Rough Edge

More about Cloud Pass. The path is beautifully kept, there are even picnic areas! The views and the air and the clouds above and around are simply stunning. Half way there is a small settlement – I finished my water and bought more, I was invited to sit down and rest, but I wanted to head on. At times there was the unmistakeable scent of ginger in the air, I saw a magnificent shining bird, like a kingfisher, but smaller and gold and red in colour – it was too fast to photograph. Great day. (Cloud Pass 3 July)

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High above Dali is the Cloud Pass. At 2600m it runs for 13K between (conveniently) a chair lift and a cable car (don’t laugh). As an acclimatisation day I took the (scary) chair lift to go up. At the top, beyond a temple-cum-nick nack market a path winds up the hill to the Higherland Inn. Here I found the helpful woman who gave me a map (of sorts) and sold me some mixed nuts. So I set off along a beautifully kept pass weaving through astonishing gorges high in the mountain. (Cloud Pass, Dali 3 July)

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I moved to the Birds Nest yesterday evening and took a couple of snaps. It is extremely basic, but a couple of the people there speak English and it seems to attract interesting and relaxed people, maybe because the atmosphere is really laid back.

The place is also higher up the hill at the western end of the town, so there are good views to the mountains beyond. It was perfectly still last night and I slept brilliantly. At less than four pounds a night, this is great. (Dali 2 July)

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When you switch to a mac you forget how to use a PC. When the only thing available is a PC you try to remember how it works. Slightly more confusing here. The screen is all in Chinese and therefore it’s hard to know how to switch over to QWERTY… Help!

(Still raining, still in the YH internet cafe – it’s free. Dali 2 July)

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At 2000m Dali is already quite high. Yesterday when I arrived it was pounding with rain and there was nothing to see. In addition I foolishly left my camera on the express bus from Kunming… Thank god for Tao in Kunming and Peng here in Dali. 11 phone calls later and Peng was taking me back to Dali new town (I’m in the old town) on a bus to retrieve the camera from the lost property officer at the bus station. Between them they solved something that would have been impossible for me. Tao tells me I need to give one of the Rough Edge T shirts to the bus driver on my return to Kunming – he’s going to organise this.

Luckily this morning the rain had cleared and as I stepped out of the courtyard of Peng’s climbers’ guesthouse (bunkhouse) I saw the mountains for the first time – rising steeply above the streets of this amazing little walled city with pockets of cloud sitting in their hollows up to a dizzy 4116m. It is truly breathtaking and I can’t wait to get up there and discover more.

Now I am busy finding a partner to come with me and the first step is to move from Peng’s place to the Birds Nest – a small hostel where people can speak English and with a very wonderful relaxed Tibetan feel. I’m writing this along with a couple of earlier catch-up posts from the free internet cafe at the China Youth Hostel (I expect I’ll be back here during my time in Dali)

(Dali China Youth Hostel free internet cafe 1 July)

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Tao in Kunming has been wonderful. Aside from running his yoga studio he found time to take me to meet Zhou Jun a climber with Red Point in Kunming. We broke through the communication barrier over half a dozen beers and some rock hard peanuts and his knowledge of the mountains of Yunnan is – and will be – extremely helpful. Thanks! The Spring Garden Star hotel in Kunming is peaceful, pleasant, clean and only ten quid a night – brilliant。（Dali China Youth Hostel free internet cafe 1 July)

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The vibe is different here. More laid back, more friendly. Kids on scooters shout “hallo” when they see my wide eye face. The streets are mostly wide, there are lots of trees. In the smaller older streets there are Plaine trees, they call them French Tree. The food is spicy, wholesome and delicious. This is my first taste of Yunnan and it is very cool. (Near the Green Lake university district Kunming 28 June)

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One hot traveller. One extremely full rucsac. One steel mesh security cover. One eagle eyed security guard. One lighter at the very bottom of the bag with the jetboil stove. Twenty stressful minutes. Top tip Don’t travel with a lighter through an airport in China. (Shanghai airport nearly missing Kunming flight 26 June)

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Not on any rough edge in particular, but nerve-fraying enough. Time was not on my side as I struggled to find a taxi that understood the way back to the Golden Pineapple Youth Hostel. The guy with the motorbike taxi promised that he knew the way. I didn’t know what would be involved. Give me a mountain anyday. (Beijing 23 June after meeting with the British Council)

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Crazy mad busy sticky and not enough sky. Way out – £1.50 bus ride across the island and head for the beach. (Hong Kong 22 June, just before leaving for mainland)

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