It was a cloudy and rainy day and after our hike up Cangshan Mountain, we figured we were due for a massage. We asked the hotel to recommend a place, and headed off for some much needed kneading. We walked while it rained, seeing a different part of our neighborhood.
Chinese Massages usually occur in a large chair that can be fully reclined to lay flat, and cloth or paper tops and shorts are provided. As the masseuses are tinier than us, they would sometimes climb on top of us, which was new for us in terms of massages. After our massages, which we thoroughly enjoyed, we were hungry, and took a didi to a Thai restaurant that had gotten good reviews. Alas, it was closed, so we saw what else was around, and guess what? We found a Chinese restaurant.
The food was really good, and they had a dish of mini, dehydrated shrimp and jasmine flowers, which was so unique. A group of singers dressed in traditional garb came around and sang to each table, which was fun, too.
Afterward we walked around the nearby area, and happened by a barbershop. There are lots of barbershops all over, but it was the right time since we were planning to just head to the hotel afterward, to get a haircut. We waited a bit while the barber was finishing someone else, and his assistant washed my hair, before he went to work. He was a wizard with the scissors, and I enjoyed watching him do his thing. Afterward, they washed my hair again, then he styled and dried it. What a nice experience, possibly the best haircut I’ve ever received! The barber wanted to take a photo, so of course, we did.
The next day, we decided to take a boat tour on Erhai Lake. We walked along the waterfront, past the lady in the moon again, under sunny skies (finally!).
It took us a little bit to figure out where to get tickets, and we found out it was like a legit boat trip; we had to present our passports, go through a security checkpoint and xray machine! Finally we were on the boat, taking seats by ourselves on the side, while everyone else went to the top.
We waved goodbye to the city and were off.
Once out on Erhai Lake, it was very peaceful and we were treated to great views of the whole city, and other smaller towns, around the lake.
It was only an hour tour, so after the half hour mark the boat turned around, and we were stuck in a crazy wind; we could barely move and we had to struggle to move from the side of the huge boat to the back, where it was calmer. We spent the rest of the tour there, enjoying the much calmer, breeze.
Once back on land, we headed on to cross the Thrive Bridge.
On the other side we walked along the lake, past a closed temple, and more cherry blossoms.
We headed toward the Olympic Sports Center, but didn’t go inside, as we were told it was mainly for swimming.
On we went, eventually finding ourselves on cherry blossom lane, on the way to the mall, for a quick snack and coffee.
For dinner that evening we walked to the night market, which required us to walk alongside the busier road and under an underpass, though the underpass did have some colorful artwork of characters in the traditional outfits.
We finally made it to the night market, and it was the most relaxed one we had visited (well, as relaxed as a night market could be), which fit with Dali’s laid back vibe. We drank tasty iced tea, ate a few good fried treats, and finished with some sausages on a stick and pot stickers (Jessica did share some of the food with me).
With that, we called it a night. Come on back for our final days in Dali!
Phil's WayPastCool 
I really want to go to a night market!
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