You might be surprised to find out, that even though the guidebook says that one of the highlights of the area is watching the sunrise over MeiliXueshan (Kawa Karpo), it's not always possible.
You'd be amazed how many people I've spoken to who have been absolutely convinced that they're going to see a spectacular sunrise, despite the season, and me telling them to the contrary, because the guidebook says they will. Sometimes the best times to see the mountain isn't in the morning, even if the guidebook says it is.
As a rule of thumb and based on my experience only.... winter is the best time. If you want unlimited, anytime, picture postcard vistas of the mountains, then you need to visit in the winter. Winter is the only time you can guarantee spectacular views
In autumn or spring, you normally get windows of clarity. The longer you stay around, the more chance you'll get of it being cleared. You can have four days of no clouds, then four days of cloud, like this, or it can be clear in the morning and clouded over in the evening. It's hard to predict.
In the summer, which is the rainy season, the peaks are often covered in cloud. My experience, and I've been in Deqin every month of the year, is that if it's going to be clear, then this usually happens in the late afternoon. Gosh, I know the guidebook says it's clear in the morning, but my experience is that in the summer it's clearer in the afternoon. Make of it as you will.
Remember, Deqin is so spectacular you don't need to see Meilixueshan (Kawa Karpo) to be blown away by the scenery, so come up regardless of the weather. In fact the first time I ever visited Deqin, it was so cloudy we had no chance of seeing the mountains. Our driver parked his car up in Felaizi and stood there pointing at a whole bunch of cloud. We kinda had the impression he was pointing at something significant but couldn't see anything. Despite not seeing Meilixueshan we still had an amazing time in Deqin.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
New Website
So, check out Tashi's Mountain Lodge's new website.
it has some great new features including a message board to help travelers coordinate their travel plans in northern Yunnan.
check it out
www.deqinlodge.com
Don't forget you can also see the original Tashi's site @ www.tashislodge.com - unfortunately, this site is difficult to see in Yunnan. hence the new site
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