As it was under-construction, this hotel was almost like the ones in a Murakami novel, as if the Sheep Man would just be waiting at the
end of the corridor. Fortunately the 18/F was more like "home away from home",
but the delay in getting taxis was not.
We headed over to the lake and under the sun, I wished there
was a pathfinder. Escaping from the rain we ran into the renowned mansion for a
spicy but delicious dinner, served by the inattentive attendants and paired
with the local Dali beer with the intriguing yet all too familiar name of the
two sisters.
The willow trees reminded me of that line in that Jin Rong
novel, when she explained why she made up the surname of “Liu”. Beyond’s music rocked
from the lake to the row of boutiques, before we ended up at the lively part of
town.
The photos from the first day in particular were less about
the trip but more about experimenting with my new toy.
