We were both still full from the night before so we skipped breakfast. I had another scare (my third or fourth, dang it) when I realized that I left my iPod behind. I was reluctant to admit it, but I had too. At least we were only five minutes away from the hotel and I jogged back where I picked up the iPod…as well as some gloves and a tobaggan. Oops. Ten minutes later and we were back enroute on our way to the bus station to catch a ride to Shangri-La or Tiger Leaping Gorge.

At least the view was nice for James while I ran back to fetch my things.

At the station, we were told that we needed to have at least twenty people before the bus would depart. After thirty minutes or so, we had about fourteen and decided to purchase the remaining six seats. Three of those fourteen, two girls and a guy, ended up spending a day or two with us as traveling companions. I complemented the guy, “Er Lu”, on his English pronunciation and asked where he learned it. He mentioned he was in the army for ten years and that because there was an anticipated war with the US, it would be useful to know English when dealing with the American prisoners of war. He then asked where I was from. “Oh, America.” He seemed a little uncomfortable after that and apologized profusely. I assured him, there was no need for apologies. But, he did seem to regard me with trepidation for the rest of his time with us (he ended up mysteriously vanishing from the two girls when James and I took off on our own for Mei Li Xue Shan). After indicating that we’d buy the remaining six tickets, the bus driver then decided that he wouldn’t leave until thirty tickets sold. Bum. So we went outside and rented two small vans to take us to Tiger Leaping Gorge. I enjoyed the ride – nice views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. At the stop for Tiger Leaping Gorge, it was suddenly decided that, because of the good weather, we should press on to Shangri-La. I didn’t care; either destination would be good. So, after a mediocre lunch on the side of the highway, we rented a 4×4 SUV (with driver, of course) and headed out.

Better and better views, more and more snow. Check out the small snowy village.

The views opened up as the snow on the road increased. The rhythmic bouncing of the car eventually put me to sleep. I awoke as we were making three turns around a Buddhist pagoda – for luck, of course. Not long after that, we arrived in Shangri-La, which felt more westernized than LiJiang, despite its remoteness. Many of the restaurants had English names and western food. There were also plenty of hostels which all seemed to have that western-pseudo majaraja feel. In fact, the place we stayed featured Bob Marley and Che Guevera posters. It was decently comfortable and cheap. Unfortunately, the pipes had frozen and we were without running water. We stored our things and hitched a bus over to the large monestary. It was impressive amidst the white broad plains and hills. We bought tickets for about $5 and went in. It was big enough that we could have spent a lot of time. My favorite part was going up on the top and seeing many birds flying together among the gables. The monks looked just like you’d expect them too – except for the fancy white leather basketball footwear. We returned back to the town and explored around some more.

Holy men like having their pictures taken. The Dalai Lama’s picture was hanging up all around. Free Tibet! I mean…Yunnan! Free everybody!

A panorama of the monestary.

Shangri-La was not crowded at all. In fact, it felt deserted with only a few folks walking around here and there. We found another temple up on a hill that had a giant golden prayer wheel (which claimed to be the largest in the world) next to it.   It took the five of us toiling like a young Conan the Barbarian to get it turning.   I got some nice video (movie of the trip to come!). Below was a pool being fed by the mouths of stone dragons. Holy water it was and it was good luck to use it to wash. The water wasn’t so cold, but drying off my hands and face in the cold Shangri-La winter breeze didn’t feel so lucky.

A view of the giant golden prayer wheel overlooking the fabled town of “Shangri-La” (“Xianggelila” in Chinese).

By this time it was dinner and we had the best “hot pot” meal that I’d ever had. It was a small, dingy, and smoky (from the small braziers warming the interior) place, but lots of character as a result. “Hot pot”, in case you’re not familiar, is a type of food (I think from Sichuan…not sure) that features a spicy soup in a cauldron heated by a fire. You order raw foods like vegetables and meats and place those in the hot soup to cook and then stick your chopsticks into the mix and pull out the newly cooked spicy morsels. After the meal, we returned to the hostel and enjoyed the “common room” – the first heated room that I’d enjoyed in a while. I was able to jump on the internet and send some emails. Weather reports indicated approaching snow and I could just see us getting stranded in Shangri-La for a few days. We went to bed, three guys in a room, and nestled into the warmth of the electric mat under the sheet.

Hot pot (braizer on the right almost out of view), folks in the comfort of the common room