Day 15: Lugu Hu (瀘沽湖)

Slept in today and then found a new hostel.  After this we were introduced to the grandmother of the hostel owner and got to see her living space, the grandmother of this tribe is always the head of the household being the eldest woman.  Each house is shaped in square with the grandmother in the back center room and the rest of the family lives in the other wings.

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Grandmothers room of our hostel

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Grandmother of our hostel

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Charlotte and the Grandmother

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Dried pigs feet in the Grandmothers room

We then hired a car to drive us around the lake and take pictures

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The road along the lake, with a lot of rocks in it

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Don't worry the construction crew is there

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And the street sweepers

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A view of the lake

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The 5-star hotels on a peninsula by the town

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Tibet prayer flags by the lake

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More Tibetan flags with a prayer shrine

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Making new rocks for the Tibetan shrines

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Making new rocks over the lake

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A view of the lake from a dock

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Boats and flowers in the lake

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Visiting the Marriage Bridge, the bridge used by men to walk to the women's houses

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But first we found them selling baby dragonflies, we didn't eat them

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The walkway to visiting marriage bridge

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Visiting marriage bridge

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View of the lake from visiting marriage bridge

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On the way back we saw people returning from work

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More workers returning

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Grandmother and baby

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Fishing on the lake

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All alone on the lake

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Charlotte also found our Ikea lanterns from our wedding at a restaurant there.


When we got back we ate dinner then went for a drink and met one of the natives who sat and had some beers with us for a couple hours and he smoked a lot of tobacco.  He was a very nice guy who although having lived in a tiny isolated town that just got a road in 1996, seemed to have a stronger grasp on the world views than a lot of chinese people who seem isolated.  He was able to understand more because a couple of female members of his family had gotten the opportunity to study abroad, as well as sitting and meeting tourists that came to this restaurant.  He really enjoyed the fact that he could sit and drink a beer with someone from the other side of the world who doesn't speak his language and have it not feel strange.  From these experiences he determined that Germans and Americans are the most punctual people, as opposed to himself and his tribe.  He gave the example that when someone asks him over for dinner and he says he "will be right there", that could mean in 3 minutes or 3 hours.  I think I know some people who could fit in that schedule rather than his idea of punctual Americans.

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Local tribesman who was drinking with us

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He was embarrassed that I needed a bottle opener

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Two new friends

Before we left he also gave us some words of wisdom, "Rich people seem to have it all, but are always stressed and worried. One poor person is sad, but no one has more fun than a group of poor people who have nothing to worry about"....he seemed to be having a lot of fun.