To Wong Diana, Thanks For Everything, Love Wander Woman

Not to be too Blanche DuBois, but this trip has been all about the kindness of strangers. Yesterday morning I bought a buck's worth of strawberries and mulberries, and offered them around on the bus from Lijiang. Talk about your dividends: When we got to Tiger Leaping Gorge, a few of the students on trekking holiday spent half an hour bargaining with a driver so that I could see the gorge for a few hours. "How would you like it if you went to America and someone cheated you?" a tall girl howled. "You charge a fair price."

He did, and I spent a blissful few hours soaking up the scenery before heading to Zhongdian, three hours up the road. The two guesthouses that had been recommended were full, so I wound up in a creepy deserted place around the corner. More about Shangri-la, and the Mosuo, later. The talk today was all Tibet. Rumor has it that the authorities are looking the other way, and that the trip can be made by bus. It's a difference of about $300, and hey! What's four days on a bus, especially when you've been lucky enough to pick up the flu?

But the women at the bus station had other ideas, and flat-out refused to sell me a ticket, muttering threats about soldiers. I crossed the street in a funk. Then I heard "Cynthia!" It was one of my fruit friends from yesterday, just arrived in ZD and willing to purchase a ticket for me. She also wrote down her mobile number, "in case you have trouble."

Thanks, Diana. No internet for the next four or five days, but -- with luck -- Lhasa!