A Beautiful Afternoon by Erhai - Dali, China

Started as a gloomy wet morning turned into a sunny afternoon. We changed our plan for morning and was wondering whether the following day's weather would be nice. It turned out that Mother Nature was on our side. By around 2 pm, the sun came out, we straight away got ready and left to Erhai Lake.

Situated at 1,972 metres (6,470 ft) above sea level and its size of 250 square kilometers makes Erhai the second largest highland lake in China. One could take a boat in the lake but we just wanted to explore the surrounding. We took a small open air electric vehicle to the entrance of Longkan Wharf. On the way there the driver was kind enough to ask whether we were going to take a boat at the lake. To which we told him no. He clarified that to get on a boat, a ticket needed to be purchased in town.

The distance from our homestay to the lake was about 5 km. The ride took about twenty minutes and it cost RMB 40 (USD 5.58). Originally we thought of walking there. Luckily we didn't because the road there wasn't meant for pedestrian. There's no path for walkers. It would not be safe.

Our driver dropped us off just to the entrance to the lake. No private cars were allowed around the lake making it safe for pedestrians and cyclist. As soon as we walked pass the path to the lake we saw rows of bicyles for rent. An older lady approached us to offer her service. I asked her the price. It was RMB 15 (USD 2.09) per bicycle. I asked her for how long, she said for as long as we wanted. Then she caught herself and corrected. The rent was for until 5 pm. I guess that's why it's cheaper because by then it was around 3 pm.

We paid the lady the amount we agreed on including RM 100 (USD 13.96) for security. Then off we went on our adventure following the direction given by the old lady. As soon as we turned around the corner we saw a bunch of people and so many photo shoots by the water front. 

We stopped by to take some photos ourselves. Then a young man approached us to offer his service. He said he'd take our photos and if we liked it we then could pay him. Oh well, we gave him a try. We later paid for a photo for RMB 10 (USD 1.40). Nice hard working young man. 😊

We then took off with our bikes to explore some more. We made it quite far and it's less and less people. About an hour later we turned around since it took some time to get back and returned our bikes. We got some awesome photos and videos and it was such a beautiful day to be outside. Blue sky, sunny and a bit breezy.