Efan called everyone to wake them up because she’d noticed clear skies promising an incredible sunrise—and we got it!
It was a good replacement for the 30-km monster hike we’d cancelled due to weather uncertainty and some time pressure (getting up very early still wouldn’t have been enough to get back in time to meet up with the relaxed group in Liijang).
But we still had a decision to make: either going down from upper to lower village and back the same way with all the motorcycles, or take an alternative route with the risk of being blocked by a landslide and being forced to return to the upper village and stay on the normal path. The locals didn’t know any more than we did, but in the end, we took the risk and didn’t regret it.
A terrifying four-hour drive brought us back to Lijiang. Not only did our own driver raise our blood pressure, also other drivers followed the idea that some Chinese more or less don’t matter more than gambling when overtaking without sight. Later, Efan told me that some try to evade the speed check by changing lanes, which presents an additional challenge. (In Austria, you can’t outsmart the speed check by changing lanes.)
I’d never seen trucks with light shows like those at an amusement park before. I wondered if that made them more visible or distracted other drivers. (No photos available, a bit like above but animated)
We met the relaxed group playing foosball and billiards at a bar.
There weren’t many non-alcoholic drinks available, and they had disheartening names like “Pussy Foot.”
Then I played pool for the first time—something I’d previously associated with the underworld or so. Three Chinese girls joined us, and they could be an example of my “or so”: Their faces were those of teenagers to me (“early twenties,” Efan corrected me), their spectacular fingernails would a naïve and at the same time suspicious guy like me connect with a profession forbidden in China And then they offered us cigarettes, placing their own as casually as possible in the corner of their mouths, but not lighting them as long as they remained in the room—perhaps out of consideration for a hare’s foot like me?
Between 11:30 p.m. and 3:30 a.m., our group retreated bit by bit to the hotel.