Saturday morning (18th) we rented 10 speed bikes for the day and headed out to Er Hai Lake, passing and stopping to look at the many market gardens and gardeners at work - all work being completely done by hand and back breaking to say the least. It is no wonder the little old ladies are so stooped with what they have carried on poles across their shoulders and on their backs for years. Came back and did some cycling around the outside of the town wall as well as inside, finally returning the bikes around 7pm before going for dinner.
Yesterday morning we got a taxi to the bottom of a mountain range called Zhonghe Si and then went by chair lift to an area with lovely pools and waterfalls and a wonderful view over Dali and the surrounding area. We spent a little time looking around but did not proceed to do the 11km walk as it was fairly steep and rugged. The chair lift ride was close to 30mins each way. Once back in town we went to a bakery for lunch which was owned by a German lady. I was dying for a nice sandwich and it sure was good, passed all my expectations but was not cheap. As we came out we met three Australians, one being NZ born so had quite a long chat to them. They were actually doing a six month stint in Yangshuo teaching English but came over to this area for a week's break.
In the afternoon we took a mini bus 2km north of the town to see the distinctive San Ta (the Three Pagodas) that symbolize Dali and once stood within a monastery which was destroyed during the Qing dynasty. The 16 tiered Qianxun Ta is the tallest of the three at 70m and is also the oldest, dating back to 800AD. Each tier is embellished with fine marble figures. The two smaller pagodas were built in the 11th century and are 42m high and both have a bit of a lean on. There are beautiful grounds surrounding the area and up behind the pagodas are about 12 buddhist temples of varying sizes. With the mountains behind it is a beautiful setting and we spent 3 hours there with a lot of walking and hundreds of steps to go up. By the time we got back to our accommodation we were all pretty weary.
This morning we caught a mini bus out to a small village, Shaping, 30km north of Dali which hosts a market every Monday. On sale there is a variety of local produce and livestock besides all sorts of other touristy things and plenty of touts who bail you up to try and sell you their silver, trinkets etc. Was all very interesting but we were back in Dali by lunch time and this afternoon spent relaxing.
Tonight we went to a nice restaurant for dinner and Dave and I were coerced into trying the yak steak - well what a treat, it was beautiful, so tender and lean and for 40CNY we got two good sized pieces. The best steak we have had since last in New
Zealand.
Tomorrow morning we catch a bus to Lijiang - a 3hr trip from here and a place which can get us to Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Our accommodation here in Dali at Friends has been great with three lovely Chinese girls running it. It is right close to the South Gate of the walled town and the girls are really sad that we are leaving tomorrow. One of the girls, Anna is a real character and she left this morning to have a week's holiday and she gave me a big hug this morning when I saw her before she left.
Dali is also well know n for its marble and its blue and white batik printed on cotton and silk. Silver jewellery is everywhere and white tourists are continually being approached by touts trying to sell silver, trinkets, tours etc. funny how most of the tourists here are actually Chinese but they don't seem to hit them up.