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Published: July 18th 2007
Nĭ hăo! I had an exhausting time while in Tibet. Not only did I have trouble because I didn’t have my proper meds, but I fell victim to the effects of high altitude! You definitely wouldn’t want to go through it! The two highlights of my time there were walking in the Jiuzhaigou Park and seeing the beautiful musical performance of Tibetan folk culture - gone Hollywood. I say “gone Hollywood” because the lighting and the costumes and special effects used to enhance the show were utterly fantastic! It rivaled the “Follies Bérgères” in Paris - I kid you not! Absolutely first-rate!
The following day, eight people of our group went for a hike in the nearby World Heritage Site, Juizhai Park. After Mei bought our admission, we all boarded a bus which took us about a kilometer into the valley. The whole bus disembarked and we got to see the beautiful, unbelievably clear and sparkling waters of the lakes, rivers and many waterfalls. When you see pictures of it, you really think that they have been touched up…that they can’t really be that colour. Try to envision something between a turquoise green and an ultramarine. Then match that up with the most clear water you could ever imagine…water so clear that it looked with a million diamonds shimmering in the sunlight. If you can do that, you’ll be pretty close to what I was. It is breath-taking.
We walked for about 1.5 km uphill. For the most part, the walk is a well-maintained boardwalk. By this time, the air that was chilly when we first left the hotel was already heating up. Off came the windbreaker. Breathing became more difficult quite soon after we started - remember, we were at 3000 metres above sea level already and now we added physical exertion to the equation. After about an hour, we boarded another bus and made our way to the top of the valley (I was glad to sit down for a while!). The drive up there was filled with wondrous sights: fantastic vistas with unbelievably high mountains sided with sheer cliffs of limestone. These rocks like to fall, too. Newton was right about the “what goes up must come down” thing . The roads hugging the mountains are peppered with rockslides…some of them are pretty intimidating. There have been extensive precautions taken to envelop high-risk areas with a very strong, steel-reinforced meshing that seems to help quite a bit. It is, however, still quite intimidating - it’s like you’re always keeping one eye on the cliffside.
At the “top”, we encountered many Qiang people peddling their wares. My friend, Mei, paid something to one of them and the next thing you know, I was dressed in a traditional Tibetan costume. It looked so funny on me! I couldn’t stop laughing! Don’t worry: we captured the whole thing in pictures so you can have a good laugh, too!
Then we started hiking through the primeval forest on our way to see Swan Lake. I never did find out why it was called Swan Lake. I didn’t see a single swan and I don’t know if they would be happy in absolutely frigid water. I couldn’t get an overview of the lake to see if it looked like a swan, either. Hmm. Most of the other lakes that we saw (Rhinoceros Lake, Bamboo Lake, and Pearl Lake) have stories that tell you how the lake got its name. For example, some ancient Qiang traveler (they were migratory people) supposedly rode a rhino all the way from Africa (over several years) and, when his rhino saw this particular lake, he charged right into it and lived out the rest of his days there. Judge for yourself, but that’s the story! Panda Lake is a favourite place for pandas that really do live in the area . Many of the lakes are surrounded by bamboo reeds called arrow bamboo. The pandas love it!
The walk continued for quite a while and I was mentally there but my body was saying, “No!” After maybe, 3 or 4 km, my legs were getting wobbly and I was feeling dizzy and nauseous. When we could, Mei encouraged me to sit and rest for 10 minutes or so, so I could recover a little before going on. Our goal was to reach the south end of Panda Lake. It turns out that Panda Lake is a pretty big lake. I thought that we would never get to our destination. Once there, though, Mr. Peng went off quite quickly to buy me some more water…I must have looked pretty bad! Then the whole group of us took a bus to the restaurant for lunch.
Lunch - all I wanted to do was lay down! I was so queasy - the last thing I wanted to do was eat. I was actually craving a soda cracker but at the restaurant, we were ushered into a large private room with air conditioning (thank goodness!) and served a veritable feast. Here we were in the boonies of the boondocks and you should have seen the spread of food that was laid out for us! There were probably 30 dishes and me unable to eat anything. Mei was trying to get me to eat something…I think that she was really afraid for me. All I managed to eat was 1/2 of a gem potato - that’s all!
Then the discussion turned to our next move. We were supposed to take another bus to a different branch of the gorge and hike some more but I was in no shape to hike anywhere. I suggested that I take a bus to hotel - no big deal. But the Pengs wouldn’t hear of it. They cancelled the afternoon plans and all of them escorted me back to the hotel. Actually, Wen Qing and her friend, Sylvia (aka “Smiley”) and little Wen Bo (my 9-year-old buddy!) were happy to get out of the afternoon hike but I didn’t know that at the time. I felt so bad for seemingly causing such a problem when, in reality, all everyone wanted to do was take care of me. Good people!
Back at the hotel, I went into the snack shop they have and tried to buy some soda crackers. They only ones they had were laced with seaweed - they get a lot of Japanese tourists there. I bought them, went to my room and crashed on the rock-hard bed!
I hardly got out of bed for the next 4 days. Altitude sickness had gotten me good! And I guess, the walk and struggle of that one day kinda finished me off! I couldn’t eat or drink anything. The nights were the worst - if I laid down, I got sick. If I tried to do anything, I was dizzy. And I was dreading the 10-hour drive back to Chengdu.
When Friday did come and it was time to return to Chengdu, I steeled myself the best I could. Again, Mei was wonderful…so considerate. When we arrived, I took a dose of my regular meds and went to bed - glad to be back in Chengdu.
Things have definitely improved since arriving here. I spent have a little dizziness but it’s getting better. I went shopping in a very old part of the city where there are lots of small shopkeepers who really want to haggle with you. Nothing has a price on it…you must tell them what you’re willing to pay and that starts the haggling! I was very happy to find some veritable treasures! Wen Qing’s cousin Claire (aka “Bamboo”) helped me with the communication and I did quite well. I’m happy.
More adventures to come so please, stay tuned! Zà ijà in!
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dream come true
china sounds like dreas come true linda. i hope someday i get to see some of the things you have seen :) and in the future i do prefer ditziness over dizziness - at least i n your case. :)