I arrived in Lijiang just as a storm started, great, first problem! Next was that the taxi drivers refused to ttake me to where I needed to be, they just said 'ting bu dong' (don't understand) even when I spoke chinese to them - its your lanuage im speaking so dont tell me you dont understand ahhh!!! - eventually i found one of the police men who were wondering around the taxis who stopped one and he took me straight away, thankyou Mr Policeman! 

After all that I was dropped of at the old town Lijiang, but at the wrong gate, the oppisite end it turned out to where i was supposed to be. I didnt have a map, the Lonely Planet didn't have a map, I had no idea which direction  I was ment to go, and i was soaked through after being outside for the 5 minutes between the taxi to the shop i ended up in. the guy in the shop got his phone out and had google translate up (miricle site that) and tol me his friend would take me to where i needed to be. After hoping in a taxi with this random guy (which i wouldnt have normally done but on my own, soaked through, shivering, not a clue where i was ment to be going, i figured i didnt have much else to go on), we ended up at a hotel which wasnt mine, so got the hostel on the phone once again to hop into another taxi, to make it to the right area this time, but then had a maze of alleys to search through. luckily it didnt take to much longer till we found the hostel, and i was so grateful for the random guys help with carrying my rucksack and paying for the taxis. When I got to the hostel i was given a glass of hot water, and a group of the girls staying there were instantly giving me cakes, buiscuits and snacks to make me feel welcome, they were very sweet. first thing after dumping my things in the room was jump in the shower, I have never been so thankful for hot showers! When traveling and things dont go the way you want them to, the simple little things make you so happy!

Getting lost in Lijiang (and all over really) seemed to be the way of my travels. I started the next day wondering the streets, i even bought a map so i could find my way, and made it to the scenic area and main sights of the water wheels and Black Dragon Pool. On the way back i went wondering down little lanes and streets exploring the old town, but completely lost where i was on the map so tried to back track but ended up down streets where i definetely hadn't been before, it was just my luck, lost again. I ended up just heading up hill, following crouds as much as i could when i came out on top of a gorgeous view across both the old and new city walled by the towering mountains misted over by cloud. The things you find when lost really are brilliant, its just a shame I can never find these things and know where I am at the same time, but oh well. I followed the track that went from there round the hill and ended up on the main road under a sign pointing towards the old town. Luckily it came to the right end of the old town for my hostel.

Next day I left the hostel around 4 to grab a few kebabs from the market, I made sure to remember my turnings so I wouldn't get lost again. 2 and a half hours later looking like i had just jumped in a pool and gone for a swim, I made it back to my hostel. Somewhere along the way I had taken a wrong turning and ended up at the  opposite end of the town, where i'd been dropped of the first day actually. On (kind of) my way back i got stuck in another storm and ended up walking round in circles for ages, until i recognised one of the streets as the way i went the day before when i got lost, so i managed to remember all of those turnings, back up to the viewpoint, down to the main road, past the bakery (quick stop for a arming capachino and cherry jam pastry) and back into my end of the old town.  At least i now knew how to get to the main road for catching a taxi to the bus station for Dali.

Despite all the hassle, I loved the little alleys of lijiang, and it really did have that old china charm with white washed walls and turned up rooftops with carved wooden beems and shop fronts. A good place to bring you back to China.