I was awake at 6 and got up a bit later as I couldn't sleep. I'd used the bed warmer and had left it on all night but somehow I still forgot to switch it off which I remembered after I had gone out which I did at 7.30. I tried to get to the lone pagoda but there were no roads going there so maybe it was too early and they opened up a door and route later, so I gave up and went to the city wall and gate and then found stairs to climb up on the wall where there was a building above the gate but it was shut probably as it was too early still. I went back down as you couldn't walk all the way round on the wall and went to the museum where the front gate was open but the buildings inside the complex were closed so I left and opposite was the park where the gate was still shut. I found a stream in the town and followed it to the Wu temple which was a bit different to other temples and had 2 levels. I found a market and bought some bananas and then went to a church which I really liked as it was a Chinese building used by Catholics and had Chinese writing like their temples do. I tried to go a short route but found a government HR building and a dead end so I went back and went to the Supermarket where I got biscuits, yogurt & some cream cake and as it cost 6.80 I got change for the bus. I was trying to get to every place bookmarked in town and there were quite a few and I went to the cultural palace which I'd seen the day before but there was not much to see so I went back to the museum which was open now and had a few exhibitions including a good one on burial ceremonies in the region as they'd buried people with clay figures until much later than other regions. I headed south from there and found the Dali art factory with a climbing wall, but the art centre was closed for some reason and I carried on to the lake which was crap and I got my shoe muddy there. I walked round the lake and avoided the mud from construction work and climbed up onto a ridge which took me to the east gate and another main street through the city there was a basic temple and then another temple which was closed and I wanted a toilet which I only found because I stopped for traffic in a narrow street and there was one right next to me. I went to another church which was more normal looking for a church and a bit small and I found a suitcase shop, but prices and sizes were not right. It was still morning but I went to another supermarket and got some tofu, vermicelli and cheap fruit for lunch before heading on. I went past a meat market to the north gate where I climbed up on the wall and went inside and up the building on top of the gate for a view of the town. After that I left the old town and went across the main road to a temple but it was a bit crap, which is the problem with going off bookmarks rather than a guide book, still the places linked up and I walked to the 3 pagoda temple which was definitely an attraction and I had to go to front where the entrance was. Entry tickets were 121 yuan which is more than I wanted to pay so I got a picture in the entrance area and some more photos outside and left. t was lunchtime now so I ate a bit and walked up the road where I thought the buses would be but there were no buses. After a bit of a walk I saw a bus which went past me and I went to where it had stopped and waited for the next bus whcih stopped before where I was so I had to run back to get on board. I gave my feet some reprieve by taking my shoes off and ate some of my food all mixed up in a tub - bean sprouts, peanuts, tofu and vermicelli, it was ok and added flavours to the plain vermicelli. The bus went for a bit then did a u-turn so I got off and walked across and east to another main road where I would hopefully have better luck with the buses and after 5 minutes a bus came which went to a bus station kind of where I wanted to go. I walked to a temple by lake which was small and had gnats there. Nearby was a nice view of the lake but there was construction work so I couldn't walk far along the shore and I went inland to a Ming bridge from 1756 which went over a stream or small river. I crossed the bridge and continued to head north past a market where there was nothing visible except exercise machines and the next temple was closed. I tried to head along the lake front but there was more construction work so I went inland and two temples bookmarked were not there. it was quite a walk to the next place so I listened to music and ate some food and walked to a temple by the lake which was a small pagoda type but there was a married couple there asking for 10 yuan to see this tiny place so I left. Next was another 2 temples, the first mostly closed and the 2nd was ok. It was getting later than I had planned for where I was and I found a folk art perform centre someone had bookmarked as a temple so I think some people just see an interesting building and think its a temple. I walked to the lake end point area with a park and there were lots of people there and stalls as well but it was free. I went all the way to the end and had a sit down, ate some food and gave my feet another rest as my shoes were a problem and it started raining a bit. The end of the lake was marshy but ok and I took a selfie there before heading back and my feet were hurting despite the rests. It stopped raining and I headed West inland and North and came to some roadworks which I went round and they were constructing an arch. Further on there was a pavilion on a lake but it was fenced in so I couldn't get close but it did look nice. I went through some fields and missed a shorter route which was diagonal as it wasn't on my map. There was another temple and then some roadworks and the road was blocked and I had to squeeze through the fence rather than go back and around. I was in an old area with touristy things and a toilet with no water. I looked at Yan's compound but it was 30 yuan and there was another place which did Tea and performances and was called Dai ethnic place and the prices were a whopping 95 yuan or otherwise 20. Next there was a crap temple marked on the map and then an ok temple which was not on the map but I just passed it and had a look. I was heading back to the main road and there was a lake with bridges which was pretty and then I got to the road and managed to get a bus which wasn't a local one and cost a bit more - 7 yuan to Dali. He wanted me to get off at the old town tourist spot but I stayed on to the bus station where I looked at the map and decided to walk rather than take another bus. I saw a supermarket and had a look but they had no hand sanitiser and I bought some melon juice. I crossed the big bridge over the river which was a good design and was attractive and bought 2 sausages from a street vendor. the view from the bridge was quite good although it was starting to get dark and when I was across the park entrance was closed. I headed along the Lake for a bit and went onto a bridge viewing area which had a pavilion as well and was like a maze on water before heading back to land where there was a tunnel which may go under the park. I asked the mad and there was an entrance fee so I skipped it and found some stairs up to the top and went around some of the park and then back down on the south side with some good views including a ball shaped building which I liked. I went to the train station and bought a ticket to Lijiang for the next day and then started heading back to try to find where my number 4 bus went and I saw a supermarket and went in buying biscuits, carrot cake and a pot noodle. I saw a bus stop and bus 5 came along so I jumped on through the middle doors and paid my 2 yuan fee and it went to a bus station nearby whcih didn't help. I didn't have much yuan left but I got bus 8 which headed in the right direction but I lost track and got off further than I wanted so I walked back through the old city along a road I'd not been down (or up as the town does slope) and I finished off the biscuits. I looked for hand sanitiser in a couple of places with no luck but I did buy a soap dish for 3.5 yuan. I went into the supermarket I'd first gone to in Dali and upstairs was another floor I'd not seen. Again they didn't have hand gel but they did have wet wipes so I got those and some more change to use on buses. I went back to the hostel, caught up on Facebook and gmail some more before going to sleep despite a guy snoring in the room.
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