April 19: A hike today through somesmall villages that I think not many tourists get to, based on the looks we got. There were lots of farm animals around, and the people seem agriculturally oriented, with lots of farm fields lining the lake. We crossed into southern Sichuan province and the road got wider right away - I was told that Sichuan has a bigger budget for roadways than Yunnan. After lunch, I took a nap. I have been exhausted because there are several hateful roosters who start crowing each morning around 3:30 or 4 o'clock. They are horribly annoying and once they wake me up, they keep crowing every few seconds, so that it is impossible for me to fall back asleep for the rest of the night. I am not happy with these roosters at all, and I hope they find themselves on a dinner platter in short order.

April 20: Last night, a little boy, perhaps 5 years old, who seems to live in our homestay, kept me up from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., by screaming and crying for his "ama" (aunt) each time the TV was turned off. He was really very persistent and nobody disciplined him or told him that his behavior was not acceptable. I was very tired because of the roosters and I usually get most of my sleep from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., so he cut a couple of precious hours out of my sleep. I do not understand why he could not just go to sleep and had to watch TV, because I didn't hear him crying the last couple of nights. Who does the discipline of children in this household, I wondered to myself.
After lunch, we were back on the road to Lijiang. From there, we flew to Kunming and then back to Beijing. What a trip! Exhausting, but educational and amazing. And best of all, I saw yaks. My life is complete.

Matt Doran