Directional attitude

Trip Start Nov 15, 2005

227

248

Trip End Aug 15, 2008

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Flag of China Zhongdian/Baishuitai, China
Monday, March 10, 2008

It seems that journeys are a big feature of travel in remote, Western Sichuan. From Litang to Zhongdian, for instance, it took two days. It's really not that far as the crow flies, but you are passing through a range of mountains reaching well over 4000m, sometimes over 5000m. And then there's the slightly less than certain nature of the bus service. At this time of year, only one bus comes through each day, sometime around 2 in the afternoon. The catch is, it originates in Kangding, and may be full when it passes. If so, it's then too late to pick up a taxi to the next town, some 6 hours distant. You have a choice - either pay too much for a taxi in the morning, or chance being stuck overnight if the bus is full or (as happens occasionally) doesn't come at all. I was lucky enough to meet up with Kim and Matt, the first people I had met in days wanting to travel in the same direction, and some random Tibetan, so we could split the cost of a taxi.

On the first day, we passed through some astounding scenery was unfortunately mostly obscured by the annoyingly tinted and un-openable windows of the car, but what I could make out was enough to give me some idea of what we were passing

01 Baishuitai

. The roads were fine, unusual for this part of the country and contrary to reports coming form further south, which had been claiming that landslides were blocking the route to Zhongdian. The only incident that caused us some delay was the police roadblock. A taxi driver must have a driving license and the correct papers to confirm that he is driving a registered taxi. Our driver certainly lacked one of these necessary articles, and, given his driving, I rather suspect both. After an unconvincing attempt at persuading the policeman he left them in his other trousers (seriously), he made a 200 kuai 'donation' to the policeman's retirement fund, and we were on our way again. I was expecting this to somehow find it's way out of our pockets, but thankfully no extra demands were made.

Arriving in Xiangcheng, we immediately tried to sort out onward travel, it not being the kind of place one would wish to linger. This wasn't as easy as it should have been. Locating the bus station was a problem, for a start. It turned out to be someone's yard, in the process of being overturned, the ticket office someone's house. Quaint. No bus the next day, maybe one the day after... we searched for people with whom to share another taxi. We found one guy, who claimed to have three friends and a minivan already lined up for 6am the next day. Sounded perfect (apart from the 6am start). Morning comes, he's nowhere to be seen. After a couple of phone calls, he appears, no taxi, no friends, but somehow manages to get all those together in the space of about ten minutes, and we were gone by 6.20 - better than most scheduled buses! Unfortunately, the more spectacular route was closed, but at least we finally managed to reach Zhongdian without too much heartache.

I think your attitude towards Zhongdian varies greatly depending on from which direction you approach the town

02 Baishuitai

. I remember thinking of it as a refreshingly genuine town after the mockery of Lijiang. This time, it seemed a tourist filled forgery of the Tibetan areas through which I had just passed. Still, it was a comfortable enough place to rest for a couple of days after being squashed into cars and vans for so long, and it gave me the chance to get out to Baishuitai ('white water terrace'), an area of brilliant white calcified terraces containing many small pools of pure blue water, on a hillside overlooking high mountains and green valleys.

And of course, no trip to Zhongdian would be complete without at least one evening spent at the enormous circle dance in the main square. That alone makes the journey worthwhile!