These are some notes from our first trip back in the Sichuan part of Tibet in 2006. We’ve been back most years since then and each time the pace of change has amazed us. The old China is fading but out west is where you can still see bits of it.
We planned to walk from Lao Yulin, south of Kangding, up and over Bu Chu La to Konka Gompa. From there we planned to return over Tsemi La to Muju and Trongo, then over Gyazi La to Lao Yulin and Kangding.Weather changed that, and we didn’t get to cross Bu Chu La. After returning to Kangding we drove to somewhere past Muju, then walked over Tsemi La to Konka Gompa. Then we crossed between the 2 north-south valleys to Yilonxi and back over Gyazi La to Lao Yulin. A fantastic trip.
Gongga Shan trekking mapFresh off the plane in Chengdu. How do you do this ethnic cutlery againRoadside produce Our destination – the Kangding Hotel. Slightly ostentatious. It was probably the best place in town in 2006, but since then a building boom left it way behind. It was demolished several years agoIs this Kangding or Coburg. Either way, we felt right at homeWe see a beautiful temple from our hotel room…and they see a beautiful hotelI think we can get used to thisProgressThey sneaked a photo of us but weren’t happy when we did the same to themBefore you get on that cable-car…Kangding Hotel bar – beer available, but tea is more usualPreviously in China, we’d begged kerosene from any restaurant we’d eaten at a few times, but now it was unobtainable. We had to settle for petrol instead. We were assured it was lead-free…Next day it was time to start, by finding a guide and horses in Lao Yulin. We passed on this oneSuccess! Horses, accomodation and all the yak butter tea you can drinkWe needed to wait a day while the horses were rounded up, and while we acclimatisedPink seemed to be the colour in Lao Yulin that year. I imagine this would all be demolished by now and replaced with apartment buildings. Every time we come to Kangding its extended up the valleyDoctor makes a housecallStill waiting…The grandfather – a proud horseman. I didn’t realise it at the time but he really was a relic of a bygone era. Mountain tracks and horses have been replaced by roads and trucksReally very good accomodation considering we just rolled up out of the blue in this villageFinally, horses arrived and packed, and we’re offThis was October – still good for trekking here, but beginning to get a little coolThe Gongga Shan area is very accessable and you get into wild country very quicklyThis was from a Chinese commercial trekking group. It must be way worse by nowLast camp (14,000ft) before Bu Chu La (pass). Bu Chu La (not visible) is probably the harder pass in this area. The Lonely Planet trekking guy perished there a year or two later Pen Zhe – our guide, horse wrangler and murderer of small birds. Like others I’ve hired, he seemed quite ill at ease up here. The younger ones seem surprisingly nervous in the mountains, and may use trivial reasons to turn back towards home. That can be difficult for us, but I guess its better than being too gung ho, up away from helpPen Zhe’s victim. We noticed the bird near our camp and pointed it out to him. I admit he’s a damn good shot, but that wasn’t our ideaat the timeKing o’ the mountain!That night we got 6 inches of snow – was it because of the bird?Breakfast – instant noodles with a couple of mushy sweet biscuits thrown inSo the decision was made to descend, because of the snow. Pretty good effort at smiles considering the disappointment!The beautiful views were some consolationSo it was back to the trail to negotiate a reduction in the agreed price. We got there, but it was a very awkward couple of hours back at the houseHere comes the owner of the roadside toilet, to collect his fee1 yuan each“Sha de”, a magnificent little roadside village in the middle of nowhereI thought this was novel at the time, but its quitre normal to drag the washing machien our into the stree, to use it.Chinese silversmith making Tibetan jewellery. Given the animosity between the old and new people, its surprising to see that many of the trades are dominated by Chinese tradiesSha De townOur driver and assistant were very helpful in ordering, but absent when the bill came!This is harder to do than it looks – to mix the right amounts of tsampa and tea to make a ball Yak cheeseOur hosts Nyima and his daughter, wife, wife’s friend and mother. Our driver didn’t take us a far as we expected (familiar story) and we ended up being dumped in another village. Luckily for us this friendly family agreed to help usWind-driven prayer wheelsOur hosts’ daughter – 14 years oldSha Muji – 20km short of our goal – road impassableComfy lodgings, shame about the ratsModern China has been built with this engine – in trucks, boats, tractors etcStill don’t know what made this!Tsemi La at last. We didn’t even have to walk – the little tractor that couldMinya Konka (Gongga Shan) in the backgroundThe only sign of entrpeneurship we saw – in Nepal these are everywhereCamp just below the pass – to enjoy the view, sunset and dawn. Of course it was exposed, but also very dramtic to see the clouds roll up the valley and envelope usGreat snowstorm last nightThat’s a Tim Tam frozen to the lid!Tsemi La on the right, camp belowTsemi villageFinally – Gongga gompaGompa accomodationSurprisingly, the monks didn’t object to cooking meat in the temple courtyardThe Grand Master shows how its donePretty good for these parts – and its a 4-holer, so no waiting!Old Chinese cash at the base of a cairnThe classic Gongga Gompa shotBeef vindalooBrrrrr!New arrivals – we ended up hiring horses from them next dayThe sacred Gompa keyringSacred spot for pilgrimsToday – Gongga gompa to Yilongxi LaHalf way up the pass, waiting for Pete and RobWhere are they?They looked at us as though WE were the oddly dressed strange looking ones!This is hard to take!Nomad tent-site – they’ve gone home for the winter nowSomewhere between Yilonxi La and Gyesi LaWhy do we do this, again?Snow – like beanbag pelletsYou think this is bad?Last day – Gyesi La camp to Lao Yulin and KangdingIt was more autumny after a couple of weeksThe only time we saw a yak used as beast of burdenBack in KangdingFinally, found the Telecommunications Centre. Of course now there’s internet and mobile phones everywhere. As a foreigner a bit of planning will make it possible to have mobile coverage. Its much harder to get a SIM card over therePeter! Eat your pigs intestines!In the quest for caffeine, desperation started to set in…Chinese breakfast at the Kangding HotelTypical hole in the wall Chinese restaurant – tasty fresh food – $2Where’s that seat belt?That’s not a glass….If Mao could see what’s happening behind his back!Luxury in Chengdu – staying in an old salt-merchants house – now a hotelChinese Tea HouseMah JongCandy sculpturistChinese chessI stopped to take this incongruous picture, and these people copied me!For the man that has everything…….Monks need clothes tooThe obligatoryOne of the most poorly stocked Commodity Departments I’ve ever been toI’m sure that’s where I left it!The Holy Grail of caffeine – The “Sydney Stylistic Coffee House” in Chengdu
