China #5 - On the Road to TIBET

Asia » China » Tibet
July 9th 2007

Published: July 9th 2007

Nĭ hăo! It’s Monday, July 09, 2007, and I’m writing to you today from the top of the world - Tibet, actually! We left Chengdu early yesterday morning and after a grueling 10-hr drive, we arrived at our home-for-the-week: Jiuzhougiao. Apparently, there are three routes that will connect Chengdu with Tibet and we were supposedly on the best of the three. That is absolutely amazing because, let me tell you, it was an adventure! The Expressway went northward out of Chengdu and everything looked good at that point. Whenever you travel on the freeways, there are tolls involved that are not too bad for us but are apparently prohibitive for the native Chinese. They hand you a debit card at one end of your excursion and you pay whatever is due when you leave the expressway or when you enter a different jurisdiction. It was shortly after we entered Tibet that the condition of the roads changed. For the first couple of hundred kilometers, they were still paved…then the rough roads began. That’s another thing that is very different here - whenever they are doing roadwork, you hardly ever see any heavy machinery. Most of the labour is done by people. Even trucking away the rock is done using quite small carts that are pulled by small 3-wheeled light trucks (1/4-tonnes).

We climbed and climbed and climbed. We went up so far that the road below us looked like a matchbox play set. Then came the switchbacks, which allowed us to climb even higher in a more confined space. Some places showed definite danger places where the road had broken away (and there are no shoulders!) but you’re driving in the middle of the road for most of the way until you come to an approaching car when you finally move over. The horn is commonly used as a warning when you’re going around corners, and there are countless corners. I previously thought that Quebec drivers were the worst I’d seen until I saw the Parisians, but now, the Chinese have them beat “hands down.”

We are staying at a pretty ritzy place that is just on the edge of a huge nature park (greater than 46000 square kilometers) that is protected as a World Heritage Site. The hotel has an absolutely amazing lobby that has a glass canopy that is sort of reminiscent of International Plaza in Vancouver. It houses 7 separate hotel wings with a total of 1100 guestrooms. There is an authentic-looking Tibetan village that sets the backdrop for the whole space. Staff are dressed in typical local ethnic costumes. Speaking of ethnic groups, this is an area settled by the Chiang people. Last night, we were entertained by some folk dancing and singing. Tonight, we will attend an extravaganza of ethnic entertainment that will include: song, dance, and even some trick horseback riding that these people are known for. Traditionally, they are a very simple people who are herders. Livestock mainly include: sheep, goats, horses and chickens.

The hotel is high in the mountains of Tibet. It is actually at an altitude of 2640 metres above sea level. The air is pretty thin up here. Mornings are cold but the days heat right up. The park is on a plateau that was left with the receding glaciers during the last Glacier Age. Rock, everywhere you look! We’re going exploring tomorrow. Today is an “altitude-adjustment day” so we’re just resting in the hotel. I have a fantastic book given to me by friends of the Pengs that is filled with amazing photos to share with you when I return to Canada. That’s another thing worth mentioning: lots of people are giving me presents to welcome me.

Last night, I had a rough night’s sleep. Just like at Emei Mountain, the bed is rock hard. It’s so hard that, when you roll over and your hipbone hits the mattress, it bruises you and wakes you up!

I’ve had another personal adventure: last night I couldn’t find my meds when I was preparing for bed. I know that I put a week’s worth into my purse when we were packing up the two vehicles that we taking on this trip. I had hoped that my pill container would be in the back of the Pathfinder because, at one point yesterday, my bag tipped in the back of the car - but that didn’t seem to be the case. So what does one do when you’re in rural Tibet with no blood pressure meds? You call the hotel doctor, of course. He checked my bp and it was a little high but it had only been one day since my last dose. So then it was off to the hospital to see what they could do.

Only four kilometers away from our hotel, the “regional” hospital was quaint to say the least. Here it is pay as you go but it didn’t cost much. After you pay up front, my team of escorts and interpreters ushered me into an 8 x 10’ room furnished with a small dilapidated wooden desk, and chair that looked like it was on its last legs, a beat-up, wooden examining table and four walls that hadn’t seen paint in more than a decade. This was, apparently, the Emergency Department. The doctor looked at me and at Wen Qing (my chief interpreter), her uncle (my chauffeur), Wen Qing’s friend Sylvia (for moral support) and Wen Bo (who couldn’t figure out why he had to be there). I handed the doctor the name of the two blood pressure meds that I take, knowing full well that if I can get a reasonable substitute to last me for our 6-day stay, I’ll be lucky.

While the doctor was taking my blood pressure, we were invaded by two other families of two patients. Everyone stood there, staring at me. It mustn’t be very often (if ever!) that they see a Caucasian! The doctor couldn’t speak or read English so he took to note to the Pharmacist in another room. He came back, handed a paper to one of the other families and they left. Then the doctor looked all over his very messy desk and came up with another paper for the other family and they left. He went back to the Pharmacist and came back to the room with a package of blood pressure meds - enough for 10 days. That will do fine, as the rest of my meds are waiting for me back in Chengdu. The doctor’s parting words were to get my bp checked everyday until I get back to China. To tell you the truth, I’m relieved that I wasn’t sent home with some kind of unmentionable animal part.

Early tomorrow morning, we will be off on an adventure to see some of the wonders of the park... Altitude sickness is no laughing matter so I better get some rest this afternoon.

This park, Juizhaogaio, is one of the few places on Earth where Pandas still inhabit naturally…they’re not very sociable creatures so I’m unlikely to see one while I’m here, but it won’t stop me from trying. There are also several other animals and birds that are exclusive to this area. The rivers are this most beautiful green colour and are very fast-moving. And there is no shortage of hydro-electric power provided by a plethora of dams.

Zaitian! ~Linda.

China #5 - On the Road to TIBET

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