Day 11: Dali (大理)

Previous to the trip to Dali we had always slept in the "soft sleeper" on trains which consists of 4 beds in a room with a door and A/C. Last night after my urging we decided to try "hard sleeper" as we had heard its the best bang for your buck. Unfortunately the lower beds were full and we had to take the top bed, wow what a mistake that was. These cars consist of 10+ rows of bunk beds, 3 high, with no A/C and just a fan that they refuse to turn on. On the top bunk there is approximately 2-3 feet between you and the roof of the car. Fresh air would only come when the train was moving at a decent speed, unfortunately our train would stop every hour for ~10-20 minutes to blow its horn and wait for another train to respond, during this time there was only hot stagnant air and the only escape is to climb over 2 lower beds waking the sleeping passengers. Not a fun ride. Especially since when the train is moving it feels like it is a stick shift driven by a first time driver based on the jerking motions as we accelerated.

Luckily as soon as we got to Dali, Charlotte found food, which took her mind off the train.

A couple that was selling food, sort of a green onion pancake

 

Train? What train...all I can think about is food!

Dali is a town in a higher elevation and you can see the suns effect in the people: darker skin, a lot of wrinkles and many people seem to have severe eye problems, but on the other hand, no pollution in the air!...yet...This town was also known as a place westerners would come and not leave and do drugs. Once the chinese tour groups started coming the westerners fled, but the effect is still there, at least 30 times walking around at night old, wrinkled mothers and grandmothers would ask, "Smoka da ganja?" or "You lika da hashish?"


We spent the day wandering the touristy streets eating the local food and Charlotte went shopping. Saving the scenic sights for tomorrow.

The wall surrounding the old town of Dali

Charlotte protecting herself from the intense UV while walking in the foreigners section of town

Foreigners Street

More local food, this time a type of cheese grilled

The woman who sold us the cheese

More local food, this time a type of vegetable dumpling

Charlotte with the grilled dumpling

Woman selling candy on the stret

Charlotte and I argue a lot about food and things that shouldn't be, such as beans being a dessert or how I don't like bones in my small pieces of meat. Well tonight we got a dish that of course has the bones in the small pieces of chicken, I am usually very careful, but i grabbed a rice cake from the dish and somehow a chicken bone found its way on to it, when I took a big bite down the bone stabbed me in the gums deep enough it stayed there and i hand to pull it out with my hands. Hurt a lot, but nothing a few local beers couldn't take care of.

Evil dish of bones!

The clouds look amazing coming over the mountain

A gate in the wall of the city