Swine-mate
This is a bit overdue. But alas…
I returned to Beijing about two weeks back, after a month traveling China’s western frontier. Em, after a 6 hour flight delay and a border snafu, also safely returned to Hong Kong.
I miss the road already, and it feels odd not having The Swine’s presence around 24/7. She has been a good colleague throughout the trip, as well as a good friend.
For that, thank you.
Xining
Paoma Mountain
Kangding’s most well-known landmark is one of its nearby mountains, Paoma Mountain. The snowy peak was made famous by the immensely popular song, Kangding Love Song.
Going from Ganzi to Kangding also marked the longest bus ride Em and I had this entire trip: 14 hours!! While the ride was beautiful, being on a dirty bus for 14 hours was pretty trying…
Bus ride
Passby Lake
Ganzi
Ganzi is a Tibetan trading town, located in a stunning valley in the shadow of the nearby Chola snow mountain range.
Across the street from the Ganzi bus station, there’s a restaurant called the Daba Han Tibetan Family Restaurant. The hole-in-the-wall joint is owned by a middle aged Han couple and a young Tibetan help. A+ to them in name creativity.
Trola
Trola Pass lies between Dege and Manigango. At 4916 meters above sea level, it’s the highest pass outside of Tibet.
Dege
Dege was a charming little town nestled deep in a remote mountain valley, close to the border of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Logistically speaking, it was one of the hardest places for Em and I to reach. Thanks to a bit of persistence and rerouting, we got there with no problem.
However, a half a side of yak carcass was involved in our transportation. Em almost gagged on the way (note: the woman is a vegetarian). I wonder how the Tibetans would have felt about that.
Manigango
Manigango is a one-lane, rough and tumble kind of town located in the middle of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. The town is rustic and the surrounding scenery beautiful. Conditions made the town difficult to stay in, but it worked for a night as a transition stop.
It was also our first stop on the proper Sichuan Tibet highway, which means we got into the province with no problem.
Xiahe
Zoige
As part of our detour, we had to loop our way east, into Xiahe (Gansu Province) via the “wild west” town Zoige.
Though unplanned, the detour led Em and I into a series of pleasant surprises, including the chance to interact with some fascinating personalities.
Traveling puts many things into perspective. I’m constantly humbled by the kindness of strangers.
Mirror Lake, Jiuzhaigou
I’m on the road again. Again, I’m in western China, this time traveling with my Hong Kong friend, Emily.
One of our first stops is in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan Province. This time of year, the park is beautiful. Primordial alpine forests with fall color leaves, snow capped mountains, turquoise lake, and not AS many tourists as the park normally sees in the high season.
It’s a little piece of heaven on earth.
Fellow stuck people
As I mentioned in my previous post, rural mountain road conditions in China can be precarious at best. Take, for example, my ride from Daocheng back to Shangri-la. About 4 hours into the 13 hour bus ride, we passed through a recent landslide area. Somewhere along the way, a huge piece of rock was jutting into the middle of the road. My driver skillfully maneuvered the first half of the bus through with no problem. Then his cell phone rang. Of course, he picked it up. That was when the second half of our bus rammed into huge rock jutting into the middle of the road. The result (as far as my naked eyes can tell) was a broken axle and both sides of the back wheels being completely misaligned. We were very lucky to not have careened off the narrow road (that had no shoulders to protect us) into the valley a few hundred meters below us.
Even more stuck
Having established everyone was OK, the next problem was to figure out what to do with the bus. The driver and his helpers could not have abandoned it in the middle of the road and the idea of a toll truck was a mere fantasy. Plus, being a one lane road, we were causing a traffic jam. This left only one option: to try to fix the bus. But with what? Thankfully, being a creative bunch, the driver and whoever was helping him decided to leverage our surrounding natural resources. This meant chipping off hunks of rock and using that as a hammer to bend our rim (also busted) back into shape and using a wood chopper to get at pieces of wood (I have no idea what for).
In the end, the driver decided that the bus was suitable enough to once again carry passengers. Having done the same route a few days before, I knew that we still had a 4,000 meter high pass ahead of us, as well as a really sludgy mud pass. That in mind, it was an easy decision for me when I decided to drop a bit more money and hire a private car with some fellow travelers. Plus, you know it’s pretty bad when even some of the Chinese passengers refused to get on the bus.
The best part of this story? At least we were stuck in some pretty damn stunning scenery!!
What was below us
On the way to Daocheng
The road to Daocheng is a 13 hour drive from Shangri-la. The “highway” goes through deep mountain territory, a dangerous way prone to mud and rock slides. As a result, there are numerous cases of car plummeting off the cliff-side road every year. Along the way, we passed through granite mountains, dripping forests, and 2 mountain passes that’s over 4000 meters above sea level.
It is one of the most beautiful rides I’ve had in China.
Sheila Takes Pictures 