Chengdu
13, May 2004
I’m in Chengdu finally! It’s a cool city that I think I’m gonna end up spending a lot of time in eventually (I’ve already been offered English teaching jobs without looking!). There are over 11 million people here, but it doesn’t feel at all like a big city. It took three days on a bus to get here and killed my back, but I made it.
I went on the old Tea Road, it runs from Yunnan to Sichuan (Chinese Province’s), the road has been closed to foreigners until only a couple of years ago. They were terrible and it was almost normal to drive over a 4,000 meter pass or nearly fall off the side of the road (no guard rails), because the driver doesn’t slow down on hair pin turns. The roads are only 1 1/2 lanes and all the driver does is beep the horn as he comes flying around the corner and hopes that oncoming traffic (if there is any) will do the same, so he can slow down and get back in his lane. Besides that, the scenery was absolutely beautiful! We went over one pass that was 4,700 meters (well over 13,000 feet) and we could see forever. We were above the clouds and it made me forget for a while how bad my back hurt. We stayed in Tibetan villages in the night time, which are getting bigger, because many Tibetans are fleeing Tibet for more freedom in this part of China (bet you didn’t know that!).
I was already supposed to be in Tibet, but I met some really cool girls that ran a bar in a guest house that we stayed in (in Zhongdian/Shangri-la), so I decided to hang out for a while. I helped the owner make menu’s (they wanted to know what Western travellers like to eat) and corrected some messed up writing he had on some signs. They were so happy with me that I ate and drank (you guessed it…..rice whiskey and beer) for free!
Zhongdian has also been a Tibetan village for years, but now China is trying to turn it into a tourist trap, I really enjoyed it though. I was invited into a Tibetan house in the village and the family stopped working in the fields to come have Yak Butter Tea with me and also gave me Yak Cheese and their home made bread (round flat and tasteless). They’re such good, giving people! They don’t have much, but what they do have they don’t hesitate to share with a stranger (who they know has much more money then they do). They sing all day, even in the fields and once in a while the girls will start dancing while they sing. It’s going to be great in Tibet! I’m planning to go there this Friday and was planning to go to Nepal after that (because it’s so close), but as it turns out it isn’t trekking season now and half the reason I’m going there is to conquer Everest!
I heard some guy somewhere talking about Mongolia (I think) and it’s supposed to be the best time of year (the only time) to go there, so I have a new plan! After Tibet I’ll make my way to Beijing to get a Visa for Mongolia, and then take the Trans Mongolian Railway to Mongolia. After that I’ll try to head across to Kazakhstan and down through a few other “Stans”, the last of which is Pakistan, then cross Northern India into Nepal in time for trekking season (Oct-Nov)! I’m not sure that they’ll let an American into those countries, so I’ll have to do some research on the “Stans”. There are a bunch of Muslims around there, so I’m not gonna shave my beard till then! Woohoo!! I’m already in a no beard shaving contest with Peter (my Swedish friend) and we haven’t shaved since Chang Mai, Thailand! Damn, I look like a crazy hippie with a big green Commie jacket, long hair and a messy beard! Oh yeah, I bought a huge green Commie jacket that goes past my knees, it has golden (fake) stars (Commie) buttons with fake fur around the collar. People don’t know what the hell is happening to their town when they see me walking down their street with that on! Yeah! The world’s my personal playground (at least I feel that way now)!
Wow, I wrote a lot already. There is so much to say, and I don’t have the mental/academic capacity to relay it to everyone. Heehee! 😉 I guess the bottom line is that I’m still enjoying life to the fullest everyday and I hope everyone who reads this will take time out someday to do the same (whatever that may be to everyone)! I know travelling isn’t everyone’s “cup of tea” (I had to say it, I AM in China!), but I hope everyone does what they really want, whatever does do it for yuh! We all deserve it after all! I’m outta here!
Tags: bad roads china, Chengdu, China, Sichuan, Yunnan
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