Lijiang Day 2 (0420) - Hike to Wenhai

The second day started off a bit rocky. I woke up and met Carrie and her dad for breakfast. We had to meet everyone in 45 minutes and thought we would have enough time to find a place and eat a decent western breakfast. We found one place and sat there for a long time while the waiter babbled on the phone or with friends. He looked like a wannabe Chinese surfer "dude" and certainly acted like he had been in the sun for too long. We waited for at least 10-15 minutes before he came by and then told us it would take half an hour to get our food.

We left that place and went to two other places before we found a place that said they would make our breakfast quickly. Seriously, how long can it take to fry up an egg and some toast!?!? Anyway, we waited and waited and it was getting closer to 9 AM, so we went to check on the food and they had not even started cooking! We left and just picked something up to eat on the way to the van.

We took a van to St. Joseph's Village and then began our hike to Wenhai. I am not sure exactly how far it was, maybe 15 kilometers? It was funny to see all of us with our totally packed large bags and then Lily had her tiny bag that was almost entirely filled with snacks for us! The views were really amazing from the top of the mountains. There is this one mountain in Lijiang called "Jade Dragon Snow Mountain" that looks like something from the Rockies or the Himalayas. It is strange because the surrounding mountains are much lower. Apparently several groups have tried to climb Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, but no one has succeeded in reaching the top.

Eventually we got to Wenhai and left our stuff at the Ecolodge, where we were staying. It was really random because the village was quite small, and then there was this little lodge with heated blankets! We got there and they fed us delicious Naxi food. I like it so much better than the Chinese we eat in Beijing. They have all kinds of potato dishes and yummy veggies. Unfortunately everything is always cooked in oil, but it all still tasted wonderful.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the town, visiting the school and seeing the animals. We had another amazing view of the snow mountain during sunset. After our walk, we returned back to the Ecolodge and had dinner. Since we were out in the middle of the mountains in a tiny village with no lights, we decided to go out and see the stars. It was amazing. I have not seen stars like that since I was at Neringa in Vermont!

After looking at the stars we went to bed with our heated blankets. They were almost too warm.