Dege
Its been a hectic last couple of days. I took a wreck of a thing resembling a bus to Dege – the law of bus transport says the rougher the journey the worst the bus ( if the bus is going to go over the side why waste a good one ) so at least the journey had promise. A cloudy start but the autumn colours coming into there own and a good journey. We stopped for lunch in a one horse town called Maniango which Lp says has some of the mangiest dogs in SW China ( and thats in a pretty competitive field ), it could have said the same about some of the locals. A shame as the scenery around the area as good as anywhere and had the place been nicer I would probably have stayed there. The lake close by picture postcard and some great hiking opportunities. I’m sure the Chinese will do a clean up job, certainly has the potential.
So back on the bus and along some great scenery, the crossing of the Chola mountains awaiting us. Finally we made our ascent, slowly chugging along, belching out black smoke, round and round, up and up. As you looked up rocks and huge boulders were waiting their turn to come crashing down, to look down – you didn’t want to look down !, but looking across we were surrounded by the tops of the mountains, sharp jagged edges, raw mountains. It seemed as if it would never end, the lack of oxygen tightening the chest ( my highest point to date), but eventually we took a final turn, prayer flags covered the top of the pass, the locals said prayers and threw coloured prayer paper out the windows. A quick toilet stop and then all the way back down. Finally after 7 hours the bus finally chugged into Dege.
Not for the first time it was a case of a great journey only for the final product to be a let down and not just because it poured with rain on arrival. Dege is a major place on the Tibetan religious map. Its lamesary, with the Potala Palace and Sakya Monastery make up the top 3. its printing presses are famed and 70% of Tibetan scriptures are stored here, this is big stuff. And pilgrims walk round and round the lamesary doing their prayers etc.
Thats the good bit, now for the rest. I am sure plenty of people love Dege but for me it didn’t happen. The buildings largely the typical ugly concrete block types, lots of constuction going on but hotel situation dire. It has a reputation for only letting foreigners into expensive ” foreigner approved” hotels. As it was got into a normal place no problem. Room ok, nice Tibetan handpainted ceiling but a communal bathroom. I can handle the squat toilets but to take a shower or using the wash basin meant standing in them ( seems to be quite a common design flaw ). As it was it made no difference as despite the river running past the window there was no water anyway and lights in the same vane. Also whereas I have no problem with community policing, not for the first time it was to the extreme. It seemed as if half the population were monks/nuns the other men in blue. For sure the people friendly enough and none of the negative vibes I hear you get in T itself but it just doesn’t give a good religious experience. As it was the Lamesary was just closing as I arrived, they let me in for a quick glance but I couldn’t bring myself to stay the extra night.
So another early start, first having to brave the horrible dogs roaming the street in the dark, luckily they were more interested in themselves. Arrived at the bus station – ok , the one bus, and a guy with a minivan called out for Ganzi. Not a great fan of these things, prefer the extra size of a bus but given the state of the bus opted for the minivan. Had rained the previous night but now the colours in their splendour, bright oranges, yellow and greens. Then it was another go at the Chola mountains. Again we went up, I couldn’t understand why the driver constantly looking out the window at the road, only to be answered as snow covered the mountains. As we reached those same raw mountains, now they were in their full sprinkled white slendour, totally stunning. At the top we stopped so I could take photos – the amount of ice on the road took me by surprise !. The views were perfect,excellent light with a mixture of sun and clouds, one trip when I wish I had private transport as easily the best so far. After the mountains it was another surge of colour, the grasslands with nomad tents, the yaks and the cute baby yaks in the fields, the turquoise lakes and rivers, monasteries on the hillsides, the monks, nuns and Tibetans and some great Tibetans characters sharing the minivan, we had an excellent trip.
Tags: China, Dege, Travel
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