Riding with Tour Groups

On the road again:

We woke early, gathering our things once again, this time to go back to Li Jiang. It was difficult to get up in the morning, have gotten less sleep than usual, and waking early enough to get breakfast while waiting for the bus. The owner of the hotel was in the dining room when we finished breakfast, willingly discussing the cost and work he put into the beautiful hotel. It was clearly not complete, but lovely none the less. The interior decoration of the rooms was still in progress. The bathrooms were functional, but not yet done. The rooms were lovely, but only mostly decorated. It was simple, but I would have loved to see his completed vision. Maybe next time I decided to take a trip out to Lugu Lake, I will stay in this completed hotel.

The bus arrived only a few moments too late, and we were told that we would be transferred to another bus shortly so it didn't matter where we sat. Other passengers were picked up, and we were taken to a hotel further up the mountain. The hotel was in a far less tourist trafficked area, and it was obviously cheaper. The bus we transferred to was a tourist bus. This bus had 32 seats, about 8 of which would be empty when everyone had loaded up, so we were told to wait until the tourists had all entered the bus, then could have our pick of the seats. The seats we had booked were seats at the back of the bus for 50 RMB per person. We had no trouble, once the bus was loaded, finding room to sit. The driver of the bus on the way back was far more careful and made sure to stop frequently before lunch so everyone had ample opportunity to go to the restroom at fairly clean facilities. The tourist in the group didn't like stopping so much, and complained loudly about it on multiple occasions. At lunch, the bus driver expressed his displeasure with the complaints privately and told us we should take this opportunity to go to the bathroom, since he would only make one more stop in the next 4 hours of the trip.

True to his word, there was only one more stop on the trip, and we made it back to Li Jiang by 6pm. We had to walk a bit to get back to the hotel, but once again, it wasn't far, and we made it just fine. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant the hotel had recommended the first night we were there. This restaurant was noisy, crowded, and obviously clean. The way to pick a good Chinese restaurant is by how many clients frequent it. This one must have been one of the best in Old Town Li Jiang. The food was delicious, and I had no doubt about the cleanliness of the dishes. The waiter was friendly as well, being able to converse a little in English with me. I found that people in this part of China who approach me to speak English are more interested in practicing their English or just finding out more about me than trying to sell me something, like in Beijing. The people were so friendly and happy to see a Westerner here. I enjoyed the meal and the conversation.

Final night in Li Jiang:

Fan and I, knowing this would be our last night in Li Jiang, wandered the streets, looking for gifts and small purchases that wouldn't make our luggage too heavy. We enjoyed the night, and Fan desired to visit a bar before we left, just to get a taste of the night life that was so famous in Li Jiang. We passed quite a few bars with loud laughter, singing and banging on the tables. It was such an interesting night. The bar we entered was more of a beatnik sort of place. All of the patrons were artist, or fans with a desire to be different from the norm. The room was darkly lit and the people were all enjoying quiet conversation. We stayed for only a few moments, but I truly enjoyed the atmosphere. If I were better at speaking Chinese, I think I really would have enjoyed this quiet bar. It was lovely.

We headed back to the hotel well past 1am and got ready for bed once more. We wanted to get up early to take some nice photos before the tourists came out. Fan set an alarm for about 7:30am and fell quickly asleep.