Stepping out of Babylon

Chengdu… without the pandas!

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

The day dawned strangely silent as if a cloak had muffled the usual sounds of the city. Despite the characteristic almost permanent overcast sky covering Chengdu, this morning presents itself much worse with a kind of fog that in spite of the warm temperature stubbornly stays in the city erasing the top of the tallest buildings.

The city, with more than four million inhabitants, is not that confused or noisy. However, the fog that almost permanently covers the city is partly due to pollution coupled with the hot and humid climate of the city.

Most of the visitors that arrive in Chengdu has the Panda Research Center in the top of the list of things to do in this city, that doesn’t have much more to offer than commercial areas, shopping center and a wide range of delicious Chinese food.
I decided not to visit the Panda Center as I don’t appreciate to see the animals being used as entertainment… and as shopping is not my “thing”, I was left with the Chengdu food experience, guided by my Chinese friends with who I have been hitchhiking in the last five days!

Chegada triunfal a Chengdu, depois de mais de 12 horas de viagem desde Sertar, com algumas paragens para trocar um pneus furado, remover pedras da estrada resultantes de uma derrocada e umas pausas para esperar que o deslizamento de terras resultante da intensa tempestade da noite anterior estabilizasse — Arriving at Chengdu, after 12 hours driving from Sertar, with a flat tire, rock on the road, and some small landslides resulting from the heavy rain

uma das zonas de maior concentração de centros comerciais, e onde um dos mais recentes edifícios tema decoração de um panda gigante, sendo os pandas o símbolo da cidade devido ao centro de recuperação existente nos arredores — the pandas are the symbol of the city and are used as decoration in shop windows and building facades

Antiga zona industrial da cidade convertida em zona de lazer, com restaurantes, lojas e actividades culturais — Old industrial zone converted in leisure area with restaurants, art galleries and shops

Estátua de Mao localizada no cruzamento de duas das avenidas principais, e onde se localizam as lojas como Dior, Mc Donalds, Nike, Addidas, Starbucks... — Mao statue in one of the main Chengdu acenues, where the big international brands like Dior, Mc Donalds, Nike, Adidas, Starbucks… are located

Chá de jasmim tomado num dos jardim que se podem encontrar na cidade e que são local de eleição para os habitantes de Chengdu, em especial aos fins-de-semana, para passarem as horas de maior calor — Chengdu

Jardim que envolve um doa muitos templos budista da cidade e onde diariamente pessoas se reúnem, trazendo consigo gaiolas, que à chegada são destapadas para os pássaros nem cativos poderem apreciar a natureza — Chengdu

Templo budista em Chengdu — Buddhist temple in Chengdu

Uma das ruas denominadas de "antigas" onde se concentram lojas e restaurantes, atraindo visitantes e população local — “old” area of Chengdu

templo Taoista em Chengdu — Taoist temple in Chengdu

Population: 4.100.000

Elevation: 500 m

Larung Gar… looks like a dream

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

Larung Gar, located in the Sertar district in the western region of Sichuan province, is the largest Tibetan Buddhist school, housing about 40,000 monks, forming almost a town in the Larung Valley.

Through the hills surrounding the main building are thousands of small houses, which evenly cover the slopes, forming a pattern similar to small squares painted with maroon color, the same color adopted by the Tibetan monks who follow the Mahayana current of Buddhism.

The gray of the sky with its heavy clouds contributes to the mystical atmosphere that surrounds the place, intensified by the morning mist that comes out from the slopes covered with a mantle of fine green grass.
From the fireplaces of the small wooden houses comes out a thin column of smoke that slowly mix with the heavy clouds.
The houses, located very close from each other, create an intricate labyrinthine of narrow streets and uneven steps.

It was a special day, with the celebration of a ceremony attended by the founder of the institute, Lama Jigme Phuntsok, whose image can be seen in houses, cars, restaurants, and shops, in the neighbouring villages such as Sertar and Lughuo, as well as hanging around the neck of many Tibetans.

The vision and atmosphere of Larung Gar, which until recently was barred to foreigners, is too impressive to be recorded in pictures and even less in words, having been one of the most remarkable places of trip in China.

Boleia para ir de Sertar a Larung Gar, num mini-tractor — Hitchhiking in a tractor to Larung Gar

Estrada de acesso a Larung Gar — Road to Larung Gar

… hitchhiking by Kangding, Tagong and Sertar

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

Because of a misunderstanding between me and the Litang taxi drivers, as a result of my poor Chinese pronunciation and the limited knowledge shown by the Tibetans about Mandarin, I ended up going to Kanding, near Garzé instead of Ganzi… instead of going North, I was on my way to Chengdu, East, forcing me to spend a night in the uninteresting city of Kanding.

But everything happens for a reason and the disappointment brought a succession of events that become positive: in the hostel where I slept in Kanding, I met two Chinese on school vacations that were planning to travel in the western region of Sichuan.

So, it began a pleasant three-day adventure hitchhiking through the Kangding region, which took us to the green hills of Tagong, to a sky burial near Luhuó and the incredible monastery town of Sertar.

The Chinese generosity was evident during these days, with countless vehicles stopping to offer us a ride (with the exception of the trucks that are forbidden to carry foreigners) being available to arrange space even when the car was apparently full, offering us water and food. Along the way, our drivers stop at temples, monasteries, and viewpoints to appreciate the wide landscapes of this region, where the Tibetan presence is evident and the Buddhist religion has a strong presence, visible by the numerous stupas and prayer flags that stand out at the top of the hills.

Easy, easy hitchhike in China, but it’s necessary to speak the language or travel in the company of Chinese!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Kangding district

Tibetan High-way: Estrada G318 que liga Chengdu a Lhasa e que é a rota mais popular para quem visita o Tibete, em especial entre os muitos chineses que efectuam este percurso mais de 2000 quilómetros, de carro, de bicicleta e por vezes a pé. — Tibetan High-way: Estrada G318 from Chengdu to Lhasa

Paragem na estrada perto de Xinduqiao, enquanto se espera por nova boleia... — Hitchhiking near Xinduqiao

Itinerário dos possíveis percurso para chegar a Lhasa; este género de autocolantes que decoram muitos dos veículos da região fazem com que a viagem pelo Tibete se pareça com um rali, sobressaindo o espírito de aventura com que os Chineses encaram esta viagem... um pouco como a descoberta da "ultima fronteira"! — map of the tibet region with the different roads that reach Tibet

Muito mais que uma boleia, este ex-monge tibetano durante 17 anos, levou-nos a conhecer a região, mostrando paisagens, mosteiros, levando-nos a assistir a um sky burial, pagando refeições e alojando-nos no seu hotel... uma incrível generosidade!! — More than just a hitchhike, this tibetan, that was a monk for 17 years, took us to visit the region during two days… an amazing generosity!!

Tiãnzàng… Tibetan sky burial

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

The so-called “sky burial” (tiānzāng, in the Tibetan language) is an ancient tradition of Tibetan Buddhism that considers the body only as a vehicle to go through this life; once a body dies, the spirit abandons the body leaving it useless.

Giving the body as food for the vultures is a final act of generosity toward the world of the living and is part of the life cycle. The vultures themselves are revered and believed to be a manifestation of the god Dakinis.

In addition to spiritual significance, Sky Burial is also a practical way for Tibetan plateau populations to rid of the bodies in an area where temperatures keep the soil frozen during most of the year, in a place where wood is scarce and can’t be wasted on funeral pyres.

The ceremony, more practical than ritualistic, is usually held in the morning on a hillside, further away from the villages. On one side small groups of people wait, almost exclusively men, many wearing the traditional Tibetan coats that with the help of the excessive long sleeves keep tied to the waist. On the other side groups of vultures forming brown spots on the green of the terrain, wait calmly. Not far away, another group is distinguished by the colourful clothes and trekking equipment: it is mainly Chinese tourist who visit these areas along the route between Chengdu and Lhasa, one of the most popular adventure travel routes among the Chinese tourism, which sees Tibet with a primitive and wilderness area… a kind of discovery of the “last frontier” in their own country.

From the bodies that are waiting on the ground, a smell of seven days of decomposition is released, which the gentle breeze brings up along the hill. As the men in charge of preparing the bodies do their work, the various groups of vultures gather, flying low over the place and down the hill in a slow but determined walk, forming an impressive group.

At the discreet signal of a monk attending the ceremony, the groups of vultures begin with semi-open wings the descent of the hill, towards the bodies, which in seconds disappear under the undulating brown cloak formed by the birds, greedily cut and tear viscera, skin and flesh, from which abruptly a nasty smell kick out most of the spectators, provoking ravages of agony and vomiting, despite the scarves that cover the faces.

After less than half an hour, little remains of the corpses beyond the bones, which are methodically broken against a stone, with the aid of hammers, until they become small pieces that are mixed with barley flour and served again as food for the vultures, which as trained animals, wait patiently, at close distance, for the second part of the feast.

Despite the apparent relaxation with which Tibetans attend this ceremony, without lamentations or exuberant emotional manifestations, the sky burials are intense and disturbing, remaining forever the memory of the smell of death that sticks to the skin of the living and the heavy beating of the vultures’s wings, flying lower and lower as they run to the corpses.

All this ceremony is enveloped under the majestic calm of the green landscape and the intense blue sky of the Garzê Hills.

Sky Burial em Litang — Sky Burial in Litang

Sky Burial perto de Luhuo — Sky Burial nearby Luhuo

Litang… the Chinese “wild, wild West”

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

Wild, Wild West… are the words that best fit the image that one has on arrival in Litang: dusty, paved streets, pigs eating scraps of food in the middle of the main road, forcing old and noisy trucks to get away, releasing clouds of black escape and raising the dust of the road that seems to cover the whole city, robbing it of the colours and leaving an uniform grey tone.
Groups of men gather along the sidewalks, leaning against the walls, the poles, and the trees, wearing heavy, thick jackets, chatting and watching the street movement, with a strong, dark-skinned face, half-covered by the flaps of felt hats, rolling the beads of the rosaries in their fingers.

The city is famous in the region for the annual horse races that in August bring together several ethnic groups of this region, some still nomad, living from the cattle raising, to exhibit their talents and equestrian skills. However, these races were banned last year by the government due to protests against the Chinese presence in the region.

Around Litang, a small and compact city lies a vast plain of agricultural fields where cattle pasture, which extends to the mountains with rounded ridges, almost deserted, which dominate the landscape. This produces an interesting contrast with the intense blue of the sky, which characterizes these regions of dry air and high altitude of the Tibetan plateau.

In spite of the evident Chinese presence, which stands out in the dozens of restaurants that line the main street, Tibetan culture clearly dominates, with a large part of the population resisting the adoption of Mandarin, with the exception of children who learn it at school.

At night, the people gather daily in the central square, built in a modern, organised Chinese style, to perform traditional Tibetan dances, with the ladies seeming to compete in the display of the traditional long dresses adorned with colorful aprons, characteristic of Tibet. Around the square, several groups of policemen watch over the participants, as these gatherings provided before a pretext for demonstrations against the Chinese presence in Tibet.

Viagem de autocarro entre Dao Cheng e Litang — Bus trip from Dao Cheng to Litang

Pequeno e discreto tempo que exibe orgulhosamente um retrato do Dalai Lama, imagem proibida na China — Small Buddhist temple where a photos of Dalai Lama is proudly shown, an image forbiden in China

Population: 51.300

Elevation: 4014 m

Yanding Natural Park… more than beautiful

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

Dao Cheng is also a starting point for anyone planning to visit the Yading Natural Park, popular for its mountainous landscapes whose snow-capped peaks frame valleys of spring vegetation, where the Gongga Silver River gently winds.

Throughout the park there are several rails, all properly identified and where a great part of the route that begins next to the Chonggu Temple, is made in wooden or metal platforms that accompany the ground, facilitating ascents and descents with steps and smooth ramps. From these structures, it’s possible to reach Luorong Pasture and take a walk to the Milk Lake located at 4600 meters of altitude and which is one of the main attractions of the park.

The whole area of the park is well organised with information, maps, rest areas, bathrooms …. practically all the rails can be visited without great effort but without great space for adventure, but where the constant human presence does not take away Beauty to the stunning scenery.

Percurso de bus entre Doa Cheng e Yading, numa zona onde a grande altitude fazem gelar as noites e inibem a vegetação de crescer mais do que uns poucos centímetros acima do solo — bus trip between Doa Cheng and Yading

Percurso de bus entre Doa Cheng e Yading — Bus trip between Doa Cheng and Yading

Povoação de Allan, a ultima antes de chegar à entrada do Parque Natural — Allan, last stop before the Natural Park

Percurso entre a bilheteira e a entrada no parque natural que é obrigatoriamente efectuado em autocarros disponibilizados pela organização — Yanding Natural Park

Parque Natural de Yading — Yanding Natural Park

How to reach Yanding Natural Park

Bus from Dao Cheng to Yading (the buses starts from Dao Cheng bus terminal, in the center of the city): 7 AM; 10 AM; 14 PM; 17 PM.

Cost: 50 yuan.

For the same price you can use the service of mini-vans and shared taxis, whose drivers gathered in front of the bus terminal, charge the same value but don’t have a fixe schedule, departing when they have the car full; however the mornings always the most favorable time to try to find transportation. If you chose to make the trip to Yading in the evening you may lose the beautiful landscape on the way.

Entry ticket: 150 yuan + 120 yuan for the bus from the Visitor Center to the Park entrance, Chonggu Temple, around 37 km; It’s impossible to buy these ticket separately; the ticket valid for one day; it’s possible to buy two days ticket.
Transport inside the park: 50 yuan or 80 yuan, return ticket, to make approximately 6.5 km in electric car that leaves the visitors in the end of the metal and wooden paths constructed along the river valley; this journey take less than 2 hours;
Transport by donkey from Luorong Pasture to the Milk Lake: 300 yuan; the other option is to make it hilling that takes about 4 hours, both ways.
The last bus leaving the Park, Chonggu Temple, to the Visitor Centre is at 17 PM.
Bus from the Visitor Center to Dao Cheng: 10 AM and 17 PM; the other option are the mini-vans and the shared-taxis taht cost from 50 to 100 yuan.
Lodging: You can stay lodged in Yading, close to the Visitor Centre, or alternatively in the small village of Aden in the middle of the mountain, between the Park entrance, Chonggu Temple, and Yading.

Xiannairi Snow Peak: 6032 m de altitude

Dao Cheng… looks like Tibet?!?

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

According to travel guides, Dao Cheng isn’t much more than a stop on the Tibetian Highway that links the Sichuan Province to Lhasa, capital of Autonomous Region of Tibet. But this proximity to the Tibetan plateau offers a breathtaking scenery in a wild aridity, where little vegetation nestles, in the valleys that also shelter for small villages.

Although the location and the fact that the majority of the inhabitants are of Tibetans, in Dao Cheng (also written as Daocheng) little can be found of this culture, with almost all the old urban mesh of the city being replaced by new avenues, wide sidewalks and modern buildings imitating the style of local architecture. Crossroads where almost any traffic circulates on the rhythm of traffic lights, and where the surviving traditional buildings resist in the backside streets, many still without pavement.

Along the streets of brown monotony stands the presence of groups of men and women, whose physical characteristics of tall and sturdy bodies, dark skin and faces with strong features. Women wearing colorful thin-striped aprons that stood out from the dark tones of their long dresses and men in heavy coats over their shoulders, or wrapped in their long sleeves around their waists, and broad-brimmed hats shading their faces, stand out from the discreet Chinese presence that nevertheless dominates the city’s commerce, where it is an arduous task to find a place to serve traditional Tibetan gastronomy.

Observed the calm atmosphere of the city, with the traffic lights change from green to red without a vehicle passing, where dogs sleep sluggishly along the walks wrapped in dust that evenly covers the city. An atmosphere of stagnation hangs out only broken by nightfall which carries with it the music emitted by the speakers placed in the central square of the Dao Cheng were daily and the local population gathers performing traditional Tibetan dances.

… and the sky, with its intense blue tone and scattered white clouds, where light strikes the eyes and invites the skin to the protection of the shadows, where the air is hot and dry and where, at the slightest physical effort, the altitude leaves the heart beating hard in the chest.

Info

Bus from Zhongdian (Shangri-lá) to Dao Cheng:

Departure: 7.30 AM, every day (only one bus a day, so it’s better to buy the ticket one day in advance)

Cost: 109 yuan

Duration: around 11 hours (including stop for lunch).

From Shangri-lá Old Town to Zhongdian Bus Terminal you just need to take the bus number 1 to the bus terminal, for 2 yuan. Note that the buses start around 6.30 in the morning, so if you need to stay in the Bus Terminal early you may need to catch a taxi, which is around 10 yuan.

População: 30.000 habitantes

Altitude: 3753 m

from Shangri-lá to Dao Cheng…by bus

(English version from the text posted in Jun/2014)

308 kilometers and 11 hours of bus separate these two villages near the border with the so-called Autonomous Region of Tibet: Shangri-la, in the Yunnan Province, and Dao Cheng in Sichuan Province.

Although since the mid-eighteenth century Tibet was under the administration of the Emperor of China, it was only in 1950, when occupied by the People’s Liberation Army, that it became part of China, with the majority of its territory on Autonomous Region of Tibet. The remaining area was then divided by the nearby provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Given the difficulty of traveling in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which requires specific authorization and obliges to travel in groups, which inevitably push foreigners to travel agencies, that increase significantly the cost of the trip, it gets too expensive to visit Tibet for a backpacker budget. The best option for those who want to know what remains of Tibetan culture and to enjoy the remarkable landscapes of the Tibetan plateau is to visit the villages located nearby the Autonomous Region of Tibet border, where the easiest access is made by the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan.

Alternatively, the region of Ladakh, in the far north of India, is also another way to get close to Tibet. In Kathmandu, Nepal, and in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, it is possible to have contact with this culture due to the presence of a large number of Tibetan refugees, including the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala district, precisely at McLeod Ganj village.

The bus ride, in spite of the poor road conditions, where part of the beaten path, crossing the mountain chain of Meili Xue Shan, also called Mainri Snow Mountains, climbing high passages and descending to the valleys to cross rivers, with the road winding up the steep slopes, offers breathtaking landscapes.

On the way out of Shangri-la, the landscape is dominated by the green of the pines covering almost every slope of the mountains, except for the highest peaks where the rigor of winter still leaves traces of snow covering these landscapes. In the valleys run streams and rivers whose low level of water reveals a rug formed by stones, rounded by the passages of the icy waters.

Leaving behind small settlements surrounded by modest agricultural fields, arranged along the fertile banks of water lines, where yaks and wild horses graze, we start to go up the steep slopes. Increasingly the landscape gets more desert, with the human presence disappearing almost completely. The abrupt gray cliffs seem to touch the white of the clouds that decorate the blue sky.

The settlements lying along the road, which are no more than a few houses scattered along the road, feature a characteristic Tibetan architecture, with buildings consisting of three thick stone walls forming a rectangle, within which are built With aid of robust wooden trunks the habitation, almost always of two floors; Whose main facade is entirely wood; The doors and windows are framed by elaborate and colorful designs painted in wood carved in intricate geometric shapes that stand out in the white of the walls.

As you enter Sichuan Province, the houses acquire other characteristics, the outer walls being entirely built of stone, with the door and window decorations giving way to a black trapeze frame, making these dwellings more solid and Dark, feeling enhanced by the gray stone walls that at cost stand out from the dry, dusty landscape.

Crossing the highest points, and moving North, the landscape grows more and more arid, with the forest giving way to sandy and rocky slopes of gray and brownish colors, giving the landscape a wild and inhospitable tone… the typical Tibetan plateau landscape!