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Rat in maze test 1: FAIL!

Lijiang, China

Lijiang's Old Town is a maze of narrow curving alleys criss-crossing up a River bank. I'm dropped off at the edge and told to go down then turn left. It's 9:30 in the evening and very dark. Hmmm... I had picked the Panba Hostel for several reasons, one being that it was one of the few accessible by car in the Old Town. Since I knew I'd be arriving at night that feature was very attractive to me. Now I was set adrift in the maze in the dark. There was more than one way to go down. Would there be more than one way to turn left? I asked directions two times - itself astonishing as the streets were nearly deserted at that hour - the second being the most helpful. I'm blogging from the Panba right now. Phew!

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 1, 2012 from Lijiang, China
from the travel blog: Yunnan, China
tagged Dark, Rat and Maze
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Rat in maze test 2: SUCCESS!

Lijiang, China

Eat a hostel breakfast? Not if I can help it. Bad American food is not my idea of a fun time. I took off through the alleys and to stay returnable to my cozy mattress pad, I decided to go straight. That went through the market square, clear across Old Town to a tri-belief temple turned function hall. I explored the NW corner of Old Town with a 'turn right at each intersection' plan so i could retrace my steps with a series of left turns. I started recognizing alleys and could forego the retrace. I did find breakfast along the way, an egg pancake sprinkled with diced scallions. When I came upon Naxi dancers in the Market Square I was excited. My camera can take video! Then the battery died. No more alley exploring till I can record my cool finds!

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 1, 2012 from Lijiang, China
from the travel blog: Yunnan, China
tagged Naxi, Alley, Breakfast, Battery, Success, Dancers, Maze and Pancake
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Rat in maze test 3: FAIL!

Lijiang, China

My routine is to get up early to wander the maze, getting pictures before the crowds descend. I stop for breakfast early in my wanderings and stop for lunch at the end. Breakfast - check! Wandering - check! Lunch - no check. Where are the restaurants?? Not find a restaurant in China? Weird! I finally stop a smiling gentleman and ask him. I also tell him I prefer cheap, having heard earlier that the restaurants in this World Heritage Site are pricey. He suggests some snack eateries and even walks me to the street as that's the direction he's headed any. Perfect! I enjoy a nice lunch in a local eatery, not a tourist trap. Now to find my way back to my hostel. I think I'm south of the Old Town and my temporary abode is on the east side. Just walk northeast, right? I walked & walked and was eventually totally outside the Old Town. Oops! I can either back track or go around this huge athletic Field. I go around hoping I can reenter Old Town on the other side. Despite one dead end alley that I had retrace my way out of, it worked, obviously, as i'm here to type my Story. But I put many kilometers on my new hiking boots that day.

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 3, 2012 from Lijiang, China
from the travel blog: Yunnan, China
tagged Restaurant, Lunch, Cheap, Boots, Maze and Fail
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