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Published: June 25th 2017
From sublime to ridiculous
Mac confronted with tomatoes; literally "not happy Jan" car sick and freezing; the welcomed luxury of the SheratonGeo: 33.13, 103.55
Some days are diamond and some days are stone.
You guessed it, this was the "stone" day.
An early start in Chengdu to be sure we arrived at the airport in time for the 10.30 flight. We woke at 6 am to the rumbling of thunder and when we opened the curtain Chengdu was blanketed in an angry black cloud and lightening flashed and thunder roared!
A quick breakfast and we were bundling into the car for the ride to the airport. But the rain brings with it it's own challenges and we were soon stuck bumper to bumper in traffic that was not moving an inch. Our 20 minute ride to the airport turned into an hour ten crawl.
A quick dash through the massive terminal two and we were tossing my overweight luggage into checkin (this was a bit of good news for the day...it just slid through without any extra charge). Good bye to Amy and through the security check (Mac had a bottle of water in his bag so we were called back) and then the sprint to gate 138 (yep...ONE HUNDRED) to arrive for boarding with just five minutes to spare only to see a sign
Huanglong Walk
...imagining what the pools may have been like with water; challenged by the altitude posted to inform us that the flight would be delayed for two hours due to weather conditions.
We settled in for a rest! Quite pleasant actually to "just be".
The flight was called two hours later and the Boeing 737 was a pleasant surprise. Lots of turbulence and ear popping and soon we were flying over soaring peaks blanketed in snow. A truly spectacular scenery change from Chengdu and everyone on board was craning to see the peaks and valleys (except me of course, I was deeply into "Made in China" part 2). This was only a quick little 45 minute flight from the urban monster of Chengdu to the autonomous province of the"9 Tibetan villages."
The runway for this airport is literally carved out of a mountain peak. The plateau has been created for this high altitude landing strip. To make the landing safer and to create a landing and takeoff corridor, the peaks of the surrounding mountains have been shaved off to create plateaus that don't interfere with the wing span of the plane. Amazing actually.
We both noticed the impact of the altitude as soon as we were out of the plane ....a dizzying light headedness and an urge to take deep lung filling breathes at 3 500 metre above sea level.
And yes, our friendly guide, Kerry was right there at the gate waiting for us. We trundled the luggage to the waiting car .... And up until that moment everything seemed to be on track for "normal."
In very broken English, Kerry informed us that we had a one hour drive to the first scenic spot, a two hour drive to our accommodation, a long walk and lunch at a restaurant that "was not very good Western quality". At least we think this is what was said. And somewhere in there we thought we heard we would have a 5.30 am start on Saturday morning to be back in time for the 8.30 am return flight. Surely not!
The meal should have been a warning of the things to come ...the first dish was an omelette buried under a pile of steaming, sloshy and juicy tomatoes. Mac would need more than steely resolve to attack that pile! Of course more choices followed and we were a little hungry at 2 in the afternoon. The delight and delicacy of the meal was topped off by our driver enjoying a cigarette with his lunch at the next table.
I haven't mentioned before that we have been a bit of a novelty in China - many locals come up and ask to have a photo taken with us.....as we emerged from this restaurant it was like we were two headed monsters.....workers even stopped their machinery to have a look at us as we walked to the car!
The trip to the Huanlong Valley was a steep mountain descent. - actually a very steep descent. The road was a series of switchbacks that circled round and round through a series of U turns. The railing hugged the precipitous cliff line and plummeted into the valley below. The mad driving of the city continued here - it took its own peculiar form and was replaced by the suicidal driving of the mountain men. No-one travels on their own side of the road - horns blare - brakes catch - passing happens anywhere at anytime regardless of the line of sight or the oncoming traffic - speed limits are notional (you just go as fast as you can without hitting anything or falling off the mountain) - moving targets to avoid include landslides, yaks and wild horses, scooters, bikes, buses and the odd pedestrian....oh, and the guard railing.
It was a white knuckle ride.
With relief we arrived at the park and tried to do a quick clothing change in the back of the van - we left Chengdu at 25 C and were about to step out into 15 C. The good news here (well good news for China tours anyway) is that my passport check revealed I am OVER 60 so I got a 50%!d(MISSING)iscount on the admission. How exciting, my first seniors discount!
The interactions with Kerry have been challenging. It seems that she is "reciting" passages but can't actually understand a single word we say. So we just follow along and have no idea about anything. Except the steps. Here we go again. Onward and upwards. This is tougher than The Great Wall". It reminds me of @Von and @Julie's stories of climbing in altitude. It is one step at a time with regular stops while looking enviously at the tourists who are sucking repeatedly on little mini oxygen tanks! Why didn't we have one of those?
This is a UNESCO listed site and is truly spectacular. We are visiting in the "dry" season and the pools are empty but there are lots of pictures along the way to show what the pools would look like in the "wet" season.
From Wikipedia:
Huanglong Valley 黄龙沟 - The total length of the travertine in Huanglong Valley is 3.6 km and it is thought to look like a huge golden dragon wheeling through the snow-capped mountains of the valley. The main landscapes are travertine banks, colorful ponds and travertine waterfalls and caves. The main body of water starts from the ancient Buddhist/Benbo temple at the top of the valley and ends at the Guests Welcome Pond in the north with a length of 2.5 km and a width of 30–170m. The colours of Huanglong's waters consist of yellows, greens, blues and browns.
We didn't make it to the top - short on both time and oxygen - but Mac did make it further up than me and also outlasted our guide Kerry. (Kerry said she was tired and couldn't go on but I think she stopped because she was losing reception on her mobile phone,!) I rested up in a little booth and actually had my own little celebrity photo shoot happening with lots of hikers who wanted a photo with the only westerner they had ever seen!
The two hour ride to Jiuzhaigou was beyond white knuckle! This guy took our lives in his hands and threw caution to the wind. We were already nauseous from the exertion of the climb. Combine that with the Zipper, Graviton, the Octopus and dodgem car rides of the EKKA and you are close to our sustained two hour driving nightmare. The nicotine stench in the confines of the closed car added to the nightmare. Mac watched every wild twist and turn while gripping the door handle in his attempt to avoid motion sickness. I wrapped my head in my scarf, wound down my window to gulp in fresh, icy air and wept and dry wretched my way to the "fairy kingdom". It was truly a living nightmare.
I don't care if I have to stay here forever, I am not getting back in the car with that mountain madman! Having said that - there were a few other vehicles on the way that actually passed us! So are we better with the maniac "we know". Maybe we will have a clearer perspective tomorrow.
In recounting this to Michael his response was "Enjoy the diverse culture! That includes other driving etiquette!" We'll do our best.
But to end on a positive, we are at the Sheraton Resort in Jiuzhaigou and it is stunningly beautiful. No more "stones" bring on the "diamonds" of tomorrow....and Saturday will take care of itself.
Pedometer reading: 8 803
Temperature: daytime 25C and storming Chengdu 15 C Jiuzhaigou
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Kathy
non-member comment
So he wouldn't eat tomato even though it meant nothing else? :) Also news re Comm Games - 2 Emma's and an Ashleigh selected!