Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Eat Them Up, Yum
Dali, Yunnan, China
May 20, 2009
We were up at 7:15 and my hair dryer was delivered at 7:30 as promised. I have not used one in a while, but with the cooler weather and my cold I do not want to walk around all day with damp hair.
Our breakfast was late and without fruit, but the eggs (and splash of lime that we purchased from the market yesterday, 3 for 2 yuan) and toast were very good again. I had some jam and peanut butter on my toast today. Toe Toe (the puppy at the hotel) had breakfast with us too. Bill donated some eggs to him!
The car arrived around 8:40 and took us to the tour office near the South Gate. We waited there for 40 minutes and then were loaded into a minivan with a bunch of other people. The pier on Er Hai Lake (Er means human ear and Hai means sea) was not far away and it was not too long before we boarded the boat. We received a complimentary heart on a string (not sure what the significance is). We did have to wait for other buses and people to arrive though, but we had good seats at the back of the boat. I was able to put my feet up on the railing.
After we got going we went down to get our free tea. Included with the tea was a traditional show put on by young dancers. We missed the first part, but saw the last 2/3's. We were given 2 out of 3 courses of tea. One was dark and milky with coconut. The other was clear and had ginger in it. We were given small samples of all three at the end.
Here is the deal about the Three Course of Tea: 1) Bitter tea - to quench your thirst, 2) Sweet tea - walnut, butter fan, sugar, honey and ginger - an energizer, and 3) After-flavour tea - to cleanse the mouth.
Our first stop was at a tiny island with a temple and people selling tiny fried prawns and fish and oysters on sticks. We walked around and in the temple. On the first floor there was a laughing Buddha, on the second floor it looked like a female deity. We were chased out by an old guy when we did not make a donation.
Outside the temple there are some flowering cactus and the food stalls and nothing else. So, we were all in and out in 15 minutes, no problem. Most people bought a seafood snack, but we did not. I had some almonds and peanuts from our bag instead.
We stopped at a large island at 11:40 for 50 minutes. There was a huge white Buddhist sculpture that can be seen from the boat on this island. Bill and I walked around the island in the opposite direction of the crowds. At one point two guys stopped us and wanted their pictures taken with us. I guess we are celebrities (we only saw one other white guy on the boat).
At the back of the island at god culture square there was a sculpture of Duan Zongbang surrounded by Northern Vajra (Buddhist god of war/wealth/peace) and Maharaga (guardian deity). There was also a sculptures of a dragon and chicken too?? This is when someone who could speak some English would be handy.
There is also an archway with some native looking people and some people with heads of a ram, horse, cat, pig and bull. Looks Egyptian influenced...
Along the stairway there was a sculpture with an explanation that said "Duan Chicheng sacrificed to slaughter boa Zhang Xiaosan extinguished locusts to protect the farm".
We walked back toward the part of the island where out boat is. There was a giant white Buddha with a rustic orange coloured stone sculpture wall behind it.
We were back on the boat within 50 minutes and we arrived at the mainland again around 1:00.
We bought some plums for 3 yuan and walked up to the nearby hostel. We had lunch in the courtyard. Bill was able to pick his fish out of an old boat and I ordered beef and veggies (turned out to be bitter melon). We were served some tea and we had some Dali Beer too. The 4 fish arrived in a large pot with a broth, galangal and soft tofu (which is really hard to eat with chopsticks). It took a while to debone, de-head and de-tail the fish, but it was worth the effort.
After lunch the young (22 years old) owner/designer showed us around. The dining and common areas are really nice. He has used a lot of boats to make tables, chairs, stairs,... He has a lot of millstones around too. He has made good use of shingles too. The rooms are beautiful and have lovely stone sinks (drinking wells) and wood from a boat in the shower. There are lots of nice handicrafts and antiques in the rooms and around the property. The doors are very nice too. I would be able to stay in them for sure. The boat rooms are very reasonable 130 yuan ($30) and are really neat. They are dry-docked fishing boats with your own bathroom, sitting area and bedroom. It is a hostel international place and the address is: www.dltyrj.com and email is: yhatyrj@yahoo.cn if you are in the area, go check it out.
We headed toward town trying to find a minibus back to town. It is supposed to be 4 yuan per person. We came to a crossroads and it did not seem obvious to us where to go. We saw tour buses, tuk tuks, horse and carts and taxis, but nothing that looked like public transit back to Old Dali. We started walking further into town and a taxi driver was willing to take us back for 20 yuan. Bill bargained him down to 15 yuan and we were on our way back to town.
We passed by Xizhou (She too), where I think they sell the batik fabric, but we did not stop. There are lots of farmers and fields along the way. We saw lots of rice and corn and perhaps potatoes?
Our driver let us off in the Old Dali and we used the internet at a spot on Bo Ai Street near Renming for an hour.
We started our walking tour of the Old Town and went North. We could not find the library though. Our map makes a better souvenir than anything. It does not really have things in the right spot and is not to scale.
We did get a good picture of the North Gate and East Gate (Er Hai). We were able to check out a Christian Church, but again, could not find the Catholic Church.
Bill had his shoes shined by an old guy for 2 yuan. The guy really wanted to fix Bill's shoes, but he did not go for the up sell.
We walked through Yang's Garden. There are lots of places to sit, some ponds and lots of varieties of trees. There were some old people playing cards and a few young couples canoodling.
Bill and I had to succumb and used the public toilets (troughs). While in the men's Bill swallowed a mosquito. That can't be good!
Bill has been enjoying looking at the marble vases and dishes. They are very reasonably priced, but are so heavy and would be difficult to get home...
I picked up some veggie dumplings with a green veggie, carrots and tofu for 3 yuan on Ye Yu Street. They were really yummy and a nice light snack. As I was walking and eating there were many teenaged school kids in the "sailor" uniforms walking home from school.
We were not allowed to go near something that looked like a military training academy...
We went back to the hotel and Bill went up to the room to relax. I decided to use the internet and do some surfing and emailing. I am starting to think of June 11th and beyond... Ugh!
It was still light out when I went up to the room at 7:30. Yeah!
We headed back into the Old Town and walked up Riverview aka Red Dragon Street. We found a nice spot with short director chairs and a small table with an umbrella beside the canal. We were able to enjoy the sounds of the babbling water while sipping on our Dali - Wind Flower Snow and Moon Beer (with ice). We would have had dinner at this cafe, but they only served snacks. Beside us a couple of guys were jamming on the bongo drums. It was pretty good.
We moved to Phoenix Bar Coffee on Renming (near Bad Monkey - good name!). We shared a beef sandwich (light on the beef) and fries. Bill had Tsing Tao Beer (Ting Dow) and I had a vodka and lime juice martini that was good. They had a bailey's drink with nutmeg on the menu that sounded good too. Our meal and drinks came to 70 yuan.
I could not resist my sweet tooth, so we went to Sweet Tooth again. Bill and I shared another chocolate chip cookie and I took a piece of oreo cheesecake to go. The cookie was superb again!
We sat at an internet cafe for an hour, until we could no longer take the smoking. I miss smoke-free places!!
We went back to the hotel after 11 and I started packing and shared my cheesecake with Bill. It was really good too!
We had no rain today!!
PS - CCTV is very boring and very repetitive. Too bad it is the only English channel...