Today we leave Sichuan and enter Yunnan province on our Shangri
-la bound bus which leaves Daocheng bus station at 6am and we have to board at 5.30am, so it's a viciously early wake up and get ready. We depart still in the dead of the night and get to watch the su
nrise over the mountains and then some spectacular natural highlights, including a sea of clouds settled in a valley beneath the road and Yunanese mountains that look like they are right out of some sort of National Geographic film. The driver makes s
tops at some picturesque sights and some that just seem plain pointless, but all in all it is a fantastic journey that racks up a very healthy 12 hours sitting on small public bus. Luckily I have my mp3 player and headphones to keep me entertained with the latest downloaded dance albums and my mandarin lessons, Michel however informs me that he is starting to go mad from the same 3 Tibetian danc
e songs, which have been on repeat for about 8 hours. I listen for about 30 mins and sure enough he is right, the same three songs are on a pulsating repeat... back to Hed Kandi it is.We pull into Shangri-la at about 6pm and hunt out our various residences. I have booked a room in a hostel in the Old town of Shangri-la, while Alan, Michel and Ilya are going to where Alan's girlfriend is staying in a hotel in the new town. It's more or less the same as my place has lots of character, is an old building and is in a very interesting part of town, but I share with 3 other people; on the other hand they have a modern en suite hotel room which has two beds, so they just pair up. Comfort vs. location and character, always go with the location and character.
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