A Small World

Monday 11th December 2006

Dali is in the valley surrounded by mountains and Erhai Lake home of minorities Bai. Today was left free for us to “get lost” around Dali and discover Erhai Lake and the minorities. A free buffet breakfast to start the day was most satisfying. I don’t think I have ever looked forward to a slice of toast as much as I did today, the breakfast was a mix of Chinese and Western. The fruit wasn’t bad either especially with the free yoghurt and ample supplies of good tea made breakfast complete. As much as I like dumplings sometimes simplicity is best – toast, fruit and yoghurt to make a girl happy washed down with tea tea and more tea. All three of us had opted for a Monday Market trip out to a small village called Shaping. Villagers in Bai dresses filling the pathways with their knick knacks, exchanging products, selling traditional clothes, or simply haggling with the westerners. Although Westerners were very much the minority, the locals were obviously used to a few passing by. “You buy” the common phrase rang in our ears throughout, at one point we even got someone chasing us up and down the market “You buy” “how much” “very nice” until the price had been reduced from 150 Yuan to 18 Yuan. All in the nane of madness. One of the few westerners that we met at the market were a couple that I had crossed paths with first in Chengdu some 2 or 3 weeks ago, and later in a hostel in Kunming. They too had just done the gorge walk. Small world when you are travelling around. They too were missing their laptop and tea. In the evening we then bumped into the Spanish girl who we had spent an evening with in the gorge, its an even smaller world now.