Not Approved by LP

Today hiked up to a place called Ani’s nunnery I think. Lovely spot with the gompa in a valley and the hills around filled with prayer flags and the nuns and monks so colourful and friendly. I think if I was a bird though I would go vegetarian, its where they chop up the dead people and feed them to the birds.

Been lucky with the weather after so much rain, everyday sunshine. Still hard to get over this place, its seems half the population are cowboys, the other half monks or nuns. But strolling thru the hills is so good, lovely grasslands now getting their autumn colours, hills covered in prayer flags and gompas etc, snow peaked mountains in the backgrounds, wandering amongst the yaks, the Khampas on horseback, the nomads with their black tents and some of the friendliest people around ( just wish they wouldn’t stand over when trying to write a blog – admittedly they liked it when they saw msn return to the home page and the events in a country close by – they couldn’t get it in Chinese ).

Plan to leave tomorrow but not sure where as transport a problem.

Won’t be making it to Danba tomorrow as too late. Went out for a late afternoon walk and photo session, some lovely views and then the local Tibetans started coming back towards Tagong, I guess from work or whatever they do. Some excellent photo opportunities and then one of the children wanted me to take a photo of him so I gave him the camera and let him get on with it, snapping away at his family etc. The pictures might not be of a professional standard but they loved it and then one place here has a computer and printer so I let them develop them, they are probably still looking at the photos now. But made for great entertainment.
Admittedly just got shaken up when one of the local dogs took a disliking to me as I walked back to the hotel but luckily nothing too serious. But here too good to rush so will stay a bit longer. Even better they now have the internet cafe working at my hotel so at least now can access it, before only one terminal working in the whole town after a fire damaged the main cables. Admittedly a strange feeling with every one else in their monks frocks, so I now know how they spend their free time.

Another lovely day with the sun shining and lots of photo ops. Been out wandering around but nothing too exciting. Hopefully will be going to Danba tomorrow but transport a bit problematic so not sure, seems to depend on if any private cars going in that direction.

Left Kangding with another 6am start. The bus looked like it had promise only to disappoint when the engine blew up so had to wait for another bus to come along. This one didn’t show much promise and sitting on the back seat it seemed to be lacking in suspension as well, probably less movement on a bouncy castle and the head took a few knocks – brought back memories of Cambodia !!. But we did our best to cling on and the scenery made it worthwhile, only for another long delay whilst a puncture had to be fixed. Up to this point the road had just been plain bad but further on they are in the process of constructing a proper road so all very dusty and slow ( with an airport under construction in Kangding and new roads being built, the region will be in a wonderful position to witness mass tourism Yunnan style, they must be so looking forward to it !!!!) . Finally the roadworks finished but by then we were behind dozens of trucks which obviously all had to be overtaken, no problem bar the fact it was all on blind bends, the driver certainly didn’t lack courage, he always went for it, creating some interesting situations when we did meet oncoming traffic. Finally after 7 hours on what should have been a 4 hour trip arrived in Tagong.

What an amazing place. It could have been taken straight out of one of the old spagetti westerns, Tibetan style. And when a guy on a horse strolled in with a slanted cowboy hat it was hard to take the place seriously. It’s basically one long wide street with colourful brick buildings and then at the end a square and then a monastery. But its the people which really bring the place to life, full of friendly Tibetans in cowboy hats and their distinctive colourful styles, then their Tibetan style motorbikes with all the extras. And the monks strolling around and those coming in on pilgrimage from outlying areas. The ” street” is surrounded by rolling hills with monasteries and gompas and covered in prayer flags etc. Then there are the yaks feeding in the hills, the Tibetans living in their black tents and snow capped mountains in the distance. Never known a place like it and very few tourists for some reason – obviously that will change as above.

After arriving found a fairly good hotel which at least had all the mod cons, just don’t think I will need the aircon. Then went out sightseeing only to be kidnapped by a Tibetan family arriving from somewhere over there – who insisted I join them. Lovely people but just not sure about the walking around the Gompa with a heavy stone a few times, a good way to appreciate the altitude at least.

Today been out hiking, some great views. The only downside to all this for me are the Tibetan dogs, whoever said dogs are mans best friend lied, these dogs aren’t !! and twice I had to make quick reverses when I had them running towards me in pairs ( a rabbies jab would probably be useful here but even then I still wouldn’t want to get too close given my love of dogs – not).
Also at 3800m the altitude has a fair kick, and seemed to cause problems for some people.

Ref : China Construction Bank has an ATM accepting international cards on Yanhe Donglu.

Recovered from yesterdays sickness and tomorrow head for Tagong Grasslands.

Never succeeded in getting a ticket to Litang but after a lot of hassle got a ticket for the much further Kangding in what turned out to take 15 hours plus.
So it was an early 6am start in heavy rain. After an hour I got to see my first snow as everything turned white. Wonderful views ( my words not the drivers ! ) would have been great to stop and take photos with the fresh snow, the yaks and herdsmen camped out by the road trying to keep warm, top stuff and even the cold and very high altitude seemed bearable.

This carried on for about 4 hours then the sun came out and the rough mountains mellowed to rounded tops and grasslands. Scenic at first but eventually tedious and started to doze. Went up a mountain, reaching 4600m when there was a sudden massive banging noise. The driver stopped, a steel cable about 200m in length lying in the road had got into the back wheels breaking whatever. So it was a long wait on the top of a mountain, with the cold to match – time to buy warmer clothes !!, wasn’t expecting this weather in September. Eventually they managed to cut the wire and fixed the broken bits and we did a very slow descent down the mountain, 2 trucks in a headon collision on a bend providing a timely reminder. Made it to a garage and got the rest of the cable out and replaced a damaged back tyre with the super smooth slick used as a spare.

Carried on but it wasn’t until near Kangding that the scenery went back to proper mountains ( admittedly a large part of the day was spent over 4000m). Unfortunately the sun had already set and in a clear sky would have made great views of gongga shan at 7556m, as it was it was dark as we made our long descent down to Kangding, the driver quickened the pace only to lose the back end badly on one bend and after that it was a much more cautious end.

Never the best time to arrive late at night when tired but checked into a cheap enough hotel of the old Chinese variety. Once travellers would have been begging to get into these hotels rather than the expensive foreigner approved ones. As it was it was a 5 storey climb up passageways that had probably never been cleaned in their lives and with the Chinese, their doors open, cooking in their room or the hallways. The room was actually ok bar the fact there was no water until 9am next morning and the bathroom one to be avoided.

As it was next morning my stomach was playing up and despite the character of the place it was time to find a better toilet and get away from the smells of food, plus the place was certainly not somewhere to be in in a fire. The next hotel better but again the old style with the seemingly usual miserable floor attendant in controls of the keys. There must be a special training school for these people as they never seem to look even remotely cheerful, maybe I’ve just been unlucky. Spent most of the day in the room feeling cold and weak so will stay another day here. Kangding itself, a fair size town with the usual building boom going on and surrounded by huge mountains, all pleasant enough.

Took the bus yesterday to xiangcheng, a 9 hour drive thru the mountains. Road good ( all things being relative ) with only one delay when the road had to be cleared for a landslide. Bus small and cramped but did its job. Up to the Sichuan border more developed and some nice little villages. Once into Sichuan the mountains became more rugged, little in the way of villages but raw and wonderful on a beautiful summers day. The road winds its way along the edges of mountains, here not even a hint of the concrete blocks to stop you going over the edge into the river below. And just to make sure we fully appreciated it the driver put his foot down for a gut wrenching couple of hours. Admittedly my fellow passengers just didn’t seem to appreciate it and slept.

The highlight was going over the top of the mountain and then the 26 km descent into Xiangcheng, twisting and turning into the town below.

After such a wonderful journey Xiancheng itself nothing to rave about. A small, characterless new town, but at least food and hotels ok and eventually found an internet cafe with what seems some pretty tough filters. I think China are playing Japan tonight here at football , never seen so many police for such a small place and none of the places I’ve been to so far have been exactly lacking in that department.

And now for the bad news. What should have been only an overnight stop is taking a bit longer. At one of the worlds worst bus stations, the equally unhelpful ticket office, in between laying bets in a card game, half explained there was no buses today. Went back today and for the few minutes it opened this morning said there was still no bus for the next day but come back at 2pm. No idea what is happening but I know they were having “problems” in Litang before I came out so can only wonder.

With the sun shining decided to make a move on tomorrow to Xiancheng or something like that. Journey meant to be quite tough but scenic so good weather would help.
Today good, took a few pics. Evening have local music blasting out in the square and everyone dancing in a circle – all very pretty. At least a good way to keep fit and at over 3000m probably has the lungs pumping.

Given that my last visit was when the country closed down due to SARs I guess it could only be better this time. In some ways a smaller version of Lijiang with its old town, Naxi buildings and locals in traditional outfits and without the Chinese tour groups. Even better is the blue skies and sunshine. But it is still essentially a tourist town – at least the old town, catering for the backpacker market rather than the mainstream. No shortage of places selling the pancakes and pizzas, English menus and that ultimate western luxury, knives and forks and a spoon for eating soup. But still looking for steak and kidney pie. Maybe I am being harsh but overall still don’t find the place particularly friendly and for the first time I bought something and was charged a price which produced a look on my face which soon had the lady reducing it. But overall still a nice place to relax and spend time – and maybe even the washing will dry.

Finally left the rain and Chinese tourist hordes of Lijiang and moved onto Zhondian. A fairly dull bus journey in heavy rain and little in the way of views. The good point however was that the Chinese guy next to me from Beijing had arranged for a 4 x 4 and driver for 3 days and offered to take me around the area, saving a lot of hassle of arranging things individually.

So we jumped out of the bus into the waiting vehicle with a Chinese girl from Fujian making up the group. Even the rain stopped and we had some good views heading into the mountains. It wasn’t until we reached high altitudes, reaching 4300m, that visibility gave way to thick mist. At least the roads were surprisingly good and we were in good spirits snapping away with the cameras.

Finally arrived at a small place just past Deqin at 9pm. I think Meili but looked no more than a few hotels perched on the side of the mountain.
An early 6.30am start to catch the sun rise over snow mountain (Kawa Karpo ). At 6740m it shouldn’t been hard to spot but …..so it was back to bed. Eventually we got up and made a move. The driver struggling in the thick fog whilst we were reduced to comparing photos of the previous day and Lugu lake and Lijiang on a lap top. Then after an hour clouds started to break up and we had some great views, admittedly normally for only seconds at a time, so the poor driver was constantly being hassled to stop but took it well. Then as we went to 3000m the sun came out and we had some good weather, however even that seemed to change at every bend.

Yesterday went to Baishutai, for its famous limestone terraces. Good and some nice scenery on the way but again let down by the weather. Then in the afternon went to Emerald Pagoda Lake, now the Pu Dagauo national park. It wasn’t a place on my agenda and the 190 yuan entrance fee convinced me it was better to stay dry and catch up with sleep in the vehicle. The others enjoyed it and there were no shortage of Chinese tour buses but from the photos it was no great miss.

So lots of photos taken and some good mountain sightseeing. The weather was a pain but in the high mountains even that has a certain desolate appeal. And being with Chinese we certainly never went hungry, I doubt we ever finished half the food ordered but had some good meals.