Situational Orientation

The title of this blog was in reference to our countless attempts at getting back to our original hostel so that we could get our stuff and move into a hostel that was closer to the center of town. The map we were given was practically useless since it showed barely a few of the streets, there weren't many street signs and the streets looked so similar. Our countless pleas for assistance to the local townspeople yielded a chorus of "ye ji itsu zho guay" which means go straight ahead then turn left. After hearing this at least four times we indeed went full circle until we were guided by a surly looking guy who said "follow me" then darted off with our map in hand down a dark and narrow alley. So we figured what other choice do we have other than to follow him, so we did. We passed right by the first place that we had asked directions from and had they told us to go right. If we had only gone to the left we would have been back at our old hostel with two turns. Of course we picked up our bags and headed back to the new hostel sure that we knew the way this time, but alas, we got lost again. This time we were helped out by a Chinese New Zealander who visits Lijiang often and knows his way around. Tired, hungry and a bit embarrassed for keeping Peter and Jenny waiting for us we dropped our bags and headed out to find some dinner.


After getting lost multiple times around Lijiang, I realized that every time that Andrea and I tried to remember or actually did remember where we needed to turn, we would constantly refer to an event that happened when we passed a certain spot. Like the spot where the guy told us "follow me" and led us into the dark alley. This became a new reference point for us to know that we were going in the right direction. Or the mini plaza that we passed where our Chinese Kiwi lead us to our hostel. It's interesting that when we are forced out of our way of orienting ourselves such as through absolutely useless maps, or when grid streets are only a distant memory we are forced to rely on other mental triggers to point us to our destination. Thankfully, the town is not that large and there are enough people here that either speak some English or can at least understand the few words we know such as "zainar" (where is) and pointing to a point on the map.

(Oh and those "digital crumbs" that I left to help us find our way back didn't work quite so well since I ended up taking photos of things that weren't quite as unique as I thought...say a red lantern or wooden door. At least we made it back...eventually.)