En Route

Written Saturday the 17th, regardless of when the update happens. Ill try to cut back on the details, for the most part, as details would make the next few posts incredibly long. The galleries for the next few weeks will contain more images than normal.

Well, I have begun my travels for this vacation period. I have spent the last few days traveling in western Sichuan with 3 travel friends I made in Chengdu. We caught a bus from Chengdu to Danba at 6am Wednesday morning. The bus ride took a total of 13 hours, including a 2 hour stop where the road was closed. The better roads leading to Danba were nothing more than 1 lane of traffic in either direction. The not so good roads were 1 lane dirt roads which hugged dangerously close to the edges of cliffs. All in all, a fun ride.

After the 13 hour bus ride, we arrived in Danba and found ourselves a place to stay at a hostel. Soon after settling in, we went out to find a bit of local cuisine (which turned out to be not-so-special) and had ourselves a meal. Soon after eating, we returned to the hostel. At this point, 3 of us decided to wander about the night streets of Danba. After a slight bit of exploration, and the crossing of a wobbly pedestrian bridge, we made our way back to the hotel and rested.

Then next day was fairly uneventful, except for the climbing of an ancient Tibetan defense tower (see photos in weeklies for more “details”). These ancient structures are fairly well preserved (considering their age), but still dangerous to climb. Other than that, we explored 2 Tibetan villages (Suopo and Jiaju) and ended up in a third village named Zhonglu, where we spend the night.

The 3rd day, I woke up feeling sick, so I got a late start. My 3 companions went off to explore the countryside on their own, while I stayed behind and recovered a bit. I ended up starting my day at almost 1030. Once I got up and going, I wandered about the village of Zhonglu until I came about a house where I heard music coming from within. After standing at the gate for a minute, or so, I was invited to come in. I spent the next 3 hours sitting and chatting in my broken Chinese with the people who lived there. In addition to that, I got to see some of their religious activities. During those 3 hours alone, I felt the most in my element. I was exploring and interacting with the locals the way I like to, which involves spending enough time with them so that they no longer feel awkward with my presence. Eventually, I wandered off and rejoined with my compatriots to have lunch, followed by a hike into the hills.

On the 4th day, the day I write this, we hired a car to take us to another Tibetan town named Badi. Badi, in general, was uneventful, but we did watch the construction of a Tibetan house (to which I helped carry a rock to, Tibetan backpack style). We had the car drive us back to Danba, at which point my partners in travel and I parted ways. I came back to Zhonglu to explore the hills here a bit more, while they head back to Chengdu. I am now here in Zhonglu, writing this just after the sunset while staring up at the sky filled with infinite stars.

Its beautiful out here, and I wish I could share it all, but take what you can get, and enjoy the photos.