Saturday April 1st, 2017 - A Grand (Canyon) Start to My Stay in China

It was a relief to leave the heat of Kuala Lumpur to the cold of Shangri-La in Yunnan Province, China, which is about 10,000 feet above sea level. I decided to visit this area, as it is just over the mountains from my beloved Bhutan and because a school counselor friend, Sue Morrell Stewart, was planning to visit the area for her spring break. In fact, Sue and I met at a Florida School Counselor Association Conference about 5 years ago and had remained in contact with each other through Facebook. She is working at an international school in Shanghai. Happily, our travel styles proved to be compatible, but we both agreed it was a bit of a gamble, as we did not know each other very well before the trip.

The doors in the hotel were very much like the ones I saw in Bhutan. Such a sensible way to prevent cold drafts entering the room when the door is opened.

My flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kunming seated me in the middle of a very enthusiastic Chinese tour group. I learned that they don't know how to line up - pushing and shoving is common, they were very loud and were a little circumspect of this tall white woman in their midst. They also could not read the greco-roman seat numbers, so got all mixed up in their seating. The next flight from Kunming to Shangri-La was quite different, people were not as excitable and noisy, so who is to know what is typical!

It was such a pleasure to be met at the airport by the driver from my hotel close to 11 pm to start my experience here. I was staying at a place in the old city called Bodhi Inn and the customer service was unmatched.

I knew I was in the right place when I saw a little creature that looked like my 'Hoppy' at home, perched on top of traditional sacks near the fire downstairs. He must have been a cousin, because he was actually a yak, but he looked a lot like my little guy!

I was able to quickly arrange a tour for the following day to a place called Balagezong or Shangri-La Grand Canyon. It  was a 47 mile drive north but it sits lower than Shangri-La at 6,000 ft, and on both sides of the narrow canyon the cliffs tower from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. Although the trip would be guided in Chinese, I thought it would still be worthwhile, as it was more of a natural phenomenon that cultural. Sue was not due to arrive until late this night, so I wanted to take advantage of the time I had before she arrived.

The drive was also scenic - the people working in the fields wore the bright pink headdress of the local ethnic group - the Naxi. I think the wooden racks behind the workers are used to store winter fodder for the animals, as many still had hay draped over them.

It was a great choice! There is something about the mountains that stirs my heart. It didn't hurt that we drove to the top of a ridge where there was (of course) a stupa complete with burning incense! 

The drive seemed as if we were climbing up a cliff face with zig-zag turn after zig zag turn. We arrived at a village is called Bala, which has been established for many generations by a group called Gukangba, who moved here to escape wars.

The fruit trees were in bloom, but other vegetation didn't know it was spring yet.

Lunch was a little odd, as I wasn't sure if it was included or not. I sat down and they brought me tea, but nothing else. Finally with a lot of gesturing, we managed to establish that I wanted lunch and was provided a marvelous version of buckwheat bread (gluten free) and dried yak meat and chili! It was one of the best dishes I've ever had and the setting was superb.

It was sad to lose that lovely sense of height as we drove back down.......

......... but a four kilometer walk along the river made up for it.

The most interesting aspect of the walk was not only that a very easy, wooden walk way had been made about 30 feet above the river, but also that the prospect of being hit by falling rocks was constantly being announced in the signage - and evidence of falling rocks was everywhere!

You can see here that the slate 'roof', put there to protect the sign, had been hit by a rock - as evidenced by the baseball-shaped hole in it.

This wire mesh had also captured its 'prey'!

There had been an earthquake in the area in 2015, so some of the damage may have occurred then. I understand the privately-developed park was closed for a time after that,

You can see the wire mesh on the right of this photo.

At the end of the walk, there was an area that had many rock cairns in it. I was told by one of the English-speaking girls, that people build these to honor their family.

So of course, I had to make my own - and here it is. I discovered that it is important to have a solid base and that choosing the right shaped rock was vital to create balance.

There was also a rafting opportunity, but I decided to walk instead. The water was pretty tame and the clients only got to sit - no paddling.

Evidence of spring was just emerging.......

Lulled into confidence of my abilities at this altitude, and the ease of the walkway, I set off blithely on the next offering - a walk into Tongtian Gorge.

 Well, as I didn't speak Chinese, I had no idea it was a steady climb of about a kilometer! Puff, puff. 

However, I also didn't know if the bus had gone on ahead, so I pressed on. I was also curious to see why they thought it was worth building another walk way.

It led to a dead end, but here too were many cairns.

It was a great way to acclimate to the altitude and was a grand introduction to China. One of the young women on the trip, Yang Chenxue, who spoke some English asked me how I was able to travel alone. She was very helpful and made sure that I did have an idea how long we could stay places, etc. However, I agree with the young woman, that this region of China where few people speak English and Caucasians are not common is a tough place to be a solo traveler, so I was glad to meet up with Sue at the airport that night and begin planning our days together.