- SuHe Old Town (10km from LiJiang)
crescentra+gmail.com Sep 2008
We had the idea of visiting Lijiang for almost a year (since early 2007) with frequent newspaper articles and tv travel shows featuring the place. With some research on the internet and browsing through guide books we decided to make the trip and the difficult part is to make a sensible itinerary with sufficient activities to keep us interested. And part of the reason is after spending a fair bit in Turkey, we have to tone down a little and also get a more different experience. So China was the choice and we started making more concrete plans in Nov 2007 for the trip in March 2008.
Ctrip Chinese forum was a excellent source of information and you get good contacts for drivers/accomodations etc. 游记攻略_旅游社区_携程旅行网 Spent a considerable amount of time to sift through the reviews and adapt others experiences.
- Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (玉龙雪山）
The final itinerary (we changes bits & pieces along the way - which is the best part of self organized tours and also weather can change drastically)
Singapore - Kunming (Silkair) 6th Mar 2008
- flight was delayed for 5hours which caused us to miss our connecting flight, we called to
- the amazing part was the Sinagpore Airlines staff (parent of Silkair) did not even tell us when we checked in, we only realized after immigration looking at the departure schedule! It was an earlier morning flight, they could have called most people to come later to airport. S$8 vouncher at food court was miserable compensation!
Kunming - Lijiang (Domestic Flight) 6th Mar 2008
- we called the China travel agent (http://www.9588.com English website) to cancel the domestic flight and try to book another later flight, 5% penalty and exchange rate costs (S$-US$-Yuan$)
- also not able to get another flight!! PANIC!! Really did not expect from Silkair at home port!!
- MM made a fuss at the customer serivce counter which initially did not bother, they should really have done more to help passengers!
- They got us a booking on China Eastern Airline (guess they have some relationship) which upon arrival at Kunming, a Silkair staff told us the flights were full and we had to take the last flight at 10pm! We left home at 6am and was suppose to reach Lijiang by 5pm latest! We reached Lijiang at 11pm and hotel almost midnight! It's worrying to get to more remote regions of China in such hours, we decided earlier to call the inn/hotel to send a car which cost more after 11pm (100 Yuan). Travel safe! We never got billed for the domestic flight though, however the Silkair staff at Kunming missed another passenger in the same situation as us (she was carrying such a small signage!)
- we claimed some travel insurance for the miss connection later (1st time we got $ this way back)
- Mr Rui (driver) Chinese speaking only 13508889296
Not a good start so far :(
Lijiang 2400m (3 nights) - acclimatized, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (JDSM)
- Hired the same driver (Naxi tribe)+car(4WD) that picked us up from Lijiang Airport (200Yuan) and he brought his playful son along :)
- He highly recommened visiting the show by Zhang Yimou - Impression Lijiang which we thought was made for tourists and a tad overrated! We missed it anyway after catching the cable car up to JDSM
- we stayed at MoonInn 新月阁 about 300Yuan if remembered correctly - a little on the high side in China context but not a lot if converted S$/US$, you get PC+Internet in your room although we did not use much, could be valuable as you don't find internet cafes all around (except the ones I noticed near the big waterwheels entrance), with free flow bottled water and breakfast + hair dryer, ran by 3 young friendly girls I guess one was the owner's daughter and the other friends of sort
- Pajero Driver - Mr Li and wife
- we spent time more idyllically on 8th Mar, shopping and deciding on the rest of the trip
- on 8th morning, the driver we contacted while in Singapore airport for the big part of the trip took another customer and was not able to take us anymore as we did not confirm (it was the low season anyway, there are no problem getting a driver but the better known ones on the internet are booked more frequently). Anyway I have a few names so just go down the list - Mr Li: 13988798517 (Chinese speaking only). He was available and suggested to meet us on the 8th morning to discuss itinerary. We met him and his wife (both Naxi tribe and sort of modernized) . he was amicable with a Mitsubishi 4WD which looked quite new and we were comfortable with him. It was 350Yuan per day(off-peak) for the trip to Kawa Karpo (Meili Xue Shan 梅里雪山）, include driver+petrol+toll and he takes care of his own meals and accommodations - usually he brings you to an inn and he gets a bed free. He is not pushy on this but he is rather seasoned on the route and really know the people and the good deals.
- he sent us to Black Dragon Pool Park free (just 3 minutes away) - it was 8th Mar International Women Day and there were celebrations there (actually he would have pick us from the airport free too if we had confirm the trip with him earlier)
- will update again for the rest of the trip
- W
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