HFCAMPO - sorry I just saw this reply when garbo bumped it.

It didn't seem like it was still being worked on. As far as I could tell, all our delays were damage-related. Perhaps that center portion where only small buses were allowed was still being worked on, or maybe it was just narrow.

I wish I knew which roads we were on! When we left Luoshui, it wasn't very long before the driver turned right off the main road, bumping down what seemed to be a steep driveway. That was the beginning of the route change, and that road was pretty awful. I could see why buses didn't use it. The place we stopped was a scenic lookout point (Kawa Karpo, I think) that also sold a few snacks. The road damage was up ahead and someone had told the driver about it, so instead of waiting along the road we stayed at the lookout.

Leaving Lijiang on the way up there was a delay after about an hour or so, and it was due to mud. Getting out of the city didn't seem to be a problem at all.

garbo - go down to Lijiang and catch the bus to Shangrila :)

For unlocking, who was your old carrier? It's easy to do through AT&T even if you're not their customer anymore.

I regret not bringing my neti pot with me. I haven't had numbness or pain, just a lot of snot and sneezing.

In Shangrila we could get yellow or brown buckwheat baba instead of wheat if we wanted. I hope this is available in guandu too. It's great with Nutella.

So is a spoon.

What time does the show start? I want to make sure my toddler starts eating before getting super distracted :)