finding my Shangri-la
Friday, December 5th, 2008Shangri-La was first a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. It was a mythical Himalayan paradise where everyone was happy and things were sweet. Since then Shangri-la ha been used as a term for travelers to describe their perfect holiday spots, and also become a international hotel chain. Clever China thought if they renamed a small Tibetan town in Yunnan from Zongdian to the more interesting Shangri-la, then more tourists would go. It worked and I was on a bus heading to north to just-about-Tibet, the ‘real’ Shangri-la.
Shangri-la is mostly Tibetan, and was as close as I was going to get this trip to the real thing. And well, it seemed pretty much like Tibet to me. There is an old town with cobbled-stone streets and a temple on a hill overlooking the town. Its freezing cold and at high altitude, so showering is difficult as the pipes freeze and there is no water. When I arrived it was late and dark and didn’t quite make it to the hotel I wanted. But decided to stay anyway. Dead quiet being low season there is really no tourists around, and definitely no western ones.
The hostel was OK, basic and cold, no doors on the toilets. I ended up moving the following morning to place which was very similar (but with toilet doors) but I ran into Claire who I had hung out with in Kunming, who was unfortunately just leaving but had breakfast with her in the sun before her bus. Once she had gone I had the whole dorm room to myself which was a bit strange to be in a room alone.
(Local women dressed in colourful clothing)
I ended up with 3 nights in Shangri-la and spent a lot of time wandering the streets with monks and women dressed in colourful local clothing. The old town is packed with little cafes and restaurants which I spent a bit of time in. The square in the middle is full during the day of women selling grilled veges on sticks. In the evening the square turns into this strange communal dancing space. I stumbled upon this my first night thinking it was a once off but no, every night speakers are cranked out and for hours people come and go dancing this dance that every one knows in a big circle. There are old women, kids, teenagers, parents with kids on their backs, old men shuffling round, tourists trying to copy the others. Its pretty cool to watch and it just goes on for so long, with everyone knowing what to do even though the dance and music changes all the time. At some point the music ends and people disperse as though nothing ever happened.
(Dancers n the main square)
One of the major sights in town is the big monastery,about an hours walk through town. On the way I walked through the town beyond the old town, which was nice to see the rest of the place. A bit busier, lots of people selling things and shops packed. The wind is freezing and once the sun goes down its deathly cold but when the sun is high its very hot. So a strange combination of beings really hot and really cold all the time. Once I made it to the monastery entrance I took a bus over the hill to the huge complex which built over a hill.
Even from the distance it is beautiful, a massive area with huge temples on the top. At the entrance way are colourful women selling jewellery, prayer beads and local costumes. You can even sit on a real yak and get your photo taken.
Inside I climbed all the way to the top of the stairs, to the temples on top. The place is beautiful and over 300 years old with 600 monks living there. You can’t take photos inside the temples which is unfortunate because inside is the stuff which travel photographers seek out, young monks in crimson robes lighting butter candles in dark corners, old monks with missing teeth and wrinkled faces chanting from ancient scrolls piled in front of them while spinning silver prayer wheels. Teenage monks are sitting in the sun drinking pepsi, their camo clothing under their robes showing through. Old women with wind burnt red cheeks dressed in pink and blue. It’s a very cool place and with only a handful of chinese tourists.
I wandered through the temples with are filled with giant gold Buddhas and prayer flags and down some little side streets before making back down to the front and them back into town.I had brought a ticket for a 9am bus to Dali, so after 3 days of checking out monks, eating brownie and vege’s on sticks I jumped on the 8 hour bus back down south to warmer weather, but now even more determined to get to Tibet proper…next trip I guess.
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