Happy Birthday Sue (or Hsu as auto-correct likes to say)
July 5 – One long day
It is Sue’s birthday today so she got to sleep as late as she wants. Well, almost, as we woke her at 9:45 so she wouldn’t miss breakfast. At breakfast we tried to decide what to do with our day. We knew we wanted to do the traditional Bai tie dye, but weren’t sure what to do with the rest of our time.
The lovely couple from New York (who are moving to SF 10 blocks from our place in Noe) were going on a hike we were considering. That was the inspiration we needed so we arranged for a driver to drop us off at the start of the hike, to pick us up at the end of the hike, to take us to the tie dye place and then to take us home. Basically, we rented a car and driver for the day for $40.
Around 12:00 we left the hotel, and by 12:20 we had driven past Dali Old Town, past the famous pagodas, and to the start of the hike near some at plantations. Thankfully, the driver walked us 15 minutes to the hidden trail for the hike as we probably wouldn’t have found the trailhead. The hike started with a beautiful waterfall, filled nicely with the previous day’s rain. Thankfully the skies were partly cloudy, but not raining.
The hike was mostly straight up through a fascinating mix of tropical ferns and pine trees. The kids huffed and puffed their way up with limited complaints. A little more than an hour later, we reached the summit and a wide path.
Well marked, we followed the trail south and after 15 minutes the trail opened up to reveal the valley below. Then the trail narrowed and when we were bold enough, we could peer over the edge to see a precipitous drop. Yikes!! The trail clung to the cliff side and across the way we could see the trail continued with a nice sized railing. In the distance we heard a rumbling and a loud crash. Hmm.
20 minutes later we came upon the creator of the sound. A boulder the size of two basketballs had crashed down on the trail, denting the fence and breaking the top railing. We took the falling rock signs much more seriously after that! Still, the hike was beautiful and around 3pm we had arrived at the top of the chairlift shuttling dozens of visitors up the mountain. $4.50 each to ride the 1,500 feet down seemed like a bargain. And as the only westerners heading down, we were greeted with a friendly ‘hello,’ by nearly all of the visitors heading up.
Around 4pm, we were back in the car and the kids were enjoying their hard earned ice creams. By 4:30 we arrived at the tie dye factory. The super friendly manager gave us an overview of the various styles and methods for producing the intricate indigo designs. After about a 30 minute education it was time to make our own. Sue decided to go for the easy to execute but gorgeous wave design. The rest decided to do the more time consuming sewing method. Evie did a whale, Tom did the burning man logo, and Tyler did his Chinese name. All of them experienced some significant moments of frustration but they all turned out amazing.
The intricate designs had taken nearly two hours to produce and we ended up encroaching on the baby shower of one of the employees. They took it in stride therefore so did we. By 7:45pm, tired from the long day, we were back home as the pigs went back to their pen.
We ordered dinner from the hotel just before the 8pm cut off and at 8:45 the hotel staff and many of the guests convened in the bar for Sue’s surprise birthday cake. Tom and the kids had purchased it 2 days before and everyone managed to keep it a secret. Sue was genuinely surprised and the kids gave her hand made cards which she loved.
It was the perfect ending to an amazing day.