The Wild West: July 2009

Our last trip in China was a pretty big one: two weeks in Sichuan Province and the "Wild West" of China up into the Tibetan Plateau. We flew to Chengdu with no fixed plans really other than a hostel for our first few nights' stay. We'd heard of Sichuan's beautiful mountains and vast expanses of green hills so we were anxious to see it with our own eyes. Still, before arriving in Sichuan, we didn't really know exactly where we wanted to go or how to get there. But this trip would be different than the others in that we were hoping to spend some time in homestays and follow the recommendations of locals and fellow travelers. We really couldn't plan much of these things from Zhuzhou, so we just had to cross our fingers, hold our breath, and jump in! Thankfully, our hostel in Chengdu, Sim's Cozy Garden, had some of the most informative and helpful staff we've found in China. They weren't out to sell you overpriced and under-satisfying tours either! Many people travel into Tibet from Chengdu, as well as into some of the more remote parts of western China, so this hostel caters to the adventurous backpackers who may find themselves in over their heads. The staff helped us organize everything, from transportation to formal lodging, and even homestays in local villages. I don't intend for this to be an advertisement for the hostel, but they were also helpful in advising us as to what villages were currently closed to foreigners, what roads were under construction/impassable (since the earthquakes) and on how not to get ripped off. That's extremely helpful in a remote place like Sichuan where the towns open and close to foreigners as the political winds change, and roads are constantly closing due to flood, construction, or earthquakes. All in all, Sim's hostel was amazing, and without their help, I'm sure our trip would have been less fulfilling.

After a couple of days in Chengdu relaxing, planning the rest of our journey through Sichuan, and seeing a few sights (including city parks and temples, a nearby touristy mountain shrouded in fog, and the Panda Breeding Center), we were ready to move on...we thought. We were both pretty nervous about our upcoming and unpredictable trip.

We divided our trip into two stages: The first leg we'd head north of Chengdu to a Tibetan village about 8 hours away by bus. After a couple nights there, we'd continue north another 4 hours to Jiuzhaigou National Park, home to some of China's most pristine natural scenery. For the second leg of our trip, we would head west to the part of the Tibetan Plateau that lies in Sichuan Province. It's outside of the political boundaries of Tibet, but ethnically, culturally, and spiritually it is authentically Tibetan.

First Leg: North of Chengdu:
One of the highlights of our time in Sichuan was a homestay in a small Tibetan village. We took an extremely bumpy bus ride north of Chengdu through some of the hardest hit areas of last year's Sichuan earthquakes. It was clear that the rebuilding was still in progress; it seems as if everyone was out doing some sort of construction on homes, buildings, and roads. In one town, Wenchuan, the center of town was a mass of blue temporary buildings where the citizens now live. It was sad to see and imagine the loss and human casualties that occurred here just one year ago. The bus dropped us off in a small town called JingJiangGuan. Apparently, no foreigners had ever been there before and the bus driver couldn't figure out why we would possibly want to go to this town. It was an unplanned stop along the bus route and we had been told to get off here and catch a car that would bring us to our final destination. The details were shady to us as well, but we just had to have a little faith. We weren't super confident in getting off a bus in a "town" of 2 buildings and a bridge and with fading cell phone service, no ability to communicate in the Tibetan language, and vague directions on who we were supposed to hitch a ride from...or even where we were going. Well, we weren't the only ones worried about our drop off destination. The bus hostess insisted she talk with our friend to determine that this was really where we were supposed to get off. We finally got off the car-sickening bus in JingJiangGuan. We expected the homestay to be just outside the town, but as it would turn out, we had more bumpy driving to do. We waited for a while until a minivan parked next to the bridge. We were informed the car would be by the bridge. We really had no way of knowing if this was the one, as there had been a few vans drive by (mind you, really just a few...we were in the middle of nowhere). They didn't seem overly shocked by us getting in the van, so we assumed we had made the right decision. We thought it would be a quick ride to our homestay, however, a short trip it was not! A full hour later, after a bumpy journey down a winding dirt pathway crammed between 6 other Tibetan villagers and their massive mound of supplies they'd purchased in the "big city of Jingjiangguan, we finally arrived at our homestay in the village of Hongtu, "Red Earth." This village was named for a patch of red dirt on a mountainside which loomed above the houses and farmland.



Views from the bus



We were immediately met by our hosts, a Tibetan woman in her early 20s, Lame, and her family; father and mother in their 60's, brother, sister-in-law, and their two middle school aged sons. Lame spoke fluent English, Chinese, and Tibetan (a feat which we would find more and more remarkable as the weekend went on) and she was to be our primary "guide" for the weekend. She showed us around her home, a wood and stone structure that her father and brother had built themselves. The home was basic but spacious and well constructed. It was over 2000 square feet and much more comfortable than we had expected. A lower level housed the animals (goats, pigs, and guard dogs) and the upper level was for humans. Everything in the home revolved around the "family room," a large square room with wooden floors, walls, and ceilings. On the perimeter of the room there were wooden counters and benches painted in bold bright colors and decorated with floral carvings. The benches were topped with bright hand-sewn cushions that made the seating more comfortable. Everything was done in this room but sleeping. In the center of the room was a tri-purpose table/stove/heater. One touch of modernity was a TV which sat on a counter in front of the table. They had limited electricity from their solar panels, so even though they had one, it was a special occasion to be used. I guess there are some things even Tibetan Villagers living so simply can't live without! Even with the TV, it was really pretty rustic. There was no A/C or electric heat. The only lighting was a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. No running water; their water came from a nearby mountain well. And every morning they would boil water over a fire for warm water to wash your face and feet with. They had assembled a basin sitting up high at sink level where they poured boiling water for all of us to share until it inevitably turned cold. The bathroom was upstairs and consisted of two rocks on either side of a slit in the floor that opened up to a large wooden basin on the ground level below. The rocks designated where you should put your feet when squatting and the basin below was to catch the waste. It was explained to us that the contents of the basin were used for fertilizer. This explains the incredible need for a Hepatitis A shot and the strict rule of "peel it, boil it, or forget it!" we followed while in China.

 Nephew, La'me's mom, La'me, and her father at the table

 Woodwork and cabinetry in their home

  The Toilet

The family we were staying with had taken in 1 or 2 other foreigners before, so this wasn't an everyday occasion for them. We were lucky enough to find this opportunity through Sim's cozy hostel in Chengdu. As it turned out, La'me, the girl in the family who was our guide and translator, had worked at the hostel while putting herself through school. In fact, she had been chosen out of her Tibetan village as the one who would move to the big city and go to school. She went to high school, then college in Chengdu through the collaborative funding and support of her entire village. Studying in the big city outside of cultural Tibet gave her the opportunity to learn Mandarin and English. She said she really learned English while working at the hostel. Well, she now works in a different province, as a Mandarin teacher in an orphanage. But she had come home for about one month to visit her family. While she was there, she told the hostel that her family would be willing to welcome foreign visitors as a means of making a little extra cash. So it turned out that we were in the right place at the right time! La'me was truly an amazing young woman with a giving heart, an understanding soul, and a great ability to learn languages! She spoke Tibetan, Mandarin, and English nearly perfectly. Meanwhile, her younger nephews (her brother's sons) were in a local school and did not know Mandarin, despite having Chinese teachers. The government was really letting these kids down. They did not know much of anything, really. The Chinese government assigned teachers to the remote and culturally diverse areas so they could teach the language and appropriate materials. But the teachers did not speak the local dialect usually. So the students struggled sitting through class in a foreign language teaching them about studies that are far removed from there daily lives.

By the time we had arrived at their home, the sun was about to set in a couple of hours. We enjoyed the views out of the detailed wooden windows of lush, green mountains and well maintained fields of yellow rapeseed. We drank local barley wine from a communal straw sticking out of a special piece of pottery filled with fermenting barley. The young boys drank it too. It was really strong and even a little carbonated. We watched La'me's sister-in-law and mother cook dried pig lard with farm fresh greens (I think green onions) and HUGE wild mushrooms over the fire as well as homemade flatbread. We even helped with making the "momos" which were very similar to steamed baos but in the shape of a tiny football requiring intricate pinching along the seam. They were filled with the greens and pig lard that had been cooked down. Ours did not turn out as nice as theirs, but they didn't fall apart, so they weren't half bad! They were steamed after we were done with them. This, yak butter tea and flatbread cooked in the wide, shallow wok on top of the fire made up our meal. It was really surprisingly good. We sat around the fire, talking, eating, and drinking more tea. We played with the tiny black kitten they had brought into the house. We enjoyed the company and it was quite cozy inside. There was one light bulb to light the room, but the fire provided quite a bit of warmth and light as well. We washed up for the evening at the communal bowl filled with boiled water. Then we went to our room for the night and were surprised how comfortable the bed was. It looked quite western, but of course was not a soft mattress, but softer than ours back at our school. It was a cold night and we slept in all of our clothing. We had a lot of blankets too. David got sick in the middle of the night, the first time he was really sick to his stomach since being in China. The dried pieces of fat from the pig that had been hanging in their home (above the parent's bed) for over a year just may have been the culprit!

The village of Hongtu tucked away in a far off valley

The next day we had tea and flatbread, then headed out with La'me and her youngest nephew. We followed her dad herding the goats out to graze for a day. The day was really beautiful! We just walked around the mountainside, collecting tiny wild strawberries and wild mushrooms and watching the neighbor children keeping an eye on their livestock. There were horses galloping freely across the mountainside! We took a break for a picnic lunch of strawberries coated in barley flour, barley flour dough, and leftover momos (which David wanted none of) at their summer cottage. This was really more like a shack with cardboard walls. La'me explained that sometimes they would keep the goats out here at night or for a long period of time and the person watching them would rest or spend the night out here. We made a little fire and the youngest nephew decided he would cook his dough ball over an iron griddle. That sounded slightly more appealing than the raw dough ball, so I tried it. It wasn't much better. David and I really struggled on the mushroom hunt. The nephew just kept nodding his head "no" every time we pointed to a mushroom we thought looked like the ones he had picked. Finally in a joint effort, David and I found one edible wild mushroom and we felt vindicated. This is truly a difficult way to eat! La'me wore a wicker open-top backpack she filled with mushrooms. We used them with dinner that evening as well. Once we were back at the house, we had the chance to watch La'me's mother making tapestry. She had to work really hard just to make a rope to use for basket handles etc. La'me was excited for us to try on their traditional clothes as well. La'me didn't wear the traditional clothing while we were there, but she told us that she often did. Before dinner, David and I decided to explore the valley and river a little. We struggled finding a path down to the river that did not directly cross paths with other guard dogs. Most of them were tied up like La'me's family's dog but they still had a vicious bark. The Tibetans really train them to be aggressive in order to protect their home and livestock. La'me explained to me that theft was a big problem among their community. Dinner this evening was a special event. It took an entire family to make it come together: Sister-in-law and older nephew working in the fields, Dad watching the goats, nephew collecting mushrooms, son working on carpentry and collecting firewood, and mother cooking and making rope and all other necessary household items. La'me would be leaving soon to return back to her job as a teacher and we were leaving the next morning. So in celebration, the family cut one of the 4 legs off of the salted, dried pig hanging above their bed and cooked it in a pressure cooking pot all day long. Of course we had more tea and flatbread. I think I remember eating more mushrooms as well. The pig foot was surprisingly tender after having been cooked all day long! We were surprised how much meat was actually on it. Everybody seemed to enjoy the evening.



Flat bread and Yak butter tea served in the center of the home

The nephew built a fire for us in the "Summer Cottage" adorned with cardboard walls

We were greeted early in the morning to a honk of the horn. The same driver and van that had brought us here were ready to pick us up and take us away. This time we were going all the way to Songpan so we did not have to transfer to a big bus right away. Once in Songpan we purchased bus tickets for Jiuzhaigou.

Jiuzhaigou National Park:
Jiuzhaigou was one of China's pristine national parks. It was well maintained and absolutely stunning with it's crystal blue chain of lakes, numerous fairy-tale waterfalls, and green tree-covered mountains.  The town outside of Jiuzhaigou was rather unpleasant though. It was a touristy Chinese town full of overpriced restaurants and endless souvenir vendors lining the walkways. Most of the locals were not very friendly and we struggled in the beginning. We were lucky to find two enjoyable restaurants: chicken noodle soup with a perfectly fried egg on top for breakfast and “da pan ji” off the menu. The chef was so excited to make this dish for us because it was “from his hometown.” We had reserved a hostel, which we ended up staying at only one night because the door didn’t lock, the shower was cold, and the computers available for guest use had a sign stating “Foreigners cannot use!” We moved next door to a questionable motel –like hostel where we were greeted by an unofficial house-keeper who did not ask for our passports. The rate was cheap and the rooms clean-ish, so we stayed there instead.  They even ended up helping us arrange for a bus (unofficial and not from the bus station, but faster and cheaper) back to Chengdu.  We had our doubts, but it showed up and we made it back in record time (9 or so hours I think)!  So, there were helpful and friendly Chinese in this town!  Our day in the park was other-worldly.  China really maintained this park, unlike many others, with well placed walkways allowing for pleasant, undisturbed views of nature and wildlife.  This is one of the last areas with wild Pandas too but of course we didn't see any. Jiuzhaigou was a religious mecca for many Tibetans for obvious reasons.  There were still some Tibetans living in the national park, which unfortunately served as a tourist destination for many.  We managed to avoid the Tibetan village and the opportunity to dress in Tibetan clothing for a cheesy photo!  We spent the day hoping on and off the bus system at different highlight spots, then hiking a ways at each spot for the views.  Although it was a crowded park, many times we had the pathways all to ourselves.  The water was bluer than any I'd ever seen before and the trees and grass just as green as the water was blue.  The weather was perfect, cool in the shade and warm in the sun.  Each spot we stopped at looked so different from the last.  Some spots were massive waterfalls cascading over bubbling rocks like  gigantic pearls.  Others were flat rock water falls, streams, rivers, marshes, and pools.  The Park is in the shape of a Y and the water  system flows all the way down the.  It's a huge park so you have to take the bus to different spots, then walk the rest of the way.  Only one side of the Y was open when we went because they had low water from a drought.  Normally it would take two days to see the entire park, but as there was only half to see, we managed to see it all in one, very exhausting day!



Unbelievable Falls



Crystal blue lakes



Waterfall



An early morning the following day allowed us to catch the bus our hostel owner had arranged for us and we were on our way back to Chengdu to plan our next adventure! 

Second Leg: Homestay with Nomadic Tibetans:
It was a 6 1/2 hour drive from Chengdu to Kangding by bus. We had a typical en route lunch stop where we chose some greens and a reasonably looking meat dish along with our daily dose of prayers that this wouldn't be the meal that makes us sick. The greens were fried up fresh, but many of the meat dishes were sitting out for an unknown amount of time. They were still hot, so we weren't too nervous. On the menu was pork fat and potatoes, chicken pieces with bamboo, and greens. After lunch, we continued our drive through green, lush, wild, overgrown mountains as the peaks grew larger and the valleys narrower. Occasionally we could see the river which was a bright blue when undisturbed and brown in areas of heavy construction. Worn down brick houses, colored by soot, sporadically peeked through the lush green vegetation. We could see the close up mountains, but gray clouds quickly removed them from view as we kept driving. The mostly paved road was flanked by wild terrain. There weren't many farms; there were no terraced fields like in Hunan outside of Zhuzhou nor the wide expanses of flat farmland like in Beijing and Xian. Occasionally a lone person was seen walking along the edge of the road, almost always carrying just one bag. As an observer on a bus, I couldn't help but wonder how far this person would be walking because it really was a long distance between the middle of nowhere and the next village. On the return trip from Kanding to Chengdu I saw several old women walking along the side of the road wearing wide brimmed Easter Sunday hats. Some of the women looked very old and hunched over, a stark contrast from their new manufactured hats. While waiting for bad traffic to clear or roads to re-open, as often happened, the bus driver turned off the bus and we sat patiently for about 45 minutes. Local women poured into our bus selling popular snacks including dried fish and meats in vacuum packed bags. They sold lucky white flowers that had been strung to hang and they picked up plastic bottles for recycling. They showed their goods on large straw platters. You could also see small stands stacked with jars of local honey at every other turn. The stands were usually set out in front of a brick building, most likely the vendor’s home. This looked like a very cold way of life given the windowless openings and plastic sheets covering any holes in the walls. One village in particular just outside of Kangding had a decent scattering of houses and was busier than other towns. Boys of age 6 to 8 squatted by the road and stood up to look in the minivan that drove by. The driver honked amicably at the people waving back at us.

Once in Kangding, the river was noticeably browner, with cement walls built to prevent the river from changing course. At first, Kangding seemed small with one bus station and a few shops and restaurants across the street. I felt the altitude even though we were only at 8,500 feet. I bought a can of oxygen and drank a small vial of brown liquid which claimed to be Chinese medicine for altitude sickness. David helped translate for two Israeli travelers (the only other foreigners on our bus). It turned out that the man, who had limited use of one arm, had been traveling for 8 years! The travelers that make it all the way out here sure are interesting! We then headed across the street to eat at a small restaurant. We ordered “ma po doufu” which was great and settled my stomach a bit. The most interesting group of people walked into the restaurant while we were there. I think they may have been just as interested in me as I was with them. They were local Tibetans but if I had to guess, I’d say they weren’t from the city. They spoke a Tibetan dialect, but the oldest man spoke some Chinese. He wore the traditional Tibetan male dress, a thick brown corduroy-like fabric wrap with long wide sleeves. This particular man wore one sleeve on and the other hanging down. The bottom of the dress was about knee high and the edge was decorated with colorful fabric. He wore a cowboy hat to top it all off. His sun-damaged skin left him with deep lines, now impacted with dirt and sweat. He was accompanied by the following characters: a thin monk with a shaved head wearing a long orange and maroon “robe” and a young, strong “wild west” man who seemed to step right out of a western movie . He wore the same Tibetan dress and cowboy hat, along with a long braid down his back. He later snapped a photo of me on his cell phone and I did the same! Three less distinctive, but equally traditional women joined them at dinner. After finishing our early dinner, we hailed a cab and turned a corner to find a surprisingly busy and bigger than expected city with bakeries, banks, and big hotels. The city was long and nestled in the valley below cloud covered mountain tops. Later, we walked through the town and witnessed an odd clash of cultures. Han Chinese businessmen and shop keepers were speaking Mandarin and wearing more western style clothing. Then there were the local Tibetans in traditional dress, strolling these developed shopping streets while living a traditional lifestyle just a 5 minute walk up the mountain. The Tibetan men, mostly all under 40 years of age, had long jet black hair either greased back behind their ears, in a long braid, or covered with a cowboy hat. The women did not seem to travel with the men although they were still out. In Kangding and Tagong the typical headpiece for the women was a red ribbon woven through a braid of hair then wrapped around their head and secured with a secret hair net. They wore the same dresses as were worn in Songpan and surrounding areas. Nearly ¼ of the shops on the streets sold dresses or fabric to make dresses. The front of the shops advertised summer dresses (long but sleeveless made of light-weight fabric). If you ask me, they should wear the winter dress all year long because I thought this was a very cold July!

Locals taking a picture of us at the restaurant!

While in Kangding we stayed at a hostel owned by Americans. It was in a village up the mountain. The owners were pregnant and had a complication that sent them to Thailand. Their expat friends pitched in to help continue running the hostel in its first few months. The hostel was one of my favorite parts of Kangding. It was designed and decorated by the owners to look very Tibetan. It was extremely comfortable too! It neighbored Tibetan homes guarded by some of the meanest dogs. The front door was open and covered with a blue cloth with an embroidered white Tibetan celtic-like design. It opened up to a living room with wooden couches lined with bright striped cushions. There was an old fashioned iron stove in the middle of the room. Just past this, two benches faced each other with a dugout in the middle for your feet to hang below the central table. This coffee table had curved legs and was painted red with bright flowers. To the left of the door was a black tent room designed to look like the black tents of the Nomadic Tibetans made of woven yak hair. The walls and ceiling were covered with the black cloth. The ceiling, just like the tents, had 3 or 4 eaves to each angle that met at the top in the middle. The inside of this black tent was lined with beautiful photographs of nearby mountains, Tibetan faces, and photos of the local jewelry. The dorm beds were downstairs, as was the TV room and nice slate walled showers. We stayed 2 nights to acclimate to the altitude. On our full day in Kangding we slept in, ate pancakes and homemade granola, and hiked up a mountain which started as just a pathway through Tibetan homes, dogs, cows, and above-ground tombs decorated in prayer flags. The trail eventually let to the forest where we had nice views of the neighboring mountains and the thick clouds that weaved between and in front of the majestic peaks. The fog and clouds were magical! We bought scarves, which the women wore to keep their head, face, or shoulders warm. We ate in town and relaxed with hot chocolate and cookies at the hostel in the evening. I really enjoyed talking with the families working there. They were all 30 something couples with 2 kids each. Ely, from Seattle, and her husband Ben, from Vancouver, had Eva (3) and another little girl. Ely told me about how difficult it was to accept the Chinese lack of personal space as a mother since people would frequently grab and hold her baby . She said that most Chinese mothers are exhausted from the expectations to never set the child down. Ben and Ely met in China and have now been married 5 years. Francine and Josh were older, with boys ages 6 and 8. Francine had worked in Lhasa for 2 years. Josh told us about the British NGO they worked for, educating Tibetans on health, computer skills, and hygiene. They would soon leave to bring yak to some families near Xining. He said they couldn’t officially do any work in Lhasa anymore. Finally, Johnny and his wife Shannon were from Oklahoma. They had 2 young boys who went to Chinese school in Chengdu.

Kangding

Upon our arrival in Kangding, a man introduced himself to us outside the bus station. In any other situation, I would have walked away on account of him seeming a little shady. His slicked back hair and insults to my spoken Chinese made me even less interested in talking with him, but he spoke English very well and said he could take us to Tagong, his home. We had arranged for him to take us at 8 am the following morning. We ended up having to rearrange our trip for a day later because I was still having altitude sickness. Come the day we were planning to leave, Tenzin called us at 7:30 am and wanted to leave in "half a minute!" This is not uncommon in China! It turned out that Tenzin was not our driver, but he took a commission for arranging a car for us. The minivan was full of foreigners; us, 2 from Ireland, and 3 guys from London. The drive was an incredible 3 1/2 hours. We drove out through steep mountains, into mountainside villages, up through the clouds and to the peaks covered in gray rocks and above the tree line. We stopped at the top to look out over the rolling grassland, spread out like a carpet just rolled out for us. This stop was right after we passed through a massive white cloud and alongside a crystal, placid lake. Suddenly, a herd of yak was led across the street just in front of our car, led by men, boys and women on horses. They may as well have carried a "Welcome to the Tibetan Plateau!" flag because we were now officially here! the next 45 minutes of the drive was made up of rolling grasslands and the occasional herd of yak and black tents spotting the green landscape. the van parked in a cobblestone courtyard in front of a Buddhist temple.

A break in the clouds offered us our first breathtaking view of the Tibetan Plateau

Nomadic Yak herd crossing the road

We were immediately met by Sally, the owner of Sally's Guesthouse. She refused to let me carry my own bag and she led us all to her guesthouse at the end of the square. It was very basic and a bit dirty. Our room had 2 small beds and the carpet was stained. Sally had not made the beds yet and while we watched her and her family hurriedly fold linens from the clothesline before the rain came, I realized just how much work this must be for them. Not only do the logistics of running a hostel in the middle of nowhere seem daunting, but also the idea of a Tibetan family, who rarely bathe and never change clothes, trying to meet the needs of foreign travelers for clean daily linens seems ridiculous. After checking in and struggling with communicating with Sally in Chinese (who has a facebook account but speaks very little Chinese and no English) , we walked to the temple across the square and toured the various rooms, admiring the colorful ceiling tiles, buddhas, the statues of 4 fathers of Sytra, bright quilt-like cloths hanging in long cylindrical forms from the ceilings, and money stuffed into cracks next to the statues. The Tibetan and Han visitors would bow three times in front of each statue. As we were standing in the courtyard, the sky immediately turned gray and the previously intense sun disappeared, replaced by rain leaving puddles in the deep grooves of the cobblestone walkways. Just as fast as the rain started, it subsided and gave way to the bluest sky and the whitest clouds I’d ever seen. More gray clouds were approaching and we could hear far away thunder. The remainder of the day played out like this, alternating between intense sun and dark rain. We met 3 Chinese couples that evening while avoiding the rain hanging out in Sally’s restaurant. They were there for 3 days to take wedding photos! We saw them the next day leaning against dirty temple walls and posing in grassland mud puddles. I love how seriously they take the wedding photos. I think they are more important than the wedding itself. The Irish couple had met a man, named Dorgee, in Kangding whose family lived as nomads near Tagong. Dorgee arranged for the two of them to ride horses to his family's tent and spend the day and evening with them. They invited us to join them and we were thrilled to. We had wanted to visit a nomadic family, but of course, this isn't something you can call ahead and make reservations for. We had heard you would just have to fall into it once there, and we were lucky enough to have just that happen!

Tibetan Prayer Flags and Prayer Wheels in Tagong

Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Tagong

Monk headed in the Temple for prayer

The next morning we trekked through muddy roads for about an hour, trying to guess which of the many monasteries was the one we were supposed to meet our guide and horses at. We finally met up with our guide, the brother of the man that the Irish couple had organized our trip with. Our guide did not speak English or Chinese, so through a series of gestures we finally assumed that he was in fact our guide and we were going to follow this stranger into the mountains. We mounted our horses and settled into our leather, non-padded saddles. The next 3 hours were near blissful, despite the constant light rain. We rode over hills, across edges looking down on the river, and even galloped through rolling grasslands. We got up close and personal with herds of yak and a pack of wild dogs. Our guide scared them off by throwing rocks he had collected along the way. The rain began to come down heavier and we were all cold and wet. We did not have a change of clothes, so we tried to stay dry under our ponchos, but our shoes were soaked. It felt like I had gone swimming in my shoes!

Headed out of town in the rain

We made it inside their tent just before the even heavier downpour began. The tent was not rainproof, but it kept most of the rain out. They had a wood burning fire in the middle of the tent, with an opening above it to let most of the smoke out (and of course rain in). We sat on a store-bought rug and some yak hide pulled up next to the fire while the mother drained, then kneaded, fresh yak cheese for lunch. we were cold and wet and the rain continued to drip down upon us and dampen the grass and soil that served as their floor. The horses we had ridden were set free of their saddles and they galloped happily off into the grasslands, not to be seen again until dusk. We were given a bowl of Tibetan tea, to which they added a cup of more of fresh ground barley flour called zamba and 2 tablespoons of yak butter. We proceeded to stick our hands in the concoction and mix and shape it until we had a solid ball of raw flour dough. We ate with our fingers, albeit ours were infinitely cleaner than our hosts'. We also ate yak jerkey and the cheese, which was surprisingly similar to fresh mozzerella but less salty. After lunch the sun appeared again and our guide had to leave to begin collecting firewood and herd the yak home. We had the afternoon to explore the area. Quickly we discovered that this was an overwhelming task. There were no trails, no trees or landmarks, and no people. As we kept walking we realized it was just rolling hill after hill as far as the eye could see! The landscape was uninterrupted, with the exception of the occasional black tent and yak. Looking off in one direction, you could see the arranged prayer flags above the town of Tagong and it's temple. Otherwise, it was just green grass and blue sky and it was heavenly! We decided to climb to the top of a hill. When we finally made it, we wanted to reach the next hilltop, then the next, and so on. The grass is always greener on the other side, but truly, the grass was the greenest and the sky the bluest I'd ever seen in my life. The grassland was littered with granite rocks large enough to lie on for a nap (I tried it out) and 50 different types of wildflowers. The yellow flowers and green grass were just picture perfect! We came across a pile of broken tablets that were written in Tibetan. We made it to the top of what appeared to be the highest hill and took in the 360 degree view. I could honestly see rolling grasslands until I couldn't see any further. No houses, telephone poles, or even people interrupted the view. This is the most beautiful spot on earth; clean, untouched, and natural. We ran into a herd of yak being led by two young women hollering and whistling at them. The women communicated to each other by yelling over the hills. The yak also communicated with grunts that sounded more like a goose than a cow. We headed back towards our black tent, which was hard to tell apart from the others that looked exactly the same. The tent looked so much closer than it turned out to be. We must have walked a long way. I suppose distance is all relative; when you can see forever in all directions the closest object appears closer than it really is. We walked back through a dip in the hills where a few pine trees stood tall. We came out of the pine trees and were walking along the edge of the closest hill to our tent. We could look down onto 3 other tents from there. As had happened on our way up, guard dogs for each of the tents started barking. their barks were meant to scare us, and they did. We just stayed far away from the other tents. This time, the barking sounded like it was getting closer and we realized this dog was not tied up as the others were. He was running towards us, but we thought he would surely stop when he realized we were walking away from his territory. All of a sudden, he was up on the edge of the hill in front of us, growling and showing his teeth. we remembered our guide throwing rocks so we immediately began looking for rocks. Of course, there were none when we needed them! There was a pile of sticks for firewood and we each grabbed one. I ran and ran and David was behind me. The dog was catching up to us and looking angry. Luckily his growls also caught the attention of his owner, who began hollering and tearing up the hill towards the dog. David turned around and faced the dog with his stick, only 3 feet away. We both thought this was going to be a fight. Not soon enough, the owner called the dog off and we were safe and free to walk away and catch our breath. After our lives finished flashing before our eyes, we said a thankful prayer and hurried back to the tent, making sure to pick up each and every rock we saw, just in case.

A huge variety of wild flowers dotted the green landscape

We barely made it back to the tent and the dog began chasing towards us as we crossed the stream. Waiting for dinner, I collected rocks, lots of rocks, and set them by the entrance. The father, the brother (our guide), the herd of yaks and the young girl of 7 were back at the tent. They began cutting yak hair and tying the adult yaks to stakes in the ground. They then picked up the baby yaks and carried them inside the tent. They were tied in two rows against the back long wall of the tent. We moved inside and watched the mother prepare dinner. She mixed water and flour to make a dough. She put oil in a large pot over the open fire, then added cabbage (I believe the brother had bought it while in town because there were no vegetables in sight). She added water and the left over cheese from lunch. Next she rolled the dough into a long worm she wrapped around one wrist. She pinched off flat one inch square pieces and tossed into the pot until it was completely full of noodles. The little girl copied her and made a bracelet out of her dough. She laughed hard when we smiled or did anything unusual. We felt bad for her because she seemed lonely. We saw her singing and dancing by herself while we were on our hike earlier. Although I was hungry, another bowl of barley dough didn't really interest me. Of course, we had to eat everything we were given, and we were given seconds and thirds! The four of us helped each other out in finishing our dough. I ended up discretely putting some in my pocket to throw away later because I just couldn't possibly eat any more. The dough just hit my stomach like a rock. We sat close to the fire as it got colder and colder, praying our pants, socks, and shoes would dry and return our toes back to a normal color. They did not dry. The soup was hardy and delicious, well, relatively delicious. Our hosts used their hands and tongues to gather solid pieces out of the stew. We were given small sticks to stab with, as they thought we wouldn't want to eat with our hands. I'm not sure which was dirtier, our hands or the dirty sticks. The family talked a little, but dinner was mostly quiet. We had more tea in the same bowl we had eaten our soup in. The tea was slightly milky and herbal. We sat by the fire a bit longer until the father motioned towards David and Rolland (the Irish guy) to come outside. He was holding a flashlight and we thought he was taking them to a small white tent about a hundred meters away. So, thinking they were going to have to sleep in a different tent than us, they gathered all of their gear for the night. It turned out he was just taking them out to go to the bathroom one last time before bed. They looked silly and put all of their belongings back down before following him out to an open space, visible by all, to go to the bathroom. There were no trees or bushes to hide behind out here. After they came back, I took my own flashlight and lost all modesty by using a patch of grass about 5 feet in front of the tent. The dogs were barking in the not too far off distance, and a long-horned yak stared me straight in the eyes as I squatted timidly. I couldn't possibly venture off any further away, even with my pockets full of rocks! The mother prepared a palette in the far back corner of the tent for the visitors. The tent didn't make a complete seal against the ground, so the cold air blew through the bottom. The family set layer upon layer of blankets on top of us. We luckily had a change of socks so we were able to finally have dry feet. The night air was frigid and the ground extraordinarily lumpy and hard. None of us slept much that night. I awoke at 12:30 thinking that the miserable night was almost over, but to my surprise, it was still night time. Then around 2 am, a pack of wild dogs came running up to the tent in search of food (yak or us???). The guard dogs began to bark and the men in our tent all ran outside to scare them away. We could hear the growls and heavy breathing of angry dogs just opposite the flimsy tent wall.

We survived the night!

Morning finally arrived and we awoke to a mother yak pushing her way inside the tent to find her baby. She had somehow gotten herself free from her stake. The mother and father were up and working with the start of a new day by 6 am. The young girl and the brother, our guide, stayed asleep in their palettes for a bit longer. By the time we got up, the day was well on its way. The mother was milking yak and the father was shearing yak hair. They brought one baby yak out at a time. The baby squacked and the mother yak bleated in return, allowing them to find each other. They tied them up at the the stake next to their mother and the baby was allowed to drink its mother's milk for a minute. Then the women would move the baby further away and begin milking the yak into a wooden bucket. The baby yak butted heads and the young girl in the family enjoyed rough housing with them.

Milking the yak for milk and cheese

We soon gestured that it was time for us to go, but of course, we had to eat breakfast first. We said yes to tea and our host kept insisting we eat some zamba too! We said no thank you because we truthfully could not eat any more raw flour. Then we were offered yak yogurt with sugar. We agreed, and it really did taste great! We hiked back to town through hills and finally a very muddy road. Two hours later we were back to Tagong, tired and extremely dirty.

After a serious shower at Sally's (which was a hose hanging from a hook behind a tarp), we took the minivan back to Kangding. A good night's sleep at the American owned hostel was much appreciated. We attempted to dry our soaked shoes with a hairdryer but had little luck. Our 6.5 hour bus ride back to Chengdu turned into 11 hours due to broken bus parts that required being fixed three times. We were just happy we made it back at all. We of course were delayed by closed roads still under construction from last year's earthquakes too. On the painfully long bus ride, David got his first joke in Chinese: the driver couldn't remember which repair shop he had used when we went back for our third repair. He said, "Where's the place?" and someone in the back yelled "Chengdu!"

The joys of quality vehicles and repair-work in China...third time was the charm!

Chengdu for the third time!!!
We visited Chengdu 3 times: before our wild west adventure, between homestays, and after staying in Tagong. It wasn't a great city: it was crowded and you couldn't fit on the public buses. The smog was terrible too. We did really enjoy having a slightly western experience at Sim's Cozy hostel each time we returned. We enjoyed drinking coffee and ordering from an English menu as well as checking out movies and watching them from the TV in our cozy room. Listed below are some of the things we did while in Chengdu in no particular order.

Crowded buses and no available taxis made for a difficult time seeing Chengdu

Relaxing at Sim's Cozy Hostel

We of course had to visit the pandas! We went to the panda breeding center at feeding time, around 9:00. First we saw the adult pandas. One sat in the "v" at the top of the tree while another lay belly flat on the ground. They were a bit lazy and spread out in the heat. Then we visited the babies. Some were behind cages and glass while getting shots. In Chinese fashion, they also had the maintenance man come to fix the broken fan at the same time. The panda handler, dressed in disposable gown and gloves, left the room and the curious baby panda pushed his way through the bars into the space next to the viewing window where the maintenance man was working. The panda began to climb his ladder while he was up at the top. It was hilarious to watch the man's partner try to shoo the panda away and eventually pick him up under his armpits and toss him back into the cage like he was a stuffed animal. The babies were very cat-like, batting at things and letting their curiosity get the best of them. We noticed their round dark eyes and opposable thumbs they used to hold onto bamboo and things more like a monkey than a bear. We then visited the teen pandas at age 2-3 years. They seemed to be the hungriest. they sat in picture-perfect poses with fists full of bamboo. The terraced sitting area allowed for the pandas to step all over one another. We watched a video on Panda breeding as well and were surprised to see the panda mothers being afraid of their new babies.

Panda hanging out

Teenage Panda Bears at feeding time

We went to visit one of the several religious mountains outside of Chengdu, which turned out to be a very Chinese mountain with paved steps, girls in high heels, and a cable car experience.  Several people opted to pay locals to carry them to the monastery at the top.  If you wanted to make it a multi-day experience you could stay the night at the monestary for views of the sunset and continue hiking the next day.  The smog and hoards of people kind of ruined the experience for us.

We also went to watch the famous Chengdu opera. It was a little over the top and felt like a talent show with all different types of acts including: Er hu (two stringed instrument), suona (flute/oboe like instrument), Chinese comedy about a married couple, hand shadow puppetry, mask changing, and a large puppet with movable fingers. The puppet was really impressive as the puppet conductor managed to make the puppet pick up flowers with her fingers, and dance around the stage. The show stopper, and the reason these are so famous, was of course the changing of the masks. The first character waved a large flag in front of his body, then not only did his mask change, but also the color of his clothes! He did this 5 times, each time just as fast. then a group of men on stage changed masks by covering their faces with a fan or their cape. The last mask covered only half of his face. One man took off the mask completely, added a moustache, then put the masks back on. We were served tea at intermission with long spouted teapots. The venue was open air and we enjoyed the night breeze and entertainment, even if it was a bit touristy.