To Kangding and the Himalayas

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Our couple of days in Chongqing and Chengdu served the purpose of a brief acclimation to being back in China. Now we are at 8,500 feet above sea level in Kangding for a few days to acclimate to the altitude, the Himalayas and the Tibetan regions.

Tuesday we took the fast train to Chengdu and spent the night in the apratment of Lynn's cousin. His parents are out of the country running an export business in Uganda, a trade relationship that the Chinese government is appaently promoting. So, he has the apartment, and this is the young person's hangout in Chengdu where Jacob has been spending some time. It was very nice of Jamie, the name by which her cousin is known to us, and all of them, to let us stay there. That evening we had a great Sichuan noodle dinner in a small, local place, where we ate on a low table on the sidewalk since it was way too hot inside. This was next to the Kuan Zhai Xiang Zi, a tourist area with several alleys of reconstructed old Sichuan style buildings with bars, restaurants and stores. There we met Bonnie Thie, who Kathy knows through her job, and who is now heading up the Peace Corps office in Chengdu.

For yesterday's bus ride to Kangding Jacob had reserved us the seats in the front row, with great views ahead. This was fun during the first flat part on the superhighway through the countryside of the Sichuan plain and awesome after we turned off to the Sichuan-Tibet highway at Ya'an and started up though the bamboo forests in the foothills. As the road climbed and the canyon walls became steeper, more guardrails were washed away from the effects of recent landslides, and the road was more often narrowed to one lane due to landslide debris, this view was sometimes more terrorizing than fun. The trip was characterized by the frequent need to pass slow trucks with the same thing happening in the other direction. There's nothing quite like being in a large bus on a narrow road with a drainage ditch and a steep cliff on one side, a thousand foot dropoff on the other, and two buses coming at you in the other direction. The effect was heightened by the sounds of police sirens and gunshots friom the Hong Kong action movies playing on the bus's DVD system. But our driver knew his craft, and in hindsight, it was a great bus ride.

The route included a trip through the ca 3 km long Erlang tunnel uner the Erlang Shan, or Second Son Mountain, followed by a steep ascent and descent to the town of Luding, which is famous for a river crossing by the Red Army during the Long March. All the way the Himalayas were revealing themselves in increasing height, steepness, and beauty. From Luding it is a constant 45 km climb of about 3,000 feet to the 8,500 foot altitude of Kangding, where we arrived at 5 PM, seven hours after leaving Chengdu.

Here we are staying at a hotsprings resort 4 km outside of Kangding. This town is the county administrative center and is a fusion of Han and Tibetan influences in the food, people, and architecture. It's also a great place to escape the heat of the Sichuan lowlands, and there are many Sichuanese visitors here. The clientele where we are staying seems to be mainly from various parts of the province. We are able to stay there because Lynn has a friend who got us the reservation and a good rate on the rooms and because Jacob, Lynn, and Jamie can negotiate with the proprietors in Chinese (Sichuanese dialect) when needed. We are also learning to greet the local people in Tibetan.

Last night after quickly settling in, we went back to town to meet an old childhood friend of Lynn's from the village where she spent the first 12 years of her life. She is Tibetan, and met us, with two other Tibetan friends in a restaurant. They treated us to a full Tibetan meal, with milk tea, a beef dish cooked under flat bread, Tibetan hotpot, and other specialties. The meal also featured many toasts with the local liquor made from barley and several songs of welcome from our new friends and some of their relatives and friends who came into our private room from other parts of the restaurant to sing us a welcome song and toast some more. Most of these people now live in the village of Danba and come to Kangding for jobs in the tourist industry. We hope to visit Danba before we leave this area.

Although it is a ways from town, we will stay at the hot springs for three nights to acclimate, to the altitude and culture, and relax. The taxi to town is 10 yuan, and the distance is walkable. No computers at the hotel, so I have to come to this internet cafe to get online. The fourth night, after Jamie and Lynn leave us, Kathy, Jacob and I will get a room across from the bus station for the 6 AM departure to Garze, a 12 hour bus ride. We don't know what the internet options will be up there, but we will get online when we can. Who knows, maybe another report from Kangding as well.

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Photos

Sichuan-Tibet Highway
West of Ya'an

Tibetan restaurant in Kangding
With Lynn's Tibetan friends

Comments

[Sara Lynn]

I am really enjoying this adventure with you all. Looks like you have great tour guides and hospitality abounds. Keep me posted as you can.

[conkep]

from conkep
How marvelous to have connections and introductions everywhere! That's the way to travel -- Keep on truckin'

[Katie]

bus ride
I am enjoying reading about your adventures. I loved the story of the bus ride. Glad it had a happy ending!

[Leroy]

Envious
Everything looks wonderful and keep us posted :) Leroy

[Elaine Teel]

from Karen's Mom in Mill Creek
Beautiful photo and so glad Karen is forwarding your blog to me. Elaine