Dali - Part I - Late August

This was the first day in Dali, China. It is actually old Dali as there is a new city about 30 km south which is also known as Dali. We didn't spend any time in the new city, our sleeper bus arrived there at 3 am but let everyone sleep in their beds till sunrise, a gesture we were very grateful for.

I have to say that there was a map in the bus station showing new Dali with a square in the upper righthand corner which was a map of old Dali... I didn't clue into the fact that it wasn't close till we started walking, it turned out to much farther, off the map far, so we ended up getting a taxi.

Old Dali is a place you could imagine existing centuries before. It is a walled city and the walls are of immense proportions, with water running through the city in open streams beautifully created. At the same time you wonder how much is real and how much is a take on the idea of ancient China. I say this as the first impression I had was a mix of a Chinese themed city in Disneyland and imaginations of sentries on the wall and guards at the gates.

There where more Chinese tourist than Western tourists and we found ourselves being covertly photographed many times and approached even more for a photo with one person or sometimes with a whole family or group. It was fun but we did hear of a couple who made a sign, "Photo with Westerner 5 yn", and made over $100 a day on the Great Wall. The reason we didn't try it was the sheep below, he gets 5 yn for the same service and we didn't think his owner would take kindly to us muscling in on his business.

The South Gate.

So Dali used to be known as a hippie stoping place but that side of the city was cracked down on recently... the reason it was such a place was due to the fact that weed grows like weed here, ie. everywhere. This was from the side of a road just outside of the old city.

Anyone that knows me knows I love trees, especially, but not exclusively, their ability to make the most of their environment... I wasn't allowed to make a tree house when I was kid as my father didn't want me to hurt the tree.

These are the roofs... classic and beautiful.

We found a factory making large wooden carvings, desks, chairs, tables, etc... We arrived from Laos and while on the road we noticed many trucks carrying huge chunks of trees to China, some, it seems, ended up here. I got Jacqueline in the photo for perspective.

Dali is on the edge of a lake and surrounded by mountains on all sides. It creates a microclimate and unlike the rest of China enjoys a mostly clear sky and beautiful weather. I climbed to the top of our hotel to capture this pano, it is about 160 degrees of the landscape during sunset.

Luang Namtha - August 18thish

Luang Namtha was the last stop in Laos before China. We decided to go on a kayak and trekking trip for two days. After the kayak trip, of which I have no photos except during a brief stop to visit a village and another to have lunch, due to me not taking my waterproof camera, nor risking taking my dslr from the drysack (thank you JP). It is a bit of a trekking town, many operators sell their services and while we were told of many things to see around the town I had some stomach issues and stayed put except for the 2 day kayak and trek.

A little friend, poisonous and creepy, we didn't touch it.

During the dry season when the rain isn't as constant and the water level lower, kids use a zip line to fall into the water, the raft collects them. They wouldn't let me try.

They were dying food using material collected in the forest.

Like many tribal villages the livestock lives among the people. Most villages have dogs as well but they seem to know better than to bother the masters food. They do eat dogs in Laos but while they'll eat the neighboring villagers dogs they won't eat their own.

This sow was pregnant...

really pregnant.

Our guide for the two days. Knowledgeable and informative his opinion of the Chinese influence in this region was not positive.

The Chinese have invested a lot of money in Laos, so you find many rubber tree plantations which are leased for 25 years or so. They have an adverse effect on the local population as many still live in tribal communities and rely on the forest for much of their food, medicine and livelihood. Thus, often they have to travel further to collect anything of need while before it was closer to hand.

The first photo below is a log taken from the National Protected Area for the purpose of rendering into a type of oil.

Below you have a shaving machine which takes logs collected in the National Protected Area (NPA), turns them into shavings which are then burned and the oil is collected via a distillery of sorts. The tribes living along the boarder of the NPA are allowed to go a certain distance into the forest and it seems the Chinese have learned to exploit their rights to their own advantage.

The furnace where the shaving are burned.

The collection drums. There is water on top of the substance collected. I say oil as that is what they called it but I thought oil always collected at the surface of water. They said it would burn if it was on your skin for any length of time and after showing us the product the man in charge washed his hands throughly. There is a Chinese man who rented one of the huts and is in charge of the operation. Beneath his hut are dozens of 50 gallon drums of this stuff.

On the left is the NPC and on the right are the rubber plantations.

Kids will play with anything. It reminds me of when I used to make war paint from rock and spit.

Not self-conscience in the least, at first I thought she was brushing the hair from her face then, upon looking at the photo, I realized she was picking her ear. It is wonderful to see people not posing for photos, wondering which side is their best, etc... I remember reading once that you have to go back in time to find un-self-conscience photos, you don't, you just have to travel.

I can't even remember what they found so funny... maybe it was me. I enjoy being the butt of others jokes, I really do, laughing at yourself, or having others laugh at you, puts yourself in perspective.

Our dinner being cooked.

A traditional instrument made from rattan and bamboo.

This is the chief's brother or co-chief. They are elected every 4-5 years which is their tradition... democracy may not have started in Athens after all.

The second day of the trip was a jungle trek.

The mushroom was collected en-route to our stopping place for lunch. As the guide took us through the forest he was constantly stopping to show us various foods and medicines that they still use. At one point he said the local people never go to doctors, instead they just go for a walk in the jungle and cure themselves.

The only critter we had to deal with were leaches and this one was the only one we saw.

A thick bamboo pole cut to 2-3 feet and placed in the fire made the cooking pot.

Smaller bamboo was the fuel.

Water buffalo with a bamboo cutting board.

The chief's daughter was the su-chief.

Bamboo pot, bamboo fuel and bamboo stir stick.

A bamboo serving plate upon banana leafs. The leafs were also folded into spoons and held in form by, you guessed it, bamboo picks.