Dali and Jizu Shan

Hard seat on the train from Kunming to Xiaguan, 7 hrs and that's considered a short train ride in China some of mates have done 36 hr rides in one hit. Least hard seat in China is padded, in Thailand and Vietnam its a hard wooden bench.

Once in Xiaguan caught a city bus to Dali, then rang up a guesthouse Pete and Mike had recommended (the dragonfly), they have a sweet set up, pool table, free net, DVD room. Just chilled there for a day, then next day went on a mission with Hilde a Dutch girl I met at the Dragonfly. We were headed for Jizu Shan (chicken foot mountain) a 3500m hill on the other side of the lake 110km N.E of Xiaguan. Caught a bus into Dali, then a bus to Xiaguan then a taxi to the correct bus station then a bus to Binchuan then a minivan to a third of the way up Jizu Shan. The we checked out a Pagoda/ temple complex before hiking up the hill. A few Chinese tourists on the way up as its a Buddhist sacred sight but no westerners. Made it up to the top in time to watch the sun set. Managed to score a couple of cheap beds and some food with some pointing and miming, as no one spoke amy English. Woke up early to watch the sun rise, was nice, then hiked a different way down, this time all the way to the bottom, visiting the sights we had skipped on the way up, then public transport hopped back to the Dragonfly in the Dali.

The next day headed up into the hills above Dali, some nice views of the town and the lake, tryed to skip the entrance fee but ran into a big checkpoint and ended up paying. The Chinese charge large admission fees for literally every tourist site. Which is annoying as you end up skipping anything that might be average. Walked along the ridge and ended up having to go back down as I was by myself and its was 'dangerous' walking alone, ah well. Stayed another night at the Dragonfly then headed up to Lijaing on a bus.