Walking west Sichuan Tibet from China More
My beautiful princess, and I began our journey in Jiayuguan, a border city with a converted part of the Great Wall, the most westerly part thereof, to be precise. Jiayuguan is the traditional boundaries of China. Beyond the Wall and the great fortress was Xinjiang, Tibet and the ever-changing boundaries of the western frontier. . Jiayuguan is a pretty dirty, small, quiet town with only the Great Wall of Jiayuguan Fort and talk to tourists. A glacier is also within sight of the fortress, but after a conversation with a taxi driver, we decided to ignore it. Too far, and it was booty to the reader. We hired a taxi to all sites, and has paid 100 kuai for the day. This was recommended by Lonely Planet. It was a quite wrong. The pages were all opposed to close not need wheels. More annoying is his constant call on my cell phone to us, the next goal as fast as he could from his work. A particularly intimate moment on the Great Wall has been interrupted by the sound of car horn, the driver echo the mountains. Jiayuguan Fort is too expensive and boring. The only part of that purchase was that we were there in October, there were only a few groups of Red Hat avoid, rather than pushing the masses, as you would in summer. . The Great Wall was rebuilt large, but mostly because we were alone on it. Who blew my mind! Alone on the Great Wall! If my princess and I are on one of the seven wonders of the world, we fully share the benefits of privacy for an intimate moment. I hope the same on the other six do. Jiayuguan, we hopped a bus to Dunhuang, the city known for its cave paintings. Dunhuang was a cool, small town living. It is surrounded by desert and dunes. There are some restaurants in the West, the friendship was good cafe serving traditional backpacker staples: Banana Pancakes, fried French, etc. We were able to shuttle in local caves. It seems on the road restaurants in the West. It is much cheaper than taking a taxi. The Caves of Dunhuang is worth the high price of admission, 150 RMB, but an English translator was useful to come. Only some of the caves are open at any time. For the most famous caves such as cave tantric, which is closed, the museum near the cave offers are replicas of cave paintings for your viewing pleasure. I thought it would mean a replica, which could resemble caves a thousand years ago, before erosion and aging of the colors dull and cracked walls, but surprisingly this is not the case. The aftershocks were actually replicas. Reproduce the cracks, water damage and air, faded colors and everything. The caves have been remarkable, and offer a glimpse into the lives of Buddhist monks who painted long ago. After the caves, we rented bikes at the Friendship Café and went out of Lake Crescent Moon Dune, an oasis in a carnival-Red Hat-tourist-district banal camel has been transformed. We decided to jump a fence to enter and proceed to sit on the dune. could use the summit of the dune we are all tourists from China shows a manic adventure camel with 50 of his closest friends and colleagues. Dunhuang, we hopped a night bus to Golmud. The ride was scary, flying over a steep, winding mountain pass at a speed of Mach frozen. Golmud in Qinghai is the last stop of the train to Lhasa. It’s a dirty city with little industry and agriculture also in a crazy snow-capped mountains. In Golmud, we tried to permit for Tibet, we have found is to say without a letter from my company in Shanghai that I am not a journalist or not separatist security. We decided to visit the regions of Tibet, you do not need a permit to visit, namely, Qinghai and Sichuan northern areas of China on the Tibetan plateau, historically and culturally Tibetan, but several provinces on the map. We started with Xining, capital of Qinghai. Xining is soft and low for a “big” city with some of the pollution, friendly country and many minorities like the Tibetans among them, Hui and Sala. Xining is very modern, has its share of malls and McDonald’s, but it was a relaxed atmosphere. There is the comfort of large cities, such as pizza, but the pace of large cities. Not much to see in Xining. Qinghai Lake is a couple of bus tours to short distance, and the Tar Monastery is only few kilometers outside the city. The Dalai Lama was born outside of Xining, although I am sure that his house was demolished to prevent the pilgrims and those who enjoy autonomy. Xining, we went to Tongren (Repkong in Tibet) and fell in love with the place. The quality started right when we got there. The Hotel we found for 30 RMB per night not require a deposit or prepayment. We could pay when you extract. Amazing! For travelers tired of China, Tibet honesty, hospitality and culture is relaxed inviting respite cheated. Tongren is an amazing little secret. This small town is the capital of the Kingdom of the art of Tibet. There are many temples, upper and lower temple, the temple and monastery Dai Long Gomar. To see the best thing to do is the city, in art: sculpture and embroidery, especially thangkas dopest they are seen everywhere. Thangka painting is everywhere in Tongren. monks and lay people of both painting full time. In the neighborhood of the Lower Temple, every man is a thangka painter. Thangka painting is a form of art, blue collar workers. It takes time to develop your patience and skill. It requires a high degree of experience and technical expertise and relies less on creativity. Artists can work 10-12 hours a day for six months or more to complete a single painting, slowly and carefully to create the composition of a fine line width of a single cat hair at a time. The quality of the Thangkas is easy to judge, and you can become an expert in one afternoon. It’s simple: the more lines and more detail, the better the quality. The thangka shows the artist, the level of patience. How meditating monks, the novice often lose focus and look at his watch. The Lord does not waver, seated, focused, and seemingly endless painting. The possibility that the difference in degrees thangka see the quality is particularly useful because some of the less scrupulous monks sell cheap rip-off Thangkas from Nepal. The Nepalese are cheaper and of lower quality (for example, the strokes are larger). The original production of Tongren Thangkas are affordable. I was surprised that on my meager budget backpacker, I could afford a world-class art. . . What next for Tongren Thangkas: a breakfast on the Lower Temple. Each morning, the local villagers to meet with the Tibetan monks and hard bread to eat and yak butter tea in the temple. It’s quite an experience. And if you ask or are pushed by a monk happy, you can visit the tea room’s milk butter in a large pot of yak much liquid. The monks sing before breakfast. You make a wild sound with their throat. They seem to speak the language of earthquakes and floods. Around the temple or somewhere outside the city center, take the minibus (Mian Bao Che). The minibus is only street parking in the bus. It costs 5 RMB back to go to the Temple (15 RMB taxi). To return to the city, hail a passing van. Tongren, we bounced Langmusi, a beautiful mountain town in the northern border of Sichuan and Gansu. Langmusi was a bit difficult to obtain because it was closed to foreigners because of the riots last summer. It is open, it should not be a problem. If you have any problems with the here and how to receive. First, one of the cities of shit bus transfer (move Hezuo Qinghaior, Ruoergai Sichuan) and the night. Go to the first bus in the morning to check the time. Try to buy a ticket. They will not sell you one, as it closed to foreigners, but worth a try. Boarding the bus without a ticket. Once the bus, buy a ticket, while the board of directors. That’s it. Do not worry, they know what you do and do not care. You’ll be back in a few hours. . For Langmusi Lonely Planet has been surprisingly up. But this is more due to the simplicity of the super-detective Langmusi that all in the name of Lonely Planet. But we stayed on Langmusi Bingguan and it was great. Nice people, reasonable price, comfortable and clean. Langmusi is a city in Tibet riding, sky burials, and a wild man named Tashi, who takes people on overnight trips to a Tibetan village (stay at home mother). Tour Tashi is strongly recommended. It was quite difficult to travel to get there, but worth it for all the charm of magnificent mountains. Tashi friends have been great fun but a little careless. The 15 year old, drunk, howling at the moon all night, very friendly. Riding was very cool, but a bit unhappy. One company in the city, riding tours, a couple who rents the Han Chinese and Tibetan leaders horses offered. The company earns management fees amounted to RMB 200 per day. I have asked the Tibetan guide, how it is, know that there was not much. . A better plan for riding, is about Leesha Leesha Café, a convivial place for western food in the middle of the city. He has many friends of Tibet with the horses you could in a hiking adventure to the table under the big hike. Riding is highly recommended. It is beautiful in the country and see a bit of what life is amazing Nomad. The air and water is clean, and among the amazing things I saw (there were few) was a boy of not more than 15 giants of the yak, which he believed to gallop along small. It’s a different world. . .
Resources: Hotels in China
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