I am not sure if that is his real name or a name he made up because he knew we could remember and pronounce it. This is one of the front views of him. I only saw the back of his head most of the time because he was our driver and more important a really safe driver, which is a rarity here. He did not use the horn more than necessary he only passed one car at a time and he generally stayed in one lane. He bribed us with water and gum to keep us happy. He was even willing to travel with us alone when Tom, our LiJiang guide, finished his part of the tour in the next town. We were not going to meet up with Marching, our Shangri-La guide, until we reached another town 2 hours further up the road. Leaving tourists alone without a guide is usually a no no – but we felt totally safe and obviously Mr. Mao felt safe with us too. This saved Tom from having to go those extra couple of hours to the next town and then having to wait and take a long bus ride back to LiJiang.
