My dad seems to have forgotten that he is a lot more athletically inclined than I am, because he somehow convinced me that we should rent bikes from the hostel and head out for a five hour ride around the lake and through local villages in Dali today -- I think the distance may originally have been left open-ended, which may explain my agreeing...
The scenery was absolutely beautiful and it was nice to see some of rural China (including pastoral scenery, as a sign helpfully pointed out) but I was more than ready for a nap when we got back. We had been told that there would be many restaurants along the way as well, but we were glad we had had breakfast before setting off because we didn't see a single one.
On the other hand, I do have to give my Dad credit for not getting us completely lost as we rode through tiny windy alleyways along the way. I'm not sure I would have made it back alone!
In any case, we went back to the same restaurant as last night for lunch and had a meat, bok choy and onion dish as well as a carrot, sweet pea and what I thought might be lotus root but was more likely taro or bitter melon one. After our meal, I headed back to the hostel for a nap while my dad went out for a stroll. Apparently Chinese weather and sun is quite different from Canadian conditions, because we both realized that we were quite badly burnt -- In November!
We spent a while doing some research about Tiger Leaping Gorge this evening and then went for a walk, stopping for some meat sticks for dinner.
We played another game of chess tonight and are heading to bed early so we can catch the bus to Lijiang tomorrow morning. I can't believe it's our last stop before Beijing!
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