Temple at Dukezong Ancient Town 独克宗古城
After an hour’s rest, I went back to the meeting place with my driver. I told him that I wanted to go to a certain place. He was taken aback since it seems that that wasn’t part of the original agreement. He wanted me to shell out some more cash for the “extra” trip. Somehow I was under the impression that I could use the vehicle anywhere I wanted to as long as it was nearby. As it turns out, this was not the case. I was a bit frustrated since it was so difficult to talk to him since he didn’t seem to speak “proper” mandarin. As a result, I decided to call off the entire thing. I paid him the fee for driving me to Shika Snow Mountain and back, which I thought was overpriced since it was so near.
Stone Marker at Dukezong Ancient Town 独克宗古城
At that point, I didn’t want to go anywhere anymore. I just wanted to stay in town to exploring this charming little town. Dukezong Ancient Town is part of the Tea Horse Road where merchants from Tibet would come to Dukezong to trade with the Chinese. As a result, the town blossomed into what it is today. I don’t know how much of Dukezong Ancient Town is original but it still looks nice. Parts of the town make you imagine that traders from all over Asia would come here to trade tea. As Yunnan province is well known for their tea, it is not surprising, that parts of Yunnan belong to the tea horse road.
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