The next day we left Lijiang and took a bus along the twisty mountain roads to a place that was recently renamed Shangri-la (3300m), to make it sound a little more magical and mysterious (the original name was Zhongdian).
We stayed in a guesthouse outside of town where the mountain views were beautiful and it would be a bit more peaceful.
We were surrounded by farmland, some of which was inhabited by the local yaks.
There were a large number of butcher shops advertising their wears.
The monk at the lower left corner had some awesome sunglasses and great facial hair.
The dancing continued for many hours.
Some colourful hill tribe dress.
In the middle of dinner Frank rushed outside to get this photo at exactly the right moment, as the colours were only this vivid for a few minutes.
The next day we headed out to do some hiking in the mountains behind our guesthouse.
We saw some local people grazing their yaks along the way.
The mountains looked so close, but it ended up taking us over an hour to reach the base of the first hill.
There was a huge variety of wildflowers to marvel at the whole way.
We soon began to follow a reasonable looking trail that lead up the hillside.
The day was fairly sunny and there was a beautiful view over the valley.
The lichen-stache!
They all lead to a small stupa perched at the highest point on the mountain.
Spot the Chelsea!
We found this little guy nestled among the leaves.
We had a good view of a nearby mountain towering above us.
We made our way back down towards our guesthouse while the sun was still peaking out from around the clouds.
Minutes before we reached the guesthouse the skies opened up and began to shower us with rain. It was a refreshing end to a wonderful day.
We stayed in a guesthouse outside of town where the mountain views were beautiful and it would be a bit more peaceful.
We were surrounded by farmland, some of which was inhabited by the local yaks.
In the evening we headed to the city's 'old town', which was most likely built sometime in the last 10 years.
There were a large number of butcher shops advertising their wears.
There were many newly built religious monuments around town, showcasing the area's Tibetan culture for the tourists.
We wandered around a Buddhist temple at the top of a small hill.
It was full of beautiful artwork, but most of it was not allowed to be photographed.
From the temple we had a panoramic view around the city.
We watched as people gathered in the central square for some synchronized dancing. It seemed as though one guy didn't get the memo because he was in the middle of the circle and didn't know any of the moves and was just kind of flailing aimlessly around...very entertaining.
The dancing continued for many hours.
Some colourful hill tribe dress.
The mountains looked so close, but it ended up taking us over an hour to reach the base of the first hill.
There was a huge variety of wildflowers to marvel at the whole way.
We soon began to follow a reasonable looking trail that lead up the hillside.
The day was fairly sunny and there was a beautiful view over the valley.
We continued to be amazed by the plethora of exotic plant species.
Wow...I didn't know our camera could do this.
The lichen-stache!
When we reached the top we found this maze of prayer flags leading into the forest.
They all lead to a small stupa perched at the highest point on the mountain.
Spot the Chelsea!
We had a good view of a nearby mountain towering above us.
We made our way back down towards our guesthouse while the sun was still peaking out from around the clouds.
Minutes before we reached the guesthouse the skies opened up and began to shower us with rain. It was a refreshing end to a wonderful day.
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