Further life and times of *liltayinchina*

Somewhere in Tiger Leaping Gorge, Mike got the idea, nay obsession, that we should buy a scooter and putt-putt the rest of the trip, bypassing pesky bus schedules and smells. I was completely behind him in the venture until I started thinking harder about the many obstacles that my poor understanding of the language would further hinder. We did spend the better part of yesterday morning looking into the idea, but couldn't get past the travel agencies in Lijiang's Old Town telling us that they didn't have scooters for us to rent. Dejectedly, Mike gave up on his dream after I read him a paragraph from the Lonely Planet pooh-poohing the idea into the trash bin. Then we checked out and headed to the Lijiang bus station and boarded a bus to Dali.

What a place, Dali. Although the center part of the Old Town is infested with foreigners, the surrounding areas and the weather alone make it paradise - especially for lung-weary me. (Wuhan's best day can't hold a candle to Dali's worse, I'm sure of it...)

An amusing side note - Dali seems to be a place of easily-accessible doobige. Yesterday, Mike and I stopped to purchase some custom-made name chops when an older woman accosted Mike and asked him if he needed a smoke. I didn't quite hear her and we both shook our heads no and then she waited patiently for us to finish our transaction with the chop-making man. When we were walking away, she came back over, patted an embroidered shoulder bag at her left hip and said in a slightly mangulated accent, "Ha-sheeeish? Ha-sheeeish? You smoke the Ha-sheeeish?" And this wasn't our last run-in. It appears as if the stuff is hawked by older women usually in some degree of traditional costume. We've smelled it many times over and I'm quite surprised to have not heard through the grapevine that Dali was THAT kind of place. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whether you're related to me) Mike and I are squares and continue to disappoint the Hashish-hawking ladies.

The power went out across the city this morning and didn't come back on until we were at dinner this evening. We'd been picking at a chicken dish chock FULL of all kinds of tasty and SPICY ingredients by the light of a thick red candle the chef had lit for our benefit when a man came into the restaurant shouting, "We have LIGHT". Thanks to the power coming back on I've been able to write this quick entry.

All I can say is that when some of you see the photos of Tiger Leaping Gorge, you'll be booking your flight to China...I'm just sure of it. That's all for now. Mike's doing well and we're having a great time.

Lei Do Do, Lillis