Had a great feeling completing the gradual ascending slopes to the monastery at the peak

Before visiting Lulang Forest one must visit Nyingchi (Linzhi) a small town in Bayi District of Tibet Autonomous Region. It's called Switzerland of Tibet! Keep at least min two days to enjoy the vast green scenary and snowcapped mountains at Lulang Linghai Guanjingtai!

Very beautiful Meili snow mountain under sunrising.

A life altering experience. The Monastery was first built in the 16th century, and rebuilt after the cultural revolution. While you will see crowds, it will also be peaceful as you enter the various temples and focus on the art and God. The restoration has be true to original, vibrant colors and incredible art. You do have to climb a bit, but if you are otherwise healthy it should be OK. Take a guide with you, as ours made the stories in the temples and paintings come alive.

The highlight of Dukezong Ancient City has to be the golden turbine that you can attempt to spin along with others. But mind you it is located right at the top of the hill so it can be quite an arduous climb before you reach there. However, the top offers stunning views of Shangri-La in all directions and you get to witness the marvels of its temples as well. Following that, take a stroll around the city and try some of its local delicacies such as yak jerky or yak milk coffee.

Part of Pudacuo National Park. Catch the park shuttle to get to Shudu Lake 属都海. We were given the choice of catching a boat or take a leisure stroll across the lake. Beautiful and breathtaking and nature at its best. During winter, the cold dry wind bites. And the altitude of 3,600 meters altitude may be a challenge for those prone to high altitude sickness - so be prepared with oxygen canister. Today, we are blessed with sunshine and clear sky. Visiting during winter is an incredible experience.

The park indeed lives up to its reputation and is clearly one of the best in China. Unfortunately there were intermittent showers when we were there, which made our exploration a bit more challenging....we had to take a few stops along the way. Nevertheless, it was a good outing.

It’s a beautiful stop from Tiger Leaping Gorge to Shangri La not to be missed. The hike up to the viewing platform is easy and hence you don’t need the horse riding service. You can see the terraces with snowcap mountain at the backdrop. This place is a bit similar to Pamukkale in Turkey.

This is a hiking place but even if you do not wish to hike , you can still take a public bus from “Lijiang passenger transport terminal” to the entrance to take amazing photos of the Tiger statue & the gushing river! Further, you can arrange for private car transport to go to Tea Horse guesthouse and see the million dollar view of Jade Dragon snow mountain right in front of you ! If you choose to hike , the full hike would require you to first go to 纳西雅阁 Naxi guesthouse , the starting point , to hike the challenging upslope “28 bends” and reach Tea Horse guesthouse / Halfway guesthouse to stay the night, before continuing on to either 1) Tina’s guesthouse to buy tickets to take the public bus to go back Lijiang / Shangri-La or 2) Teacher Zhang’s guesthouse to arrange for private car pick up to go back Lijiang / Shangri-La For half day hike, you would have to arrange private car transport to either Tea Horse / Halfway guesthouse and then hike the rest of the way to either Tina’s or Teacher Zhang guesthouse. Do note some parts of the hike after the waterfall are difficult and you need to be careful. Note: When I visited , many of the scenic spots in the middle of the gorge such as the Gorge rock etc. were closed due to reports of accidents, hopefully they will open again soon… Overall, the scenery is as authentic as you can get and the view of the gushing river and mountain is truly spectacular !

“Here the well-known Jinsha river (upper reach of Yangtze river) turns sharply in direction from southeast to northeast forming a natural wonder – the First Bend of Yangtze River. There is so far no generally accepted interpretation for this phenomenon.”

It is a beautiful place to see the view of the mountain top, and the view below

Very lovely to stay here for a night or two to enjoy the tranquility. There are villages around the lake and hotels by the waterfront.

This templex complex is a testament to Chinese architecture and their dedication to Buddhism. The temple at the top of the hill was really something special, the level of detail and craftsmenship was like nothing I have ever seen. I felt emotional being in that final temple after the adventure getting up there.

Great place to walk about with local street snacks and souvenirs at not too tourist-ed prices..

Phenomenal beautiful stay at Arcadia hotel, which sets off fireworks at night! The town is picturesque and lined with yummy rose cake shops. Walk a bit and you can see more bodies of water, so so aesthetic.

A truly incredible journey to the Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Valley. Only 300 or so remain in South China . Riding atop the rain forest canopy was a remarkable experience.

A beautiful garden located in the hills outside of Chiang Rai. The creation of the wife of King Rama IX, you can spend hours in the stunning gardens as well as visiting the lovely royal lodge. Make sure you add this to your itinerary, you won’t regret it !

Doi Tung Palace, I went during the New Year period at the beginning of the year, it was a good time to go to the palace because there will be a garden arrangement, local exchange for Thai and foreign tourists, both food and trade, each year's theme is different, but what I like the most is the inside of the palace, inside is like a semi-museum to be able to visit the area that I like the most is the balcony area that overlooks the garden below and is very beautiful. I like to visit every year. I give it a reputation in my heart. It is the most ideal thing for me.

The Golden Triangle was a beautiful experience! Lots of shops to explore, Opium museum, and a relaxing boat ride with amazing views, including glimpses of the casinos and mountains in Laos and scenery in Myanmar. Definitely worth a visit!

Interesting place. A blend of dark side of golden triangle and history of opium. Entry fee 50bth per person and they will let you choose a post card as a ticket. Must visit if you are in this area. Parking and toilet available.

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Stunningly beautiful two-day Cruise, the highlight of our holiday by a country mile! However the pickup/border is confusing and disorganised - will explain. Heads up: Get a description of what to do when entering Lao border. After many emails, it was explaining to us and confirmed by Smile Cruise that we would be met on the other side of the border with no problems. The border crossing is slow and tedious when you get there it's also very confusing about how to participate in Visa applications. We were not met for at least half hour / hour on arrival until someone from the cruise found us but only by luck. Pheww- That's a relief I think we muttered!! With no directions whatsoever and not many people who speak English except other tourists in the same situation, it can make it quite a stressfully anxious entrance, so needs to be addressed with signs and guidance! Winge over - now for the cruise itself! We were transferred to the long boat with 6 other people. You are greeted by your tour guide guide and other members of staff and away you go on your two day cruise from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang via Pakbeng. To expect nice scenery is a massive understatement, the Mekong and it's surrounding verdant hilltops is absolutely spectacular 🤩 that combined with a cool breeze whilst the boat cruises down the river at around 10 knots. The boat is comfy where you can sit on some makeshift seats remove from I believe a car or minibus, they also have a couple of area's where you can lay down and just relax to your hearts content. With the money you pay for the cruise, you can expect: Water, brilliant eastern food (including vegetarian), complimentary coffee + tea, local fruit and snacks along the way. For a fee you can purchase bottles of beer / soft drinks and they have a toilet so it all goes together nicely! The cruise contains some drop-off points where you get a chance to stretch your legs. There's a variety of different places you go to and won't go into to much depth, however be mindful that you don't get drawn in by the poverty-stricken local people after money, once you are kind enough to donate to one.. the rest will beg. Half way down you get dropped off at a place called Pakbeng which isn't up to much and will struggle to get luxurious accommodation, but is a cool backpackers hotspot and gives you a chance to eat and rest. (Hint: accommodation ISN'T provided on the Smile cruise package, need to organise separately). Overall very beautiful cruise and well worth the money, considering the cost of an internal flight will be around the same it's much more of a relaxing way to travel Lao. Plus: - Beautiful scenery - Amazing food - Time to relax and reflect - Cheap (relatively) - Adventurous - Free water and fruit Improvements: - Boarder crossing complicated - Poverty-stricken villages begging for money - Pakbeng one-horse town - Bed a great idea but invest in new mattress for extra comfort 😉 Thank you smile Cruise!

Well managed right from the booking, orientation at their office in Huay Xai, transportation to the site, providing ziplining gear, safety instructions, bedding, food and guide. Though we did not see or hear the gibbons, it was a wonderful 3 days spent with 6 other people. The ziplining was great and trekking in the forest was enjoyable.