It is always special to travel first time to a country. It is the only time when imagination meets reality. How much did China surprise me? It cannot be told in numbers. What can be told in numbers is only the number of days I spent, 12 days. These twelve days had a strong analogy with Vipassana meditation! A Vipassana meditation is designed to detach one from daily life distractions and outside world. The mediation is designed for 10 days sometimes. One goes through the hardest time for first 3-4 days. Its only then one realizes the presence of self being. The sound of heart beat, the focus of imagination, the force of air gushing in and out of nose.
I was in a land totally unfamiliar with an absolutely unknown language and off the road. What more was an existence of an individual in Singapore like never before. I could barely keep my thoughts off! Initial few days were
frustrating because of no proper conversation, getting lost, ending up
in wrong places, ordering food thinking as mushrooms from photo only to
be served chicken head. Then it became way of life. surprises become
pleasing.
There was a night when I ended up in wrong village. I was
disappointed in the night on what am I doing. It was dark when I
reached, I had no idea what it was. When the morning came, I realized I
am looking into a valley. there was no limit to the mountain I could
see. It was just one of those instances of pleasant surprise.
A little sleepy town of Lijiang was my first stop. It is an over night train journey from Kunming (Capital of Yunnan). Sleeper trains in china are punctual, comfortable and much cheaper than flights.
Lijiang greeted me with cold and windy weather. I armed myself with the only sweater I had and a wind cheater. I headed to blue dragon pool, what wikitravel describes an China's finest view.
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| Blue Dragon pool |
But it not just the sceneray but the people that makes travel interesting. I met two guys in my dormitory with whom the only way to communicate was translation, Baidu translation! But that didnot stop us from taking our bikes out to even further remote place.
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| The lijiang boys |
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| The bike follows where ever I go |
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| the mountains and the colours |
These were enough for my first day, I decide to go back to home stay. It turns out, they have planned for dinner, a home cooked lijiang dinner. Can I ask for more?
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| I am a mere observer |
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| Food :) |
A city in the night shows its vibrant color when the life starts to settle down. And here as the night unfolds in Lijiang
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| Its about the jouney and not destination |
If the night brings vibrance, the morning brings serenity and calmness. People are yet to start their businesses.
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| Water at its calmest while people are still asleep |
These photos were not even what I had come for. I came to Lijiang for the old city. An old city that UNESCO decided to make it heritage.
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| The structure that withstood the test of times |
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| The old city! Do we need roads? guess not |
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| How about eating Yak? |
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| And how can I not buy |
The Lijiang was a refreshing insight into China's Yunnan province. But what i need was some mountains, some snow and a trek. The trip continues to Tiger Leaping Gorge and Yulong mountains.
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