How it all began

This account of my family's travels in Yunnan reads chronologically, that's from the top down with my most recent entry reading last - the reverse of a traditional Blog. If you wish to use the navigation on the right I recommend you work from the top working down. If you are confused now I'm sure it will make sense once you start going through each of the entry's.

Over the past few years I've been dragging my family around Eastern Europe for our summer holidays to catch the last glimpses of traditional life held in aspic during the old communist rule.
Our quest was inspired by a trip to Hungary shortly after the wall came down and many of the Soviet republics regained their independence while old Russia ground to an economic halt. We picked the thread up once again when our daughters, India and Iona, were ready to leave the beach behind and embrace a family adventure very different from what we were used to.

First on the list was a trip to Romania, riding over the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania. We experienced an astonishing countryside and a way of life not seen in western Europe since the First World War. This small but significant adventure whetted my appetite for more mountains and some serious riding. The Balkans in Bulgaria.

I had assumed such a trip would be relatively leisurely but it ended up being more a test of stamina and determination than experiencing the delights and glories of the Balkans. We rode for up to eight hours a day with some of the longest trots I expect ever to encounter and gallops that were simply terrifying.

With the Carpathians and Balkans under our belt and ever increasing confidence in our ability, I managed to con (did I say that) my family into the idea of riding in the Caucuses in the Republic of Georgia. This time we knew what to expect and how to survive without the obligatory morning shower and general creature comforts associated with family holidays. I knew Georgia was a fair distance from the UK and where I wanted us to travel was on the Dagestan and Chechnya boarders, in a region called Tusheti; however what I wasn’t ready for was the way of life we were going to experience as a family and how remote the region was.

I’ve written an extensive account of this trip with a similar introduction. Try this link.

http://travelsintusheti.blogspot.com/


We visited Tusheti twice during 2007-08 and experienced many wonderful adventures which should have been enough for any family, especially since we left Georgia as it was being invaded by Russia, but that's another story.

Inspired by what we had achieved in Tusheti I came up with the crazy notion we should continue our travels and visit China. Not the China of Great Walls or Terracotta Armies. Not even the burgeoning city of Beijing to experience an emerging super economy. For this trip we chose to visit three minority tribes in the north west region of the Yunnan, close to the Tibetan border in the Himalayas.

The idea was to stay with three different tribal communities. The Yi, who live between 12 to14, 000 feet in the Himalayas. The Naxi (pronounced Nashi), who tend to live lower down at a mere 9 to 10,000 feet in larger villages. And finally the Lisu, who live at similar altitudes to both the Yi and the Naxi. Women from all three tribes wear, on a daily basis, their own distinctive traditional costume. While the men can be seen wearing goat skin jerkins and the likes but generally wear whatever is available from the market.

Our plan was to move from one area to another on horseback and travel via mini bus when the distance was prohibitive.

This account follows our journey, illustrating the world we encountered in pictures with supporting text where it might prove helpful.

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we did taking them.

The country side in Yunnan is littered with these wonderful trucks undertaking all manner of tasks . This one arrives every morning in Liming surrounded by a cacophony of music, blaring out from the speakers on the roof of the cab. The wake up call reminds everyone it is time to bring out their waste and load it onto the truck.