Wednesday 4^th August, 2021 1200

Intercontinental Hotels Resort, Lijiang

My holiday continues as it started. I have been getting out for an hour at around 1900 to try and eat – last night managing two very small pizza slices and just now a couple of mousses I took away with me.

However this villa is not a bad place at all to be stuck in, I have a view of our “garden” and a minibar, not something I have ever used since the mid 70s but the prices aren't exorbitant.

Alice was up at six this morning, she had signed up for a group tour today to somewhere which is a three hour drive from here so probably won't be back until it's time to go for some free food and drink followed by a G&T on the terrace for me and a mojito for her. No idea what her plans are for tomorrow but even had I been feeling 100% she'd have been on her own. But then she knew that and she's perfectly happy doing her own thing while I play Grandpa.

Jody, who was going travelling to Xinjiang (you know, where they say everyone is being put into concentration camps) on Sunday, is still in my home. They cancelled that because apparently Xinjiang has a fresh outbreak and it would have involved quarantine.

A couple of people have asked me recently if “the word” in the UK that says China is in fierce lockdown is true. It isn't. Xinjiang, parts of Beijing are and of course Nanjing and surrounding provinces. So far we have been lucky. We travelled south to get here (west of the problem areas) and will fly east to Shanghai (south of them) and ergo with luck will avoid any unpleasantness.

The ancient town is literally about thirty yards from our back wall and all day there are various loud sounds from music to Chinese drums. Thankfully if I close the door I can't hear them, ditto the extremely noisy Chinese family staying in a nearby villa.

I have two more nights in which to try and get enough nutrition into me for the trip to Dali, thankfully less than two hours on the train. The deal with Alice was that she paid for the trains and most of our meals. Well she certainly hit the jackpot on that one – I haven't been for any! And of course here there's free grub in the club lounge.

And still the quest for pork breakfast sausages continues......