Day 48 Friday 20 October Kunming to Dali, Yunnan Province, China

Raining to start and an horrendous journey out of the city, with total chaotic traffic all apparently trying to come to Dali with us. 7 lanes of trucks cramming a 2 lane road so no one goes anywhere for two hours. Eventually we get thru the jam, headlights on full, horn blaring and daring anyone to touch our million yuan car. Kenny the kangaroo clinging on desperately to the aerial is obviously very intimidating. After shaking off the traffic its mostly expressway to Dali although we miss the exit and end up driving 30km down a long pass and having to climb all the way back up.

The hotel we had chosen is in the grounds of the 3 Pagodas temple complex but Edward is concerned its too far from town, although the ancient town is only 5 minutes away and it allows us to see the pagodas floodlit. We go into the town which is a maze of narrow cobbled streets and wooden houses and have dinner at a Tibetan restaurant.
Weather 17.5, Cloudy
Distance today 388km
Distance from start 10,451km
X5s 1