Today it mostly rained. But it was OK. We drove from Dali to Lijiang and then visited the old town which we both really liked.

Then we were taken to a lake, and asked to pay a lot of money to either walk near the lake, ride horses or go on boats. We said no to all these options. Linz and I disobeyed all the rules and walked down the road on our own, unsupervised, without paying. Even thought there was the possibility that the ponies might be dangerous. Haha haha haha. We got shouted at in Chinese by the manager but we ignored him. It was a public road and we are in a not free country….

Interestingly the tour guide mentioned a phrase ‘jumping the wall’ which means to break the China fire wall rules and use external websites. I think it is a nice phrase. It is good to hear Chinese people talking about such things.

I have less than a week left, which seems unreal. It also seems like I’ve been here for ever. Really looking forward to going back. But will miss hanging in Asia with Linz.

So much will have changed at home. I’ll have a new boss, and I am really looking forward to getting stuck into work again. After a pretty disrupted year I am ready to work really hard, both at the office and in other areas of my life. Which is fortunate as by the time I get home I’ll be a hell of a lot closer to being a home owner. A home that needs a lot of love and a lot of hard graft.

Apart from the house, I’m also excited because there’s a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks. The Watson – Beavan wedding, Beacons festival, the pretty imminent arrival of a baby Field, new house (fingers crossed) and my sofa reupholstering project (I think I’ve bitten of more than I can chew with this one). Busy busy busy. Also, I cannot wait to see every one in Leeds, there’s gonna be some mega hugs going down. You know who you are.

All of these things are keeping me awake. Even though I am tired. It might also be the rock hard bed that’s keeping me awake….but somehow I don’t think so.

Tomorrow we head to Shangri La, about as close to Tibet as possible without actually going there. It’s going to be a good day, starting with tiger leaping gorge. Yip.