Lugu Lake Part 1 of 2

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Our bus was run by Musuo people, and they arranged to have us do what we wanted to do anyway. So, on the way around the lake, we stopped to go on a dugout boat ride to an island:

My new friends in the other boat

The man was kind of lazy, though, and I ended up rowing a lot of the time on the way back…but after all this good Chinese food, I definitely need all the exercise I can get!

Row, row, row your boat...

We then visited the village head’s house and we were told (in Chinese, so that part didn’t do me much good) about the customs and culture of the Mosuo people. But seeing the housing arrangement was very interesting. It is similar to the old Chinese courtyard, with the matriarch living in a lodge type building and another side like a hotel, with different rooms for members of the clan that allow privacy for their “walking marriages”. The matriarch’s place has a fire inside with no chimney, but the way the log cabin structure is built, the smoke goes up and vents out the top. It’s interesting to have a fireplace inside with no chimney!

The next day, our Chinese friends arranged for us to be driven around the lake by a Mosuo lady…

Our Musuo driver for touring Lugu Hu

We stopped at some fun places, including a chairlift that started with a little go-cart type ride to the chairlift base. On the way down, the go-cart went down like a little bobsled (or I should say luge, I suppose, since “luge at lugu hu” sounds better), which was pretty cool!

Cool way to get to and from the base of the chairlift

Then, it was onto the chairlift to the main mountain overlooking the lake:

Chairlift to mountain overlooking Lugu Hu

At the top, you had to climb a lot of stairs, which winded many people, since Lugu Hu itself is 2685 meters (8800) feet above sea level and the chairlift definitely went up a long way from there.

When you got to the top, there was a surprise (at least to those of us whose Chinese isn’t the best)…there was a big cave to explore. Like everything else in China, rather it’s a mountain or anything else, if it’s meant for people to go on, they created stairs throughout the entire cave. Since I didn’t have a chance to visit other caves in China, this was a nice little bonus!

Cave in the mountain overlooking Lugu Hu

There were also some monkeys at the top of the chairlift, which added yet another element to the chairlift ride.

Monkey at the top of the chairlift

After the chairlift, we went to eat lunch at the driver’s family house, which started out with tea and snacks in the matriarch’s lodge…

Snacks before lunch in the matriarch's lodge

…then we had a lunch that included many Musuo dishes.
I will finish the day in another post to avoid making this one too long (as if that hasn’t already happened…)