The Higherland Inn

On the recommendation of an American chap we met in the visa cue in Hong Kong, we travelled from Kunming to Dali in search of the Higherland Inn. Shortly after arriving we walked away from the old city walls, losing ourselves briefly in some farmland at the base of the mountains, but eventually finding a chairlift that took us up to the Zhonge Temple. Fifteen minutes later we had found the Inn, where we happily spent the next 3 days.

The Inn is 2600m asl in a forest on the Cang Mountain Range, overlooking Dali and Erhai Lake. It has only 6 rooms and is about as homely as it's possible to get, with warm fires and communal family dinners. The fantastic thing about the place is the many hiking options at your doorstep with a 'cloudy tourist path' that runs just below you, around 4km north and 10km south. It was built by the locals and is a perfectly paved walkway that at times clings desperately to edge of some scary canyons but mostly winds it's way gently along the beautiful mountainside. We warmed up with 2 days on the cloudy track but challenged ourselves the next by trekking up a steep trail in the direction of a 4100m summit. The weather was perfect and after an hour climbing through forest we emerged below a rocky ridge and climbed along it for another hour to around 3600m asl. The mountain ahead was white with snow and after giving it our best shot (which involved some amateur ice skating) we decided that it would be safer to turn back.

We'd give the Higherland a score of 10/10 for the people, the food and the most amazing of settings.