The following is a translation of the travel log we used for our trip. It waswritten by Tal and Einat, 2 Israeli travelers I know personnaly. I coppied their log from the Meimei cafe guestbook.

From Jinghong take a bus to Menghai (No. 2 bus station, 15 RMB, 1 hour). From Menghai there is a 15:30 bus to Xiding (15RMB, 1.5 hours). It’s possible either to stay in Xiding (there’s a guesthouse behind the post office) or to get off at the big budhha and stuppa on the hill to the left of the road, about 40 minutes walk back from Xiding. If you stay in Xiding you will need to walk back on the road you came with.
To the left of the steps climbing to the stuppa ther is a dirt road going down, take it and keep going down untill you reach Longpang, about 30 minutes. In Longpang the trail becomes a concrete road, and winds down and south. Where the concrete road turns a sharp right there is a small shop and a trail in to the forest infront of it. Take it. The trail is tricky, but it doesn’t matter which way you go, as long as you go down to the river below Longpang. On the other side of the river make your way up on the ridge, a few trails lead the same way, and will take you to Zhanglang.climbing about 2 hours. This is a small village with a shop and a nice monastery, both on the road above the houses. From the monastery a trail leads down (going left if you’re coming from the village), this trail takes you to a small hill with some more houses on it, take the trail that circles it from the left. About 10 minutes away from the monastery you’ll reach a big tree with trails on both sides. Take the left. This trail takes you into the forest, by two small resting sheds, one with a small well (with an elephant statue). About 30 minutes from the tree you reach a dirt road, take a left. The roads winds and winds and takes you to a stone bridge over a wide stream. A nice place to wash. On the other side of the river there’s a resting shed where you can either climb up with the dirt road or the walking trail. The walking trail is nice a secluded. Both roads go to Manwa. In Manwa you can stay with a local family just by the shop. They charge 50RMB so haggle befor you come in. In order to go from Manwa to Manmai no on the dirt road go south-east from the village square (the small shop) and where the trail turns left go straight (dirt path) between the houses. After about 10 mi utes you take a right on a walking trail that climbs up. 20 minutes of walking will take you to an opening in the woods with a small pagoda and stuppa. At the small resting hut take a left and an immidiate right. 30 minutes of climbing and you’ll reach a dirt road, take a left for another 30 minutes. This is a T junction at the edge of Bada village. Taking a right will get you into the village, where there are a few shops and a small tea factory. Takin left is a beautiful road paved with stones, that goes through tea-tree terraces. After about one hour you reach a small resting shed on a junction with a trail to the right. Take that right. Another one hour’s walk and you reach Manmai. Here you can ask around at a few houses for accomodation. There’s a small shop in the center. From the center take the stairs climbing between the water pipe and the small shop with the sign that says ‘co-op’. Climb up to the dirt road and take a right. 35 minutes walking and you reach a second wooden hut and a water pipe. Take the dirt path on the hut’s left, after about 200 meters take a right to a smaller path. After 10 minutes the dirt road ends and you continue on a walking trail. This trail is ellusive, but it’s there. It goes down and down for about 40 minutes, and than you reach a running stream. The path goes on for another 40 monies untill you reach a small hut. 30 meters to the left there’s a broken bridge. On the other side of the bridg there is a trail climbing up and right. The trail goes through a few wood mills, stick to it. After about 90 minutes you reach dirt road, take a left (south east). 20 minutes and you’ll reach Manxi. From here 3 hours on the dirt road and you’ll be in Daluo. There’s a bus from here to Jinghong at 14:00. At least there was when we were there.

Tips: the best way to know the way is ask. Have the names of the places written down, preferably in Chinese. Ask everyone you meet.
Bring mosquito repellent.
Bring some toys to give to your hosts children.
Bring a hat.
Enjoy

For those of you who don’t know who Yossarain is, he’s the main character of the next book you’ll be reading, Catch 22. Enjoy.

This was taken on the pass of Ala-Kul, in the Karakol trek (don’t remember- reminder). anyways, me and Nadav met a group of Polish travelers, who decided to go back down the mountain, because they didn’t want to take the chances with the steep decent.

Well, I can’t say they were afraid for nothing. it was as scary as hell (though not as hot). at the end of a long discussion, we decided to give it a go, I’ll go down, and we’ll see what happens. as if Nadav coul’ve done anything if I was injured.

Needless to say, crossing the pass meant we got to end the trek at a fabulous hot spring, and not pay the park entrance fee.. 2 things any Israeli traveler would risk his life for.

Mummy,I’m sorry you had to see this, it wasn’t as dangerous as it looks. but it was much more fun than it does. And yeah, that’s what happens when you don’t have a responsible adult around.

We even went rock climbing in the near by Tung Lung Island (referred to as Tung Lung Chau, Chau being island in Cantonese), it’s just a 30HKD ride away from the island (the ferry pier is near Sai Wan Ho station, and operates at weekends only, difficult hours, check with a local).

Horse racing in Happy valley was another first timer for me, a 10HKD entrance fee gets you into a gigantic stadium, filled with what could only be described as a great example of Hong-Kong’s wonderful diversity, blonds and black-haired, Westerners and locals, McDonald’s and roasted duck, and all are gambling, laughing, having good time.

The Wetland park, in Tin Shui Wan (506 light train from the MTR) is a great place to dedeicate a few hours for, at the season (winter, mostly). the park is built very well, and very ‘user-friendly’. you can see a big variety of birds, and the telescopes in the watching huts are awesome. we enjoyed it very much.

I really think Hong-Kong has tons of things to offer, from crazy dishes, to gorgeous sceneries, and all easily accessed thanks to the public transport and availability of English information. hell, it makes me wonder about the British mandat in Israel… Naaah, just kidding.

We stayed at the beach for an extra day, enjoying our time in the sun, which we missed at the previous trek. the beach sand makes beautiful patterns, and different (strange) animals dwell in it. the next day we made our long way to Sunset Peak, a 869 meters high peak, overlooking the ocean, from which the sunset gets differnt angles, the Giant Budha of Ngong-Ping is seen, and Hong-Kong airport, one of the busiest of the world gives a great show. we spent the night outside one of the huts of the adjacent village, and the next day made our way to Ngong-Ping, where one of the biggest Budha statues in the world stands tall. it is extremely big, and extremely touristy, a very different atmosphere after a short, lonely, trek. from Ngong-Ping we made our way down to Tung-Chung, and took the MTR back to Hong-Kong island. another fabulous trek, Hong-Kong style trek.

Or: Dali- Shuang-Lang  -  Sha-Ping  -  Shaxi  -  Er-Yuan  -  Dali

Getting utterly bored of Dali’s old city, after spending 6 nights there as Dor was sick, we decided to make a change. Dali itself, the old city that is, is a big, extremely touristic (though Chinese more than foreign tourists), walled shopping area. but, on the very good other hand - it’s warm(er), full of great food, and cheap, even in Chinese standarts. we stayed at the Jade-Emu guesthouse, which is probably the best value guesthouse i’ve seen (read more).

From Dali we caught a bus straight to Shuang-Lang, 10RMB, about an hour, that circles the North side of the lake (you can catch it on the road outside the East gate, if you know what to look for). Shuang-Lang itself is a small, tight and narrow fishermen village, on the shore, under the mountain side. it has great views of Er-Hai lake (Ear-Shaped lake), and the guesthouse (read more) exploits it very well. to spend our afternoon we walked to the next village to the South through fields and the shore-line. Shuang-Lang has no restaurants, so we dined with the guesthouse staff. it was, surprisingly, a great authentic Chinese dinner, with all sorts of dishes, great (15RMB).

Next morning we packed our things and started walking along the lake to the North, enjoying the first opportunty to jump into the water. we just kept going through fields and villages, the lake on our left until we reached Sha-Ping’s road junction where we caught a bus to Jiangchuan (18RMB, 1.5 hours), from there we caught a bus to Shaxi (30 minutes, 8RMB) and arrived at around 8PM. the next day we walked around Shaxi, which has nice cobbled streets, and a nice bridge over the river. the town itself is rather nice and laid back. one very surprising thing happened to us at night we were walking around and wound up into am unbelivably big crowd of school pupils, way more than Shaxi can really contain. a mystery indeed.

The next day was a Friday, so we went to see the local market (in Shaxi, every Friday), which draws people, animals and merchandise from all sorrounding villages. after that we packed up and started walking (using a Soviet 1970’s map) towards Er-Yuan. the Shaxi area is a wide valley sorrounded by beautiful mountains, with endless hiking and treking opportunities. we chose to cross the ridge over to the East valley, from which we planned to catch a bus back to Dali.

The trek took 3 days (2 nights in the tent), including 2 meals we were invited to by friendly Chinese villagers living in the mountains. the second meal started, as always, with an invitation to see the guy’s house. soon we were faced with a big meal, a group of 10 kids, a group-photo session and warm invitations to stay for the night (12:00AM). on the way down from that tiny farm we were accompanied by a host of kids, going to school (?).

Missing the last bus from Er-Yuan to Dali, we spent the night in the terraces over the old part of the city. to celebrate the end of our short trek we made ourselves an omlet, and ate some Oreos with peanut butter! the next morning we sat on the terrace, drank hot coco and celebrated one of the best mornings of the trip.

 Since my camera was stolen about 2 weeks ago, all pictures in this post are taken by Dor Hajbi, the guy I’m traveling with.

Harmony Gusethouse, from the main square in the old city turn left and an immidiate right (coming from the new city), 20RMB per night, 1 slow computer, hot showers, service OK.

N’s Kitchen, old city, 30RMB per bed, great showers, great computer, good service. AC in room.

Deqin: Tibetan Deqin Hotel, 20RMB per person, nice and clean. from the bus station turn left, it’s at your right, 100m away.

Yami: just ask around, it’s the only building that looks remotely like a guesthouse, prices vary.

Dali: Jade Emu Guesthouse: outside the old town, but 5 minutse away, exit to the West through Renmin Lu, cross the street and turn at the first right you can. has a small sign, it’s on your left. great rooms, 35RMB for dorm, pool table, internet, DVD, GREAT service, and great showers.

Shuang-Lang: Sea & Sky Lodge, the only place in town, follow the signs and bring a business card along. 20RMB for dorm, great view, cold shower, internet and DVD available, food available.

Shaxi: just look around the main cobbled street offer a bunch.

We took yet another bus to Deqin, arriving there for the 3rd time, and from there, the following morning a bus to Ce-Chong

(8:00AM, 28RMB, 3.5 hou rs). the bus

takes you along the Mekong river, which makes beautiful curves and U turns all the way. it is possible to get off at Yami (25RMB), a village just before Ce-Chong, where the bus usually stops for lunch. and where we ate a really good Pinchye-Chao-Dan (fried tomatoes and eggs you eat with rice).we got off at Ce-Chong and started the trek. our aim was to cross the mountain range to the West, and reach Nujiang valley, the border with Tibet and Myanmar by foot over 2 nights. thinking to skip a long walk on the dirt-road leading from Ce-Chong to Rini village under the valley that leads to the pass, we climbed the hill between us and the valley. our short-cut soon became a long-cut, and we spent the night on the hill, being unable to climb into the valley to the West.

The next day we found

a foot trail leading down the hill and along a water canal that led all the way into the valley, and the trail we were looking for, the trail that would take us up to the pass. we spent the n

ight at a beautiful spot along the river, having a nice little waterfall singing us a lullaby. the next day we continued our climb, and to our surprise, after climbing through thick bush we arrived at a 4×4 jeep trail. 5 minutes later we discovered the answer as to why it was there. a mine was being dug into the mountain, the road serving

the workers. don’t expect a gigantic operation there, it’s not more than 30 people with some tractors. the 4×4 trail ended at that point, leaving us with the thick bush again. one important thing though, the water down the stream from the mine could, and probably would be polluted by it. another 3 hours climb brought us to a great opening of the forest, that could only be described as a magnificent open valley, with snow-topped mountains all around it. we found a nice abandoned cabin to spend the night in.

The next day was expected to be THE day, as we were supposed to cross the high pass into Nujiang valley. the trail took us along a series of beautiful half-frozen waterfalls and up into a great basin full of snow. a real treat after such a long climb. unfortunately, the snow was very very deep, more than waist-deep at parts, and the pass itself seemed to be impassable. in a moment of

wisdom we decided to give up our attempts on the pass and get down. that night we spent at the same cabin, which we referred to as home in the blistering cold. sometimes

troubles follow each other, and an unfortunate accident occurred that night - boiling water spilled on Segev’s foot, leaving a very nasty burn.

The next, and last day of the trek was a climb down, this time using the dirt mine’s road all the way back to the village. we climbed down in one day what took 2 to

climb up. down in the village (called Rini on GoogleEarth, but not by locals) we took the road that leads down to a bridge and back to Yami, on the main road to Deqin or Weixi. our plan was to take a bus from Yami to Weixi, which is a village on the road that connects Nujiang, the Mekong and Dali. we asked so many different people about that road, until we came to the sad sad conclusion that the road was blocked, as some said, and it was impassable. this meant that we had to go back North to Deqin, and from there to Zhongdian (Shangri-La), for the 4th time (we travelled that road back and forth, first for the trek to Yubeng and next for this one). but at least we earned a great ending for the trek, we went back to the restaurant where we ate when stopped

with the bus, and had a 3 course meal, beer, coffee and cookies and what not. a truly great way to end a trek.

Another return to

Zhongdian (Shangri-La) also meant another go at our favourite restaurant in town, a great Chao-Mian (fried noodles). directions? from the old town walk to the road that marks the edge of it, and then down. you’ll reach a small junction with a Youth Hostel on the North-West side. cross to the North East, it’s the first one on your left as you walk away from the junction. 6RMB and your in heaven. look for the photo on the wall with us and the owners.

A few notes:

1. The Soviet maps you might find on the Internet are a bit off. the road from Deqin to Yami is high on the ridge and not low by the river as described. also, the trail leading up from the Rini village to the pass is on the North side of the river, not the South.

2. The best way I can think of doing this trek is to take a bus to Yami, cross the bridge and up from Rini into the valley. good luck.

3. This pass is a difficult one, and should not be taken lightly. the trail is beautiful, also the road, and more than worth the trip even if you don’t cross to Nujiang.

4. Have a good map, and good navigation skills, it’s a tough road, with very few locals to show you your way.