I woke up early around 5.40 and it was cold but the extra blanket was enough and I slept a bit more before getting up at 6.50. The other guy was awake and turned his light on. I went downstairs to use the toilet and then back to the room to use the shower. I packed the food I wanted for the day and had some cake and mangoes for breakfast. I left a bit later than planned close to 7.40 and maps told me it would be 30 minutes to Mao Tse Tung's statue where the buses went from. I wanted to be there at 8am as the buses might leave then so I ran done of the way and got there at 7.55. It turns out there were several minibuses and they don't leave until they are full up. The statue had the sun behind so didn't photograph well but on the other side of the road was a nice looking conference centre. My car had 4 seats to fill so I had to wait for 3 people. 2 girls from Beijing turned up who spoke some English and then they tried to get me in the back and squeeze 2 people in but they didn't want to and there was a minibus so I said maybe we should go in that as it would be quicker to leave. Then we were going to leave with just 3 people but they found a woman who got in and we left. We drove for a bit and wound down the window for a photo of the mountain then came to a checkpoint where we had to buy national park tickets for 130 so I did and then we drove a little bit further and stopped. We were a long way from tiger leaping gorge on the wrong side of the mountain. There was an information centre so I went there and the man told me there was a cable car up the mountain for 155 yuan or a cable car to spruce valley for 55. The bus to either cost 20 yuan and there was a bus further to another place for 50 yuan. I had a little look around the building and then went to walk to the pools where there was a cable car to spruce valley. I got a bit along and there were security people who said I couldn't go that way I needed to take the bus. I went back and tried to walk to the other cable car and security spotted me after I'd gone past and shouted at me but I kept walking. After a few minutes a car drove up and 3 nen and a woman got out none of whom spoke English but they used their phone to translate. Apparently even though it was spring it was fire season so walking was not allowed and I must take the bus. I said I wanted a refund on my entry and they ushered me into the car. We drove towards the cable car but then looped round as there was a one way system and we went back but to the main centre I'd not seen before and we walked past a post office and a museum. At the information desk the woman spoke English but there was no refund and no walking so if I didn't pay for the bus I could only walk around this area. I went to the post office to send the letter with the locker keys back to Ease hostel but the woman there said they only post postcards so I left and went to the museum of glaciers which was fairly good. Apparently China (including Tibet) has the most mountain glaciers of any Country and I also found out that most of China would be sea if it wasn't for India crashing into Asia and lifting up the land. They also had a bit on glaciers around the world like Antartica (90% of world glaciers), the fox glacier in NZ which is receding the most and Puerto Moreno in Argentina one of a few which is growing. I left and thought about sneaking through the golf course or forest to the site but I decided to buy the bus ticket and went to the blue pools. The bus went right past the pools which looked nice, you could see the mountains and there was a yak on the pool but the bus kept going and went to the cable car for spruce grove. A few people stayed on so I did as well and the bus did go back to the pools passing some people walking along the road not that security seemed to care. I got off at the pools and headed south away from the best shot but there were several lakes and with the blue lake, white and black mountains and blue water of the lake it was hard to take a bad picture. Most of the Chinese were getting pictures of each other and one guy was swimming who's sounds told me the water was cold, glacier like perhaps. I crossed a lake and walked along the other side which had notice boards and looked like it was once a walkway but was now restricted. At the end there was a sign saying not to go further so I headed back and took a short video of me skimming a stone. There were some waterfalls and the stepped falls which are probably the most famous and I did get to see a couple pay to get on the yaks. I walked all the way to the end and there was bunting to perhaps say that was the end. I waited for a buggy car to go past and then I headed in that direction. There was a boardwalk and occasional notice boards but it looked like this area was no longer used. It went along the river bed which was dry, so the water from the lakes must have come from somewhere else. There was a fallen tree I had to climb over and I saw some birds that looked nice but they were afraid of me. It was nice walking through the woods I had got to walk after all. I saw an animal up ahead but it was too fast and far away to make out clearly it was bigger than a fox but small for a deer and it didn't move the same way. I got to the end of the path which was a 2 storey building no longer used. A bit beyond was the joining of 3 gorges at the river. I had a look and then headed back and took a different route after a little bit.
I came to a road and a sign pointed to a legendary rock further away so I went to have a look and the road ended and became a path through the forest. I didn't see any rock and the path ended at the river not far from where I had been earlier. So I went back to the road and continued until I came to the cable car station. It was about 3pm and I didn't want to risk missing the bus back to Lijiang by wandering around where I wasn't supposed to go so I had a quick look at the buildings and then waited for the next bus. When it came lots of Chinese got off most of them with an oxygen cannister to help them with the altitude or something. I got on the bus and it went back to the pools where loads of people got on and filled up the bus. Back at the main area a man had the no.7 bus sign when I got off but I was the first person so I had to wait for more people but at least I got the front seat. We got a few more people and this had more seats than the morning one. We headed back and I asked to be dropped off on the main road near to Baisha a village which was written about favourably in wikitravel. It was less than 2km walk and when I got there it seemed a bit small and they had frescos but it was 70 yuan to see them I looked for the embroidery institute and went into a large jade and similar store. I went to the end of the village and then headed back to the main road of the village and found a few stalls and then the embroidery place. A guy who spoke English showed me tound a few rooms and they had some nice works. I tried to leave him 10 yuan for the place but he wouldn't have it so I ended up with a pack of cards for my money. I started walking south back towards Lijuang as it was only 5km but a bus came so I caught it and it stopped to the west of the old town. I thought it would go another stop closer but it wasn't moving so I got off and as soon as I did it went off. Still I went under the road and then went up to the top where there was a good view. I headed to the Wu palace but it was closed for renovations. I went into the old town and tried to go to the places on the pamphlet they give out. I found no.7 which was Naxi hieroglyphics, the embroidery place had offered me a pack of the cards which I should have taken as this is one of the last remaining picture languages in the world. I tried to find no.8 but couldn't and it was a clothes place anyway. I had to go around a few places before I eventually found a temple and monastery which was nothing special. I headed north and found a memorial hall which closed at 5.30 to see another temple and had trouble finding it so I asked someone at the gate where they also had free water. A girl there told me the temple was shut now as was eveeywhere else as it was past 6. I decided to find them anyway so that I would know where they are for tomorrow. I stopped in the main square for a brief snack and then tried to find the Naxi house but I needed to ask someone before I could. Then I headed along a road outside of town where I got a packet of cakes and some nuts to keep me going. There was one interesting building with statues but also sone roadworks on the way. I went back into town through an north-eastern gate and managed to find one place not listed but was unable to find another that was. I kept bookmarking the places and after the snow academy I had a bit of a walk through the middle where I found a fire brigade station. I was unable to find the museum where the map said it was so I tried another route and came to a stone park where a dance class was going on and on the north side was the museum. Lastly I went to a nearby temple which was open but it was dark so I needed to cone back to see it properly. So I had my places marked which meant I could go through town in a couple of hours the next day and then head out in a bus towards Chengdu. I went to walmart to get some food and the cooking section was closed and they'd also sold out and there was a lot less in the bakery area. I got some discounted fruit and tofu and a pot noodle as well as sone packaged cakes and biscuits and ate the pot noodle and tofu on the way back to the hostel. The Chinese guy in my room was there but it was still just us and I tried to research buses to Chengdu but couldn't find anything so it looked like I would need an 8 hour bus to Panzihua and then a train from there. Otherwise I could go to Kunming but that meant going back a bit more and would be longer. I did a few more things before going to sleep. add went inside folk house Naxi traditional museum and then the church and folk arts museum was also open
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