The next morning, we boarded a boat for our trip down the LiJang River. It was an unbelievable fairyland, and the morning mist added to the surreal appearance. We were told that this area was "Shangri-la" from the book Lost Horizon by James Hudson. I read the book in high school, and this is just what I pictured at that time.The area is a National Park, but there were still farmers, rice paddies, ducks and water buffalo along the river. We were also told that the ducks were not wild, but belonged to the farmers along the river. They paddled and fed along the river each day, but came home each night.
The mountain peaks were amazing. Apparently, they are composed of limestone and have been eroded by the water. Most of the peaks have caves because of the water eroding from the inside.
We had lunch on the boat, which had been cooked in the open kitchen in the back of the boat. We had watched the food preparation on the boat ahead of us -- even watched them buy fish from a local fisherman in a boat, so we weren't very excited about lunch. What we ate was good, though (mostly rice!) The waitresses offered to sell us snake wine -- with a large snake in a gallon jug, but we didn't try it. I wonder why?
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