Day 75 - Litang, Daocheng

05.10.09

Today is the last time I will use a minibus as from here on in it is all real, official public buses. For the last journey, what should I get? A ride to rival the rally driving nutters, maybe we should try and do an Evil Knievel style jump over other buses, take every turn with a handbrake and try some Grand Turismo style driving... It's better than all of this.

I am up and in the minibus at 8am, but we are still waiting on other passengers from the hotel. The driver is the brother in law of the hotel owner and seems like a very friendly guy, I managed to bargain a deal the last night and so have the ride for 50Y as opposed to the 75Y that the other passengers have to pay, he covertly takes my money and tells me not to tell them. When we eventually leave after a quick breakfast I am sharing with a Chinese guy called Alan, an Italian man called Michel and a Russian man called Ilya. The start of the journey is good and we head off at a reasonable pace, stopping multiple times at picture sights so we can all snap away at the scenery. After 4 or so hours of travelling we hit a police checkpoint about 15 mins away from Daocheng, as per usual we hand over our passports and all is well, until the police call over our driver and start shouting at him about something. He then comes over to the minibus and tells us to say that we are his friends and am not paying him any money when mid sentence a police officer comes over and tells him to be quiet and grabs him by his ear and drags him back over to the checkpoint. I don't know an Italian, a Brit and a Russian who can't really speak Chinese, could possibly pull off an act that we know this driver and are simply on a road trip with him. The Chinese guy, Alan, tells us that apparently the police are shouting at him because he has the wrong papers and isn't allowed to carry passengers commercially. Luckily we somehow get let through the checkpoint only for the driver to tell us that there is another one in Daocheng that he won't be able to sweet talk his way past and so we are transferred to his friends minibus, with our luggage in his car. Next the minibus, goes off road and through a village before going along the river that runs beside Daocheng. In a move out of nowhere the driver slows down and then hits a hard left straight into the river and decides that his now amphibious vehicle can walk on water. The inevitable happens and we get stuck in the middle of the river, the water lapping up at the doors and the minibus not moving anywhere. It's probably the funniest thing to happen in weeks as a small minibus with wheels the size of ten pence pieces and a structure or capability not even roughly resembling that of a 4x4, decides to attempt the impossible. The driver opens his door a bit to have a look and the water surges in over his feet, we then jump out the boot and wade across the water back to the shore, where our original driver has pulled up, obviously just about to try the same thing. We are told the only way to Daocheng is to walk to the bridge which appears to be about 30 mins away and cross there and we will be immediately in the town, so we say our goodbyes, strap on our bags and then head off, leaving the two drivers sitting on the shore waiting for help to arrive.

For my last minibus journey I couldn't have asked for anything better, pure brilliance and hysterics.

Day 74 - Litang

4.10.09

Today my final two American friends head off to Kanding where they can make their way back to Chengdu. I get up and my aim is to catch the 2pm bus to Xincheng, from where I can make my way to Shangri-la. After speaking to some people at the bus station, it turns out my bus is most probably fully booked as it is the holiday period and so once again, my travels plans are scuppered. I end up spending another night in Litang and am told by the host, that the best thing for me to do is to try and get to Daocheng, which has strong daily connections with litang. I decide on this port of call and so spend most of the day relaxing. A quick walk around town and to the massive stupa on the outskirts gives me a break and I indulge in large amounts of fried Yak dumplings which are like small Cornish pasties and go down phenomenally.

Day 73 - Litang

3.10.09

We get up for our Sky Burial experience at a bright and early 8am, wait until about 9am when the owner of the hotel then tells us that the burial is off as apparently no one died yesterday and so there is no body to 'bury'. In a way I am quite glad as thinking about it, I'm not sure it is something I want to witness. Also the turning of someones burial into a tourist attraction doesn't seem that appealing, especially as we are told that it is 'OK to take pictures'.

Seeing as we are up early, we take a walk up to the local Gompa which is undergoing either major redevelopment work or major building work, it's halls being repainted and the statues renovated/new ones cast. The Gompa is populated by dozens of young monks, some look about 7, who show us around the different buildings and lead us up to viewing platforms where we can see the rest of the Gompa's buildings and the town. I talk to one of the young monks who is about 14 and it turns out that his family live in Yunnan province, which is at fastest, about 3-4 days away by bus. It must be a hard life living so far away from your family and is a kind of extreme version of long distance boarding school. After our schooling by the young monks, we head back to the hotel and one of our party of four (Vlad) decides to have a rest, while the Italian guy (Francesco) takes a bus onwards and starting his journey off into Yunnan province. Me and Nick, decide to climb one of the hills over looking the rear of the town and what we think will be a short stroll, turns out into two hours of high altitude, out of breath hardcore steep walking. It is a viciously hard climb and considering Litang is supposed to be up there in the league of the highest towns in the world, the air is very very very noticeably thinner.

For the evening entertainment we hit a Tibetian dance hall/drinking club/bar/barn/shack, I'm not quite sure what it was, but it was quirky. With dodgy over pushed speakers and fairy lights in the roof, I'm sure we were sitting in a metal barn and it was definitely unheated. All the aesthetic points good and bad aside, the venue was amazing fun and the people so happy. Definitely recommended if you ever make it out to any Tibetian areas.

Day 72 - Ganzi, Litang

2.10.09

I met two Americans and an Italian guy yesterday who are also going to Litang and so we all decide to head off together and get a cheaper group fare. We end up getting the fare for 80Y each as opposed to 110Y, which is a very nice discount. The ride is quite slow and we are also transporting a sick monk, who is ill with a mystery ailment that gives him a stomach ache, headache and causes him to throw up every time we stop. I give him some Ibuprofen which sorts out his headache and some of the stomach pain and then some herbal tea which I picked up and is supposed to be good for stomach bugs. I'm not sure if the herbal tea worked, but good old Tesco Ibuprofen got rid of his headache nice and fast. We pull into Litang in the early evening and are soon followed by bus loads of Chinese tourists all travelling during the eight day national holiday. The town suddenly becomes rammed and every hotel sells all its beds, our hotel owner even putting people into his house so they can have a place to stay. My late night town exploring ends up putting me in the middle of a rainstorm and some seriously wet and windy weather, arriving back at the hotel a bit cold and damp, I am told that we have the opportunity of going to a sky burial the next day. Wikipedia describes a Sky Burial as...

Sky burial or ritual dissection was once a common funerary practice in Tibet wherein a human corpse is cut in specific locations and placed on a mountaintop, exposing it to the elements or the mahabhuta and animals – especially to birds of prey. In Tibet the practice is known as jhator, which literally means, "giving alms to the birds." The majority of Tibetans adhere to Buddhism, which teaches rebirth. There is no need to preserve the body, as it is now an empty vessel. Birds may eat it, or nature may let it decompose. So the function of the sky burial is simply the disposal of the remains. In much of Tibet the ground is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and with fuel and timber scarce, a sky burial is often more practical than cremation.

What basically happens is the body is placed upon an altar and then cut into pieces and the bones bashed to a pulp and mixed with flour and then it is all fed to vultures who eat the body parts. I'm not quite sure if it is something I want to see, but it is common practice in this area and if we do make it, then it will be one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen.

Day 71 - Ganzi

1.10.09

The two women say they will help me to find a minibus to Litang today, so I am downstairs with my luggage at 8am, only to find that as it is the first day of the 8 day long China national holiday and also the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic Of China, no transport is being allowed in the region. I guess it's to try and limit the hordes of people who will be travelling during the week and also as it's a sensitive area, to make sure no trouble sparks up. I am assured that I will be able to get a ride tomorrow though and so put my bags back into my room and go back for a power nap.

The next part of the day is pure magic. A walk out to the edge of town, which yields a shaky old rope bridge over a river and into a forest of trees that are changing from deep green to an autumnal yellow with monks walking through in their deep red robes. At the edge of the forest I take a walk up a road lined with prayer flags and off out into the fields and hills. After around 45 mins of walking a man on a tractor pulls up beside me and asks if I want a lift and where I am going, I say I have no idea and am just walking and he tells me to hop on board. We drive past fields and through villages with plenty of Tashi Deles and people waving hello, eventually pulling up at his wooden house, where his three children (maybe 5,9, and 12) grab my hand and lead me inside. Once inside we all sit down and I am fed tea and then a hearty lunch of noodles and vegetables. I can communicate in Chinese partly with his eldest son who is learning Mandarin at school, the rest of the family speaking Tibetan. They are amazed at my camera and my pictures of the area and my travels so far. I make a couple of Origami models for them, which go down a treat and then the eldest son takes me on an exploration trip of the village. We pop into one of the neighbors houses where they are equally as hospitable and give me tea and want to make me some food, but I explain I have just ate. We then leave with another two children and climb up to the top of the nearby hill with commanding views of the landscape below. The whole climb is magical, the laughter of the 3 kids, the constant picture taking and them holding my hand guiding me up the paths, they are so kind and so joyful it's unbelievable. Once we come down from the top, the first family insist that I should stay with them tonight for free, but once I explain that I need to catch an early bus the next morning they understand. I leave with enough time to get back before nightfall and I can only describe the whole experience as magical. It feels like I have just walked through the wardrobe in a C.S. Lewis novel and into a magical world. Back along the prayer flag road, through the colour changing forest and over the rickety bridge and back to the normal world and the town centre. It has to be one of the best days so far, the people so kind, friendly and pure of heart. Absolutely wonderful.

Day 70 - Dege, Ganzi

30.09.09

I meet my driver as pre arranged at 7am and after about 15 mins am moved into another minibus which heads off out of town, stopping at a petrol station after about 5 mins. At the station I am moved into yet another car and for some reason I have a bad feeling about this journey, maybe it's just the fact that this third car doesn't have any Buddhist pictures or charms that must have been preventing the previous cars from crashing. All is well for the first 3 hours or so, and then we pull into Manigango, a rough half way point of the journey. It is here that the driver then says he is stopping and asks me for the fare to get here. I explain that I am going to Ganzi and will pay 65Y as pre arranged to get there, the driver doesn't accept this and wants 50Y for getting me here. Eventually the second driver catches up and they have a small dispute and he says he can't take me to Ganzi as his car is full already, he then makes a speedy get away leaving me with this driver and a small crowd who are watching the event like it's the latest episode of EastEnders. To my rescue comes a slightly older driver who I talked to briefly the day before and from what I can make out, he says that as the driver accepted me, he must get me to Ganzi. After around 20 mins of arguing, the driver eventually puts me on a regular bus from Manigango to Ganzi for 35Y and takes the rest of the 30Y as his fare, but he is not happy at all. My helper wears a cowboy hat and a black jacket and maybe it's because he just helped me out, but I think he is damn cool. An end to a sticky situation and I can't thank him enough, but he keeps saying it is all OK and then gets back to his work of trying to find people to take to his next destination. It's nothing to him, but for me the help meant so much.
Once in Ganzi I am determined to find somewhere to stay that has a shower, it's been about 5 days staying in places with nothing but a dodgy toilet and temperamental running water. I find a place near the bus station run by two women and after my bargaining for about 10 mins get it down to 50Y per night. I think the women find me amusing and my negotiation antics seem to be a hit. We sit down together and drink tea and have some sweets and then they even make me a massive dinner. It gets quite funny when the older one tries to set me up with younger one, saying I should take her back to the UK, I manage to avoid this situation, but next they both say they will come to the UK with me, especially after they ask how much a cleaner can earn there (20Y per day in Ganzi and what works out to be about 440Y[min. wage] in the UK)

Day 69 - Dege

29.09.09

I want to try and make it to Baiyu today and as it's quite near I get up late and make it to the bus station for 8am. This turns out to be a massive error as the buses have already left and after asking around it seems that I am stranded in Dege for another day. It also appears as though there are no buses going directly to Dege for some reason and so I will have to head back to Ganzi and go from there. My travel timings won't really allow this and so I decide to give the town a miss and head back to Ganzi tomorrow en route to Litang, booking in the first leg of the journey with a driver for 7am the next day.

Seeing as I am in town for another day, I take a long walk out and along the road east, which leads through a valley alongside a river. About an hour in, I get a sudden sense of adventure and decide to go off road and up into the mountains on the side of the road. Roaming past yaks rambling through bushes and having no idea where I am going apart from up, eventually leads me up to some terraced crop fields about half way up, which seem to come out of nowhere. A little further up and I run into a small village, where people look as shocked to see me as I am to see them. A path leads out of the village and ends up at a view point back over Dege where an elderly man gives me a surprised look and then an ear to ear grin and a big 'Tashi Dele (hello)'. For some reason I think it is a good idea to try and reach the peak and so continue up the path for a couple of hours which slowly starts to disappear, eventually common sense must of been dropped on my head by one of the eagles flying overhead as I realise that trying to climb the steep and scraggy paths with no climbing experience is just plain foolish... it takes about 3 hours to get back down to the bottom.