More pretty water features -
System of triple-wells provide efficient use of water in washing and cleaning -
We celebrated Keir's birthday with a cake and dinner -
PETER'S LETTER (2)\
Dear and patient readers,
Still in the beautiful living theme park that is Lijiang. The window is open n the cafe tonight and the locals are just as noisy and the tourists just as numerous. One delightful addition I only discovered last evening is that the locals do this real courtship dance in the main square just 20 metres away- a kinda conga line lead by a guy playing a bamboo flute. They vary the dance and they are quite intricate in the steps so preclude the foreigners who are turpischorically- challenged from joining in. The Naxi certainly enjoy themselves anyway so I guess it works for them. Certainly adds lots of colour and movement.
The others are having their usual evening coffee after we had a great birthday celebration for Keir. Our guide organized a western-style birthday cake iced beautifully with frangipani and the usual greeting and we even had candles!! Thankfully not 76 of them otherwise the wooden beams might have caught fire and that could have been Pudding Lane all over again! Imagine the smell of stir-fry!! Keir was tickled pink about the cake as it was organized with the help of Kin Mun’s Mandarin facility whilst we were out tourist-ing today. Yet another day of delightful sights- just a village today after a yesterday's village viewing and a trip up a mountain to a monastery. Keir used his collapsible stick to good effect. The great food and company continues though we are learning to control the quantity a little- only noodles tonight last night after a had a nine dish lunch!! Today’s lunch was just as many courses so the birthday bash was much more modest and came to the princely sum of $15 for the six of us. Sigh, don’t know how we’re going to last with these drains on the funds!!
Bought a couple of bits of textiles these last two days- also very good prices and of course they are things that we couldn’t possibly live without. Yeah! Kay decided that they needed a silk doona so come back with one weighing a kilo and costing about $60- a great deal she tells us and there was the satisfaction of a good barter. I trust that this is the last of the purchases as there is very little room in the case unless we drink the remainder of the scotch!
We’re on the road again tomorrow, this time by bus with our own driver up to Tiger Leaping Gorge which we are told is open again after recent landslides. Weather should continue to be brilliant and maybe even a couple of degrees warmer as the gorge is a touch lower than our 2,500m. I managed to climb the nearby hill for a panoramic view of the city late this afternoon and despite the panting with poor condition and altitude, I managed better than expected and it bodes good for th higher bits. They sell Oxygen in cans that resemble those long hairspray aerosols so if it comes to that then we can have those on hand.
Enough of this trifling stuff. Hope that all is well with all of you- now that is a big ask for the Great Pumpkin but I’ll spin a prayer wheel for you when next I visit a monastery. See can’t say that I don’t try to be good!!
Ciao for now,
P.
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