The Chong Cao Run

"Veerrry Goood... veerrry goood" drawled the driver in a smug, low, voice as our minivan was speeding along the bumpy dirt road, soon to rendezvous with yet another downhill hairpin turn. The ten or so Tibetans that had been crammed into this little 7-seater with us, for whom reckless driving was a rare treat, weren't helping, egging the driver on as he attempted to pass (yet again) his friend who was driving the minivan up ahead. "I've travelled the best part of twelve months in Western Sichuan over the last few years", lamented Isamu, my new Japanese traveller friend I'd just met trekking in the Yading Nature Reserve, "and I think I shall die in a van like this".

They say the 'back-door' route from North-West Yunnan to Sichuan via the latter's wild Tibetan west is one of the great thrill rides in China. The drivers, and of course the roads, certainly confirmed this for me.

But I lived to tell the tale, and tell it I will. I'm currently in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, after a couple of weeks in buses and minivans in the most beautiful scenery my eyes have yet, um, seen. If it wasn't the drivers driving crazily fast on the only well-paved road in the region (Daocheng to Litang), it was the drivers driving crazily fast on the badly-paved, or unpaved roads in the region. If it wasn't a broken axle and landslides (Zhongdian to Daocheng) and unpaved hairpin bends (the aforementioned Daocheng - Yading route), it was making up for lost time driving potholed roads over 5000m passes at night in a thick fog (Yaijiang to Kangding).

The first stop out of Yunnan was Daocheng, a small border town and gateway to the beautiful Yading Nature Reserve, which features three Holy Tibetan peaks: Chenserig, Jampalyang and Chanadorge. The Chinese are keen to turn this into a major tourist attraction, and have accordingly jacked up the price of admission to the reserve. Thankfully, local Tibetans are annoyed at not seeing any of this money, and the taxi drivers practically force you to hide in the back of the van as they drive through the ticket point (and charge a small fee of their own for the honour). After meeting Isamu on the van down there, I had a partner for the two day pilgrimage trek (or 'kora') around Chenserig, taking in the mind-blowing scenery of the three snow mountains, the lush pastures, high altitude glacial lakes, and two 5200m passes, not to mention the hundreds of Tibetans also doing the kora (only at a much increased pace).

From there it was a quick (too quick!) ride to Litang, an amazing town set amidst rolling hills and a vast grassland at 4800m. 'Tashi Delek', the Tibetan greeting was the best way to make friends here, a good thing when the average local is an intimidating, tall, Tibetan cowboy complete with big hat, coat, boots, and of course knife. There is an imposing monastery on the hill above the town, where views of the traditional cubic Tibetan houses of the surrounding villages were stunning.

The icing on the cake as far as bizarre journeys goes was our 'quick trip' from Litang to Yaijiang. My suggestion when in Litang is to take the bus. Don't take a minivan, owned and operated by a friendly monk, if you're in a hurry.

Above 3000m, and only on the Tibetan plateau, grows the intriguing Chinese medicine "Chong Cao" (pronounced "Chong Tsow"). Listed variously on the internet as a fungus AND a caterpiller, the best explanation you'll get from the Tibetans or chinese is that it is half and half. They don't care what it is, just that it is a cure-all medicine that also acts as an aphrodisiac, and they're willing to pay well for it (about 10 yuan ($1.60) for a small one). Which is where the friendly monk comes in. Chong Cao is an important part of the economy of these small Tibetan cities and villages, with traders on every street, and Tibetan pilrims spending more time searching for it in the hills than actual trekking during pilgrimage circuits.

At the start of our ride ('our' being myself and Daoyong, my Shanghainese friend I met in Deqin last year, who joined me for a week in Sichuan this time), it was explained that we would have a quick detour to a small tibetan village en route. 'En route' meant 1 hour off the main road into a deep gorge. The purpose? To pick up a massive bag of Chong Cao and sell it for the locals in the village (with a bit of a profit for himself of course). And of course we had to stop by the road (for another 2 hours) once we got going again to sell half of it to some roadside cowboys. The upshot was that our quick 3 hour hop from Litang to Yaijiang to get an onward taxi that day to Kangding, was expanded to 7 hours, and a night bus over pea-soup fog passes.

Kangding was nice relaxing spot, with all the big-city amenities, and more importantly a foreign affairs branch of the PSB (police) where I could extend my visa.

Two hours south of Kangding, on the other side of the immense Dadu River Gorge/Valley, lies the town of Moxi, the gateway to China's highest mountain (outside Tibet), the 7550m Gonga Shan, and its longest glacier Hailuoguo. The town itself was disappointing, becoming overcrowded with rich (corrupt!) tourists from nearby Chengdu, but the glacier was more so: an expensive place to visit in the ever emerging wet season with clouds covering not just Gonga Shan (I didn't see it), but even the glacier when we were up there! Got to walk on a dirty, rubble and rubbish covered Chinese glacier though.

After a few more days relaxing and doing nothing in Kangding, I decided to head for Chengdu for, well, a few more days of relaxing and doing nothing. It was quite a shock arriving back in the thick smog, heat and humidity that I have thankfully missed so far in China, but after a week here (I had to wait for the dirtman (he's on travelblog.org too if you look!) to arrive), I realised this city has a lot to offer. The best experience was of course the Panda Research Institute, where you can stare and big fat panda's either lying on their back and eating, sitting up and eating, rolling over and eating, and sometimes just eating (kinda like what I've been doing I suppose). The worst experience was finding an Aussie bar just in time on Wednesday night for State Of Origin II, only to have the spectacle high-jacked by the "hopefully-soon-to-be-deceased-if-he's-ever-allowed-back" prick Steve Clark. Ah well, at least I wasn't at the HQ.

So now the dirtman has arrived and I've got a travel companion for the next few months. Stay tuned folks, this is gonna get messy!

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