Our weather luck seemed to be continuing on a similar path as in the past - every time we plan a big sight day the rain feels heavy and decides to come on down. We chilled out in the hostel grounds and on the computer all the while contemplating what to do, eventually the rain began to ease and by time we had posted the blog for day 35 the sky was dry!
We headed out to one of the many 'Bike for Rent' stores (a new full suspension mountain bike cost 500 yuan - NZ $100!) and got some bikes for the whole day for next to nothing, asked a few directions, and began cycling around Lake Erhai (Erhai Hu) - 'Ear Shaped Lake' in the general direction of Xizhou - we say general direction because we had no map and only our Chinise skills to get us there and back. We felt confident of a sucessfully navagited trip because it seems that if you are prepared to ask then the world is preapered to give.
The scenery began in spectacular fashion and never let up, Erhai Hu is at 1973m above sea level and is the 7th biggest fresh water lake in China. Surrounded by the Cang Shan the 4000m 'Jade Green Mountains', which are dotted with temples, most of the time we didn't know where to look! We passed the Three Pagodas - among the oldest standing structures in South China. We travelled along the secondary highway to avoid a large proportion of trafic, and despite the road being narrow and bumpy we were constantly passed by tourist buses for the entire trip. The 20km we traveled seemed to go on forever but we eventually made it to Xizhou which turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable and quaint village not far from the lake.
We rolled past the many street stalls trying to look but also needing to keep an eye on the road. We eventually found that the many side streets we had taken had led us onto a narrow path leading into farms - unfortunately the path we chose suddenly turned into a stream! Not to worry, this break in the road gave us time to relax and gaze at the many birds flying around the rice paddies and the tiny eel-like fish in the irrigation streams. 
Time to roll on - we ended up in the right direction, soon finding ourseves in the small village of Shacun that we were aiming for. 
Shacun is similar to Xizhou but with even smaller alleys to navigate our way through in search of the lake. Along the way Adam constantly noticed the wild Mary-Jane growing amongst the corn and rice fields. Sloshing our way through ankle high mud we found the lake and the many fishing boats that work a living from Erhai Hu and its wildlife.
Continuing along the mud path we ended up right on the penninsula with the lake literally surrounding us and enjoyed the views and a well desereve rest. 
Heading back to home would seem like an easy task - just re-trace your tracks right? Well, ... not by Adam's book, leading the adlibers down new tracks where he eventually managed to get us back onto the main road to continue biking down our bumpy road with the buses for company all the way home to the bike store in Anicent Dail City. Liv almost collapsed as she handed over the dirty bike to the owner and walked up the road to bed - the nearly 6 hours of riding had taken a big toll on her. Adam however needed more pain and set off down hill in search of another village (Caicun) on the lake edge closer to Dali. After making it to a wharf swarming with Chinese tourrists and requiring a fee to enter he adlibed it down the dirt alleyways where he found children swimming and playing in the relatively clean waters. Resting and watching the fishermen bring in their nets made him realise how tired he was and so he headed UPHILL back to town.
Finding Liv overly hungry we headed out to find dinner and after walking around many blocks we nearly made it back to the hostel before finding the perfect place to fill our empty bellies. Completely satisfied we headed to our hostel to rest our weary bodies, hopefully they are able to continue the adlibing tomorrow!Adlibing the magnificant Erhai Hu by wheel.
1 comment:
ATTENTION ADLIBERS:
YOU GUYS ROCK ..
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