Our last stop of the day: to ascend Jade Dragon Snow Mountain! We’d been thoroughly briefed by our guide the day before that this was not going to be an easy trek, given the sheer height of the mountain. Basically,

The famed show at the mountain was initially not on our itinerary in view of how packed our day was going to be visiting the natural scenery in the area. But our assigned local tour guide managed to squeeze in

One thing I miss about our trips to South Korea and Japan are the English maps and guides that are often found in their places of interest and attractions. In comparison, I haven’t been able to find English brochures or

The majority of first-time visitors to Yunnan would find time to do a full-day tour of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain region located in the city of Lijiang, and many would follow a route that covers at least these places:

It’s a short walk from Black Dragon Pool to Lijiang Ancient Town. The town is particularly famous for its system of waterways and bridges, and has numerous alleys and streets. The area was pretty busy again — it being Sunday

It was coming to around 2:30PM when we left Yuhu Village, and we headed to the Black Dragon Pool next. This pool is apparently the water source for the very nearby Lijiang Old Town, and many visitors would include a

We left the city of Dali on Day 03 this morning. Our driver picked us up and began the 2.5-hour drive to Lijiang, where we were met by our guide — Ah Luo — for the next two days. This

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