Iterinary: Very Early Departure for the 4-Day coach trip to Jiuzhaigou.
Checked in late night into the hotel in Chengdu on 5 March 2008, settled all the payments for the rest of the trip with the travel agent and then off to a good night's rest to be ready for the exciting trip to the highlight of this trip - JIUZHAIGOU!
Left very early on 6 March morning, well before the break of dawn, to get to the assembly area for the coach to Jiuzhaigou. No time for breakfast due to the early hours. Luckily managed to grab a four 肉包子 near the hotel where the coach was departing. It was steaming hot as the shop was just opening for business. Added a cup of 豆浆 to make a reasonable breakfast combo! The 肉包子 was delicious but a tad too oily and salty but I guess that is the TASTE here.
The coach was full! I was not the only foreigner on this trip, there were 2 Americans with their Chinese companions.
The driver who sent me to the boarding point was very helpful and advised me to take the front 3 rows of seat saying it would be better. I did not understand at that point in time but was to find out exactly why later in the day. I really really had to thanked him for his friendly advice!
Perhaps it was the early hours, the driver hit and damaged a traffic light post leaving the hotel!
The tour guide (小刘）started a long introduction in Chinese that I nearly wanted to doze off! So off we go on the journey to probably the closest thing to heaven on earth. Although it was to be quite a long coach ride, the air of expectation seemed to make the journey much more bearable and psychologically, shorter!
It was interesting seeing the countryside on the way and the twisting and turning roads ascending to higher and higher above sea level. We made a couple of stops for toilet breaks and a stop at 沙湾村 for some photo-taking and local tidits.
We would make the same stop on the return journey.
The first time I came face to face with a YAK (牦牛）!
Lovely Yak!
Local dried delicacies, tidits and other bites.
The next stop would be a Tibetan village. I came to know that there are quite a few different tribes within 藏族, those in this part of Sichuan belongs to 桑巴族 and I came to know much later that certain phrases in their language can be totally different to the other 藏族 in Tibet itself.
Tibetan Village
Tibetan temple
Condors joined at the body (Siamese Twins?) at the entrance to the Tibetan temple
Butter Tibetan tea served here (supposedly good for altitude sickness!)
Mountain ridge with the outline of the sleeping Buddha!
(Possibly depending on the depth of faith if you could or could not visualise it.)
Tibetan holy totem poles!
The interesting exit from the temple, where you could choose which channel best suit your body size. Hey! I got though using the 3rd gap from the left. The 4th gap suggests you should consider going for slimming regime.
Next we would be heading to the hotel close to the main entrance of Jiuzhaigou and the night programme would be a visit to a Tibetan home (well I wouldn't call it a home as it was more touristy than I imagined.) for a night of sampling Tibetan culture and food first hand.
There was a police check prior to entering the Jiuzhaigou area and all vehicles were screened! A lady from our group vomitted during this stop due to altitude sickness. It was quite bad actually.
I was lucky to take a seat in the second row of the coach (or tour bus if you prefer) because the drive was one hell of a ride what with the long distance coupled with the winding roads up the steppes. Imagine turning a corner without having to slow down at all?
About a quarter way of the journey, I agreed to swop seats with the husband of the lady in the seat next to me. You know - them being a pair and me being a solo traveller, I thought what the heck and try to be a good sport! But little did I know the effects of sitting at the rear end of this coach ride! It was right at the back row of the coach and I was basically sandwitched in between two guys - one a Chinese, the other a Korean working in China, both of whom did not even moved a single inch when I took that limited space (for my frame) in between! How inconsiderate! As the trip progressed I realised how both were such chauvinists that I could never ever imagine!
The Chinese seemed to make all the decisions for his wife and when he spoke, you could see he put on his airs - likely a civil servant of a certain stature. He even brought along his own pair of stainless steel, foldable chopsticks for all the meals on this trip. As for the Korean, he refused to even let his lady friend take the window seat even when she pleaded for it!
I had to swop the seats back with that guy during lunch because I was having nausea and vomitted during the lunch stop. It was not because of altitude sickness but the swerving of the coach. Luckily he understood my predicament and readily agreed. I apologised to his wife when I returned to the original seat. They were really nice folks that I felt bad having to separate them again.
All the meals on this trip were fairly plain stuff with lots of veggies and little meat but at least there were always soups (sometimes 2 soups in a single meal too!). Even though it was not tasty most of the time, it was still OK. It was a departure from all those oily good food in Singapore and I could not have imagined the effect it would have on me after this trip! I came to like bamboo shoots and cabbage and the number of ways you could actually cooked them. The conversations and chit chat during the meals more than make up for everything else! Everyone came to know each other a little better and the camaradie grew as the trip progressed. There was no pre-planned seat arrangements, everyone just grabbed any available seats at each meal and we somehow ended up knowing everyone within the group! It was so easy to strike up a conversation as different groups of people came from all over the Mainland and the exchanges were very interesting indeed.
As we got nearer to Jiuzhaigou, there were snow seen on mountain tops and stone houses along the way.
When we arrived at the designated hotels, one group managed to checked into one hotel but for the rest of us we weren't so lucky. As it was low season, quite a number of hotels were closed and the hotel which the rest of the group was supposed to check into had given our rooms to other groups as we did not checked in on time. We proceeded to have our dinner early, at that same hotel while the tour guide went about arranging for alternative hotel. As the actual hotel could not be confirmed, we went instead to the Tibetan hospitality night programme with our baggages all still in the coach.
By idea of this Tibetan home visit was like a cosy little home with just our group but that notion was way off the actual reality. They were hosting at least 3 to 4 different tour groups in total, that would equate to about 100 to 120 persons in one night in a single so-called Tibetan home! Multiply that by the per head charge, I would say it was darn good business! Imagine that at peak seasons? Quite an income per household. The food were nowhere near a feast befitting a banquet, neither was the Tibetan tea and Tibetan liquor! In fact the liquor had a quaint sour taste.
The starters and bread.
One of the two main course. This one the finale - a whole lamb BBQ-ed. Everyone started to take pictures with the dish as they were brought to each table. Little did we realise that it tasted totally bland, absolutely tasteless! The other main course was lamb pieces cooked in boiling water. Equally bland!
On arrival all guests were welcomed with the traditional white silk scarf and were guided through some Tibetan rituals prior to entering the home. During the feast there were some entertainment by the children of the host, surprisingly we did not see the actual hosts (i.e. the parents!). If going by the traditional logic, wouldn't it be rude for the actual hosts not to come out and welcome their (paying) guests? To me this is just a "show" and nothing else, there were never any hosts of the house. This is purely a commercial gimmick to fill otherwise an uneventual evening in this little town. I have my doubts that these 桑巴族 would be that welcoming to total strangers! Caveat to those who intend to walk this way -- take this in the spirit of a tour event and take in the programme as a night of entertainment but do eat well first before you attend this programme. In any case you would do this only once irregardless of how many times you intend to come to Jiuzhaigou. All said, you won't miss much even if you decide to pass this up. Better to get a good night's rest to take in the beauty of Jiuzhaigou the next day even if the hotels are really not up to basic tourist class unless you can fork out for the Sheraton that is. Do bring your own soap, shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste, they don't supply those in the rooms.
The entertainment was then passed on to the guests, imagine the guests having to entertain other guests! They may claim this to be active participation but then why would you pay and then have to entertain at the same time? You might as well go to a karaoke and enjoy with your friends!
The night ended with a circled dance around a fireplace in the open yard. Imagine 100 to 120 persons circling in a tiny yard? An open field may be a better choice.
All in all a forgettable evening.
One of the small hosting room.
The same room, good for photo moments.
The banquet hall, those in the traditonal costumes are the host family members.
The entertainment by the guests. This lady was from our group and she really can sing!!
The remaining of the group were checked into a 4-star hotel for the night, an upgrade in fact for just this one night. Would move back to the orginally booked hotel for tomorrow night.
A better bed and with soap and shampoo. The tour guide had advised one and all not to shower for the first night in order for the body to adjust to the high altitude environment and also to drink less water. Me? Nah! As long as there is hot shower, I will jump in come hell or water high, anywhere and under any condition. Why waste the opportunity? I always have talcum powder for cases where shower is not possible to be had, so I am well covered one way or the other.
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