Lijiang, Dali: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Internet access has been plentiful over the past few days but time has not been on my side. So in order to make the most out of my free internet at my hostel in Dali (where Kelly noticed a man looking at full on Chinese porn last night), I'm going to combine the past week into one mega-post.

The Good
Arrived in Lijiang without any difficulties and found the hostel fairly quickly. On the bus ride to the city from the airport, there was a man with a mini-computer (literally a screen displaying windows about the size of a hardcover book) blasting Bon Jovi. Kelly and I fully rocked out in the back of the bus with air guitar and microphones. There is video to prove it.
The two days in Lijiang were spent exploring the old city (not nearly as commercial as other old cities I've been to here) and biking out to a small village nearby. On route to the village we stopped at a Chinese tea factory/tourist trap where Kelly and I went to the WC. Since there were no doors and only half walls between squatters, Kelly stood with her back to me while I went to the toilet. And I did them same for her. While I was standing there, we were chatting about what would do later in the day and then all of the sudden I felt something wet on my leg.
Kelly: I think we should go to -
Me: DUDE! You just peed on me!!
And there wasn't a sink with soap in sight.

Tiger Leaping Gorge
We met up with two Australian girls and headed for Tiger Leaping Gorge after the two days in Lijiang. It was the hardest hiking I've done so far with one part, called the '28 Bends', which is literally 28 bends of rocky trail straight up the mountain side. It was made amusing by the band of Americans with walky-talkies that we kept passing/who passed us. At the halfway point, there was a hostel on the mountain face which was stunning (stay tuned for pictures). Went to bed around 9:00pm and was hiking again by 8:30am with the sorest feet I've ever had - they're still recovering.

Dali
After hoping on a 3 hour bus ride at the end of the trail, Kelly and I returned to Lijiang to pick up our packs, eat some dinner and head off to catch our bus to take us to Dali. This bus came complete with free water, yellow cloth gift bags, and an on-route - Terminator 3. Today was filled with a trip to the biggest market in Yunnan - more produce than you could shake a stick at and toilets that make the top 10 for worst toilets in China. While the market was big and sprawling and made for great photos, it was mainly produce so we only stayed for an hour or so before we made our way back to Old Dali and the 3 pagodas. Entrance to the pagodas was 121 RMB - quite a chunk of my daily budget but it was well worth it with beautiful temples, well kept grounds and the nicest western toilets I've seen in China.

The Bad
I've been having some serious stomach/digestion issues since leaving Shanghai. After 18 months here, it's some how when I'm leaving that I develop problems, go figure. That aside, the only other hitch in the road has been the hostel that we're staying in here in Dali. They provide free mosquito coils but not air con/fans. Free internet, but dudes looking at porn. So far the staff haven't been that great and the toilet in our room is a shit-and-shower - a squatter toilet with the shower over it. Hey, why waste time?! Ai yah.

The Ugly
Due to the aformentioned stomach problems, I've kept a keen eye out for all toilets. During our trek along the Tiger Leaping Gorge the only toilet available at the hostel we stayed at face the outdoors with a door on one side and only had a half-wall along the side the faced the outdoors. So, when I went to the toilet in the morning, I made sure to check that there was no one was around. I ducked down, did my business but when I stood up to pull my pants up, I heard "Oh! Hello. Um, Goodmorning." I had forgotten that you could see the toilets from along the path from the door rooms and just at the second I stood up, one of the Americans was coming out from the dorms. It was a full moon at 7:30am. I bolted from the toilets and back to my room and avoided looking at him at breakfast. Definitely top 10 mortifying-Sara-moments.

Oh, and someone spit on me today. Again.

All and all, it's been quite the adventure so far!