From the Tiger Leap Gorge to Shangri-la

At Ganden Sumtseling Gompa, Shangri-la

Tiger Leap Gorge
We did a 2 days trek in the tiger leap gorge, the deepest in the world. We still didn’t figure out what is the difference between a gorge and a canyon, so comments are welcome on that matter….( Meanwhile we call it the tiger leap GEORGE anyway )
The mountains on both sides are so huge that it doesn’t fit in our wide lens camera! We were walking at an altitude of around 2500 m above sea level while the snowy peaks in front of us were 5500 or more. It was a wonderful scenery with the Yangtze river looking so small at the bottom.

With Megan, Todd and Alex - our partners in the tiger leap

Shangri-la (Zongdian)

Monk walking at Ganden Sumtseling Gompa

Shangri-la, or Zongdian as it was known before the Chinese mayor decided to change the city name and get more tourists, is a very small and cozy city almost on the border of Yunnan and Tibet. As the Tibetan people are the majority there, we could feel the difference of atmosphere (also temperature ) in comparison to other cities like Lijiang or Yangshuo.
Every evening the people of the town gather at the main square to dance local dances. The dances are led by the old folks in their traditional clothes, but the young ones seem to know every move and unlike other places, we didn’t have the feeling that this is a tourist attraction.
By the way, it is very close to Israeli “Rikudei Am” (they even have "ZAAD TEIMANY"!!), and Shiri was the western star of the dance (wait to see the video).

Street dance in Shangri-la’s main square

Temple at night

Rays of light in the details on the monastery

View from the bus from Shangri-la to Dali, the most beautiful bus travel by now

Dali

Southern gate of Dali old city

Our next stop was Dali, a pleasant old city which was the capital of an ancient kingdom and today is a backpacker spot. The old city walls and gates are beautiful, and unlike Lijiang you can actually see real people living their real lives between the souvenir shops, guesthouses and restaurants.

View from the Zhonghe Mountain. The Chinese people simply don't like walikg, so a nice promenade was build for them in the middle of the mountain, overlooking Dali and the lake

The Three pagodas and Chongsheng temple site are the main attraction of the city. Despite the fact that the temple was build in the last few years, it is still an impressive site.

Three pagodas

“Heavy metal do senhor”, Buddha likes heavy metal

Detail from the Chongsheng temple

One of the buildings of Chongsheng temple

Erhai Lake

Rice fields plantations along the road

As our visa extension was not ready on time, we decided to take a 2 days bike travel on the Erhai lake, on the outskirts of Dali. The lake area reminds a little the Kinneret, only with rice fields instaed of banana plantations.
We were riding in the middle of small towns, food markets and some markets that can best be defined as: “where they have all the junk they export to the whole world” (our favorit item - "Dolce & Cabban" shirts. Limited addition...)

Yes, again Shiri had a flat tire … Looking at the bright side - unlike last time in Vietnem, it happened in the village squre - just next to a repaire "shop" and it did'nt happen in the middle of a monson storm

Old man in the road to Wase

Dentist treatment in the middle of the Wase market (next to all the cookies sellers. How efficient!)

Tomorrow we will go to Kunming and from there moving to another Chinese (?) province…..