A town of two provinces

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It wasn't possible to head direct to Langmusi, so we first bussed to Zoige then on from there. Unlike most other places in the Far East, it's illegal to overfill buses here and this seems to be enforced by the police with some degree of rigour. However it doesn't stop drivers from cramming in another couple of passengers if possible - it just means that whenever a police car is seen, or when approaching locations such as toll booths where police are more likely to be lurking, the extra passengers have to crouch in the stairwell or even in spare leg-space of other people's seats until the coast is clear.

Langmusi was the coldest place we'd yet been and it resembled a Laos village in that the streets were awash with mud. Pigs ambled randomly, ears flapping, and streetlights were non-existent on certain stretches of road - generally the ones with the most uneven surfaces, so night-time walkers needed to beware.

There was a decent-sized Muslim population, meaning that lamian (pulled noodles) was available on many menus. Though this is like most other noodles in terms of taste, its manufacture is a thing of wonder, with the maker starting off with a slab of noodle dough (?) that, with repeated pulling and teasing, ends up minutes later as spaghetti-like strands.

The low temperatures and dull skies (except on the morning of the day we were leaving ...) deterred us from any trekking, but we visited both the monasteries in the town, one of which is situated in Sichuan and the other in Gansu. Namo Gorge also provided a couple of hours of gentle walking, though we were put off entering one branch of it by the financial demands of some guys who, no doubt attempting a tourist scam, wanted extra money from us even though we'd already paid for a ticket that supposedly covered the whole gorge.

I also experienced a strange chocolate pie that resembled a burrito in appearance and was actually served with a couple of slices of tomato.

Dull but possibly useful info
Getting there: Take a bus from Songpan to Zoige (daily, at 7AM), costing 57 yuan and taking about 3 and a half hours, then take a bus to Langmusi (only 2 available by the time you reach Zoige, at 2:30PM and 3:30PM - unfortunately you have a 4 hour wait even for the 2:30PM), costing 20 yuan and taking about 2 hours 45 minutes.
Stayed at: Langmusi Hotel at the south end of town (not to be confused with the grubby one in the centre of town). Cost 130 yuan for a twin. Would stay here again.
Ate at: Talo's Friends, just over the road from Lesha's Cafe. Lesha's contains every backpacker in town but the food isn't good.
Notes: i. It costs 16 yuan to enter the Gansu monastery and 15 yuan to enter the Sichuan one.
ii. Carry a torch at night as the streetlights aren't so great.

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Photos

Roofs
Made of silver foil

Green gate
Sezhi Monastery

Monk and prayer wheels
Geerdeng Monastery