Zhongdian
Trip Start
Nov 23, 2005
1
86
133
Trip End
Feb 27, 2007
Zhongdian,
China
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Audrey in the rural area of Zhongdian
. As we waited we had to laugh at all the men smoking in the bus station. There was a huge no smoking sign on the wall. One guy was sitting right under it and lit up. I went to the bathroom here. Iit had to be one of the most disgusting yet, I will not even go into details it was so bad. I experienced my first trough bathroom on a stop on our bus ride. One long trough goes from one side to the other in the bathroom. A tap at one end has water going into it to try and keep things flowing. It was very rude. You do what ever business you have in the trough. The water flow is not heavy enough so stuff is sitting in the trough. It was a horrible experience both visually and smell wise.
We had a 4 hour bus ride and were at an elevation of 3200 meters now. The ride went along the Yangtze river. It was very slow moving and brown. Then we took a turn at Tiger Leaping Gorge and saw another river flowing into the Yangtze. This river was really strong and wild. We saw two different dams on this river as well as a mine and many areas where there were large areas of gravel washing into the river. We started to climb quickly in the last hour of the bus ride. We could see the river way down below us. The air got noticeable cooler. We could see alpine meadows in all directions for miles
Chickens roosting at the monastery
. It was a beautiful site. We soon got to a large open plateau. There were Tibetan style houses dotted along the grass. We looked to one side of the bus and about 100 yards across the plain we saw a line of about 10 people walking. It was the most incredible site. The people were dressed in bright coloured clothing and hats. Pink, yellow, red, green and many other colours. It was our first site of Tibetan people. We saw many stupas along the way, all with lines of prayer flags strung from them. We passed by two very large monasteries. This was one of the bus rides where unfortunately some people decided to smoke on. Our window would not open making it worse. Soon we arrived in the town of Zhongdian. We were dropped off at the bus station and had no idea where we were on our map of the town. A few ladies approached us when we got off the bus, but were not overly pushy. The kept showing us pictures of guest houses. They kept talking as if they thought we would be able to understand them. I went into the bus station and was pleasantly surprised that the lady at the ticket booth spoke a bit of English. I asked her to show me where the bus station was on the map. It was in the complete opposite end of town than where the map stated it was. She told me that was the location of the old bus station.
I showed her where I wanted to go on the map
Dancing in the town square
. I asked if we could get a taxi there. She pointed right across the street and said take bus number 1, its 1 yuan per person. Luck would have it that the bus was sitting right there and we got on. I must say it was the dirtiest bus we have ever got on. We had heard stories of buses where people spit on the center aisle. We hadn't experienced yet. This would be the first one. The aisle looked like it had spots of slime on it. There was mushed food in spots too. We saw the place we wanted to get off and waved at the bus driver to stop. We found accommodation at a place called Du Ke Zong Hotel. It is attached to the Tibetan Cafe. The price for our double with bathroom is 100 yuan a night. ($14 Canadian) It is clean and the bathroom is quite modern. It also gives the guest free internet use. The staff seem quite pleasant.
We both needed to just decompress from the bus ride for a bit before heading out to eat. We were surprised to be in a colder environment for the first time. We have been acclimatized to heat for the last 7 months. It was refreshing to have cool air for a change. It seemed there was a lot less pollution here than the other places we have been in China. It wasn't long before we felt a bit cold though. No worries though, our beds are equipped with full size heating pads
Dancing in town sqaure 3
. There are about 4 different blankets on the beds and 4 extra comforters provided in the room. It must get really cold here in the winter. I guess at well over 10,000 feet it would. Each of us turned our heating pads on and it was not too long before we were having a nice little nap. Half an hour later and we felt refreshed and ready to go eat. We decided to go across the street to Noah's cafe. There were a large number of foreigners that we could see through the window. We had some good food, fried rice with potatoes, stir fried vegetables and tofu and refried beans and cheese in between two baked tortillas with salsa. For dessert we had some Indian tea and brownies.
Jack was in his glory, they were playing some really old Beatles music. It has been ages since we heard any kind of music that we normally listen to at home. You don't realize how much you miss stuff like that until you are exposed to it again. When that CD ended they put on U2, that almost brought tears to our eyes! It was so good to hear. Then the music was interrupted when two local men came in. One guy had a traditional stringed instrument, both of them started to sing. It was interesting to hear, but they were a little annoying as they would come right up to each table. It was quite loud
Dancing in town square 2
. Then little kids started to come in and beg at the tables. One little boy was snorting like a pig, we are not quite sure why he was doing this. He kept going around to tables and pointing at peoples food and making motions to give it to him. Everyone tried to ignore him and knew not to encourage his behavior. It has been a long time since we have experienced any kind of begging on this level. The last time would have been in Cambodia. We have noticed while wandering around here that the kids are quite different from the other places we have been at. They have a real tough look and attitude about them. The older ones seem to hang out in gangs around the street and quite late at night too. We have been warned to be careful here for bag slashing at the bus depots and similar public areas. I don't know if it is like this because the people are poorer here, or maybe because it is so much more remote than the places we have been yet. Maybe the kids have nothing else to do.
We chatted with a group of travelers at a table near us. We feel so lazy when we hear about some other peoples travels. This group has been cycling through China for the last 2 months. Now two of them are flying with their bikes to Lhasa and will continue to cycle all the way from there on the route to Nepal and onward until they reach Delhi in India
Dancing in town square 4
. The other guy is not even flying to Lhasa, he will bike the whole distance by himself through the mountains. We were warned about the food in this area and northwards from here. It is mediocre to awful, to inedible. We had an experience at one place where 3 mistakes were made on our order. First we got fried eggs when we ordered scrambled, the girl even repeated the order back to us, so I don't know how it got messed up. Then I got green tea instead of Indian tea. They forgot Jack's tea altogether. When we said we had ordered scrambled eggs, not fried, the girl just looked at us strangely and said scrambled and just walked away. She didn't do anything. We called her back a few minutes later and said can you please take these away, we did not order them, we ordered scrambled eggs. We would have eaten the fried ones had the yolks been even slightly cooked. The same eggs came back to us, they had just been thrown back on the grill and cut up a bit. It was not very appetizing. The toast had a very funky taste to it and the muesli and fruit had a burnt sesame seed flavor.
We both left the restaurant very hungry still as we didn't eat much of our meal. We decided to give the restaurant at our guest house a try. After talking to another set of travelers and comparing food horror stories
Even the rooster is enjoying the view
. We all came to the conclusion it is the oil they fry stuff in that makes it all have an awful taste. They do not change their oil and use it over and over for who knows how long. We asked if they had tried the french toast here. They said no, but they had ordered french fries and they were very light in colour, but unfortunately totally undercooked so not edible. The fact that they were light in colour was good though, it meant the oil was fresh. So we thought okay, maybe the french toast will be edible. They will use the same kind of oil to grill it with. Boy were we wrong. We have had to keep a fairly open mind in the last 7 months while traveling and eating as you can imagine, but this french toast had to be the most awful food we have ever put in our mouths. We both tried one bite and couldn't even swallow it, we had to spit it out. I don't know what they cooked this in, but it was disgusting. We could see some kind of dark yellow oil dripping off of it. They use tons of Yak cheese and butter here, so maybe it was some kind of Yak oil. Breakfast number two down the drain! We decided to give up eating for the beginning part of our day anyways. Apparently the food only gets worse as we travel to more remote places. Pretty scary thought.The rest of the day was spent wandering around the old town of Zhongdian, or what is left of it. The Han Chinese have taken down so much of it and made way for Chinese tour groups to come into the area
Exterior of monastery
. It is such a shame, the beautiful old buildings are being replaced with bland box style shops and hotels.We came across a giant prayer wheel on a steep hilltop. It had to have been over 50 feet tall. It had a bar going around near the base of it for turning the wheel. It is to be turned in a clockwise motion only. Jack and I grabbed a hold of the bar and we could barely get it to move, we soon had a few kids try and help us. I think most of them were hanging off of it and making it more difficult if anything.
We are definitely feeling the effects of the high altitude. We are drinking the recommended 3 liters of water each per day. It just seem to disappear in us. The increase in our pulse and breathing just walking now is quite noticeable. Jack woke up quite a few times in the night feeling like he wasn't getting enough air. When you start to get higher you can actually wake up gasping. Going up stairs or doing anything slightly strenuous just about knocks us out. It will get better as we adjust, hopefully.
There is a main square in the old town section of Zhongdian. Every evening the town people gather to dance. What an amazing site
Jack taking pictures in the prayer flags
. We guessed there were somewhere between 700 and 1000 people dancing in the square. Many others were gathered around watching. Music was played, each song had a different set of dance moves to it. Everyone moved in unison. The crowd was a mixture of men and women, and young and old. Many people here still wear the traditional Tibetan clothing so the crowd was full of ladies in bright coloured scarves in their hair as well as decorated aprons and dresses. They danced in a huge circle many people deep, it encompassed the whole square. There was a great sense of community spirit. We have not had too many problems on our entire trip accessing money. We did start to get a bit worried here. There are a few banks in town and some have bank machines. The first day we tried to get some money, we found out one of the banks that dealt with foreigners closed at 3pm, it was 3:30pm, so we had just missed it. Then we hit the other banks. Every ATM machine in the town was out of order. One bank that was open said they do not deal with foreign exchange. The next day was not looking much better. The ATM's were all still out of order. All 3 branches that were supposed to deal with foreign exchange were mysteriously closed again. Finally Jack went into the Construction Bank of China and thank goodness they were able to give us some money on our credit card. We have to laugh at some of the bank names here, Construction Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and so on.
The weather is very unpredictable here. The mornings are usually dry, but each afternoon sees some rain. Sometimes sitting at a restaurant we will see a torrential downpour and then by the time we leave the sun is out and everything is dry, as if it never happened
Ladies caught in the rain
. We will go for a walk and then it will start pouring, to the point where the ponchos and umbrellas are not even going to save us. So we will retreat back to our hotel room. Within half an hour the sun is shining again.Our bodies are almost going into shock. The first day we got here, we could not believe our eyes. We could see our breath. The last time that happened to us was at the end of February when we were back in London for a brief two days. After 7 months of heat we had to break down and put on a jacket and socks and shoes, how horrid! We compare the temperature and weather to be like that of early October back home. If it is like this here in July, we don't even want to think about what it is like in the winter. We will have to buy some fuzzy pullovers for the rest of our time here and our further travels. At least they are super cheap to buy.
One of the main attractions in Zhongdian is the Ganden Sumtseling Gompa Monastery. We took the local bus out to it for 1 yuan, about 15 cents. It is a 300 year old Tibetan monastery housing about 600 monks and is one of the most important ones in southwest China. There is a steep set of stairs that take you up to the top of the hill where the monastery is situated. We admired the buildings from the outside and then carried on a trail to the left of it
Ladies in Zhongdian
.We came across a large stupa and an area covered in prayer flags. A very old man was walking his rounds clockwise around the stupa. We continued to the backside of the buildings and came across several monks. Unfortunately one of them was going pee! We looked through many other buildings. There was a kitchen room for the monks. A main assembly hall had dozens of low benches and a huge alter area decorated with many gold Buddhas and other religious figures. We came across a few monks that were taking a substance out of a sack and grinding in a rock mortar with a large wooden pole. It looked like clippings from a cedar type tree. We assumed it was something to burn.
We spent a day walking around the old part of Zhongdian. There is not much left of it, the Chinese are ripping it down and putting up their horrible looking box style buildings. What is left of the old town is charming. We took a detour out of that area and went into the rural area where the locals live. We passed by Tibetan barns and houses.
Next stop Tibet!
