Old Dali – 14 km
Departing Dali City was at a leisurely pace as the distance to Old Dali was
scarcely 15 kilometres. We discovered a budget room, just outside the walls of
the old town and close to the South Gate. The gate has a history dating back
over 600 years and is the oldest building in the area.
Dali Old Town was a major stop along the Ancient Tea Horse Road, or Southwest
Silk Road, and dated back more than 1,000 years when Dali was the region's
capital and one of the world's largest cities.
Finding the old town tremendously touristy was thus not surprising. Of course, it
included stacks of tourist buses pulling in throughout the day. Nevertheless, Dali
remained a laidback and easy-going village, graced with traditional Chinese-style
buildings with tiled roofs, plastered brick or white-washed walls, and along
cobbled streets.
I couldn't wait to explore the busy pedestrian lanes, with their lively touristy
trade where shops and mobile carts lined the narrow streets. The area around
the square offered food aplenty as well as numerous clothing and jewellery
vendors, all offering overpriced items to the busloads of tourists (mainly from
other parts of China). Many restaurants provided pizzas and Western-style food,
which I wasn't going to complain about right then.
Dali
After three days in Dali and many pizzas later, the time came to move along. As
we proceeded north, I believed the weather would become even colder. Thus, I
bought warm clothes and spent money buying a new pair of pants as the old
ones kept falling down. The Chinese were such tiny people, the pants fitted but I
found the length barely three-quarters.