About to start our bike trip.
While the trip was basically a disaster, we did learn some valuable lessons (or at least some of our previously-learned valuable lessons were reinforced):
- Most people are good. They'll encourage you and look out for you. Especially when things are going badly. I think people can feel it when you're down on your luck, and they'll do their best to help. That's the nature of humanity.
- Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
- When things aren't working, don't be afraid to change your plans. That's how we stumbled upon the Jingpo festival, as seen in the video and photos below.
That being said, let's listen to the story of our bike trip:
Download this Episode (right-click and choose “save as”)
Here's a short video I made at the Jingpo festival we stumbled upon:
Jingpo Nao Song Festival 景颇族瑙纵歌节
This website has more information about the festival. It's written in Chinese, but it has many beautiful photos, and a professional video.
Here are some photos from this episode:
Monks coming out of the Ta Er Si Monastery in Xining.
On a stroll through the Muslim Quarter in Xi'An.
Lugu Lake
Our first night in Tiger Leaping Gorge.
More photos from Tiger Leaping Gorge
Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, near Shangrli-La, Yunnan.
More photos from Ganden Sumtseling Monastery
An afternoon at Napa Lake, near Shangri-La.
New Year's Eve in Shaxi.
Katie, before it all went to shit.
More photos from our bike trip
Katie looks across the border to Myanmar.
And here are a few photos from the Jingpo festival in Long Chuan:
This man stuck with us all afternoon. He was 77 years old and had never met a foreigner. He spoke limited Chinese, but luckily a young man was able to translate from Jingpo to Chinese, and then I could do a rough translation from Chinese to English for Katie's benefit.