Hello Antoine,
Yes, the journey home went well, and we will keep very fond memories of this trip.
What we liked most:
The overall organisation: everything planned went according to the programme, and transfers were never late.
The accommodation was also very good, both the hotels and the homestays, and we even had showers every day. We really enjoyed everything we saw, but the pace was still quite fast. For example, the visits to Dali and Lijiang were too rushed.
We really liked the trekking part of the trip, which brought us close to local people’s lives and showed us rural China.
What could be improved:
The trek: The first two days don’t offer great views, and the trail is only moderately interesting. It is also only moderately passable because of the overgrown vegetation. The other days gave us beautiful views of the river and the villages. On 17 October, after the walk down to the bottom of the gorge, we would have liked to visit other viewpoints over the gorge. That day, we had nothing left to do from 3 pm, and the inn’s location doesn’t allow you to go walking on your own.
The meals in local homes were generally very generous and varied.
The sightseeing: One or two extra days would make each day more relaxed.
Transport: Spending a full day in Beijing at the end would make the journey home less tiring.
The train time from Shangri-La was a little tight. We would have preferred a slightly earlier train, since that day was spent travelling anyway.
Thank you for this wonderful trip.
Kind regards,
Edwige and Olivier