Hiking and Hitching

David has with him a tent, sleeping bag, cooking utensils, food provisions and walking poles. I, on the other hand, have a bottle of scotch and some peanuts.

We set off from the gorge to Baishuitai (limestone terrace park) and are informed that it’s 87km and that we had just missed the bus. After several kilometres walk, a minibus driver pulls up and we start negotiating the price for the trip. Happy with the walk, we decide to not pay the sum he wants and gladly accept a lift to his home village.

From here we deny the invitation of staying at an inn as we want the authentic experience so we continue walking out of the town for several kilometres, get a lift for another few kilometres and finally stop due to hunger at a house on a big mountain. The owner is a lovely old lady that appears to be in her nineties. She cooks us a big dinner, gives us a room for the night and makes a big breakfast in the morning.

Thoroughly satisfied with how things turned out, we pay her double the amount she wanted and leave just after all the trucks heading up the mountain. For the next three hours we are alone walking on the road until a pickup truck pulls up and gives us a lift to Baishuitai. The driver is a maniac and we have to keep checking to make sure our bags haven’t fallen out. The driving music alternates from Chinese reggae to Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.

The limestone terraces are beautiful. Since we haven’t bathed in a couple of days, we decide to take a quick dip in the pool, only to be accosted by a Chinese tour guide.

We leave the park only to find we’d missed the once a day bus to Shangri-La by ten minutes, try and fail to negotiate a minivan and start hitchhiking again. This time we are luckier and within three minutes are offered a lift to Bitahai Alpine Lake, two thirds of the way. Hugo (the driver) is a former marine and has put together a website for DIY travellers in Yunnan – Hugo Yunnan Travel.

Along the way, we decide to also see the lake and spend the night camped in the park.

Since Hugo and his wife are travelling onwards to Shangri-La, we decide to forego the camping experience and accept a lift to Shangri-La, with a quick stop at the hot springs just outside the city.

We arrive in Shangri-La and sleep longer than we’ve slept in quite some time.

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