Apr 18, Saturday, Dali

Breakfast was on the top floor restaurant of the hotel with large windows and a balcony overlooking Dali and the Lake.  The views are beautiful.

Today is a day of leisure with nothing planned.  Frank had suggested a trip to a local village but we decided to take it easy since we are both still recovering from colds.  We did a few things around the hotel and then head down to further explore Old Town Dali.There were lots of shops and street vendors.

We saw artisans in front of silver shops doing silver work.

We saw a number of people eating soft serve ice cream cones, tempting.  We ate outside at the same restaurant we had eaten at the night before.  It was great for people watching.  There was a semi-steady stream of Chinese tourist groups going by.  We took their pictures and they took ours. 

Paul had a veggie sandwich and fries that were served after about a half hour of placing our order.  Mary's potato croquettes with curry came at least a half hour later…we thought they may be had to go to the field to get the potatoes before they could make the dish.  It was very good. 

After walking some more streets we headed back to the hotel to work on pictures and get some rest.  It was a perfect day with a slow pace and not too much sightseeing.