Daocheng to Litang, China
I was a bit sleepless and decided to get up early (for a traveller) about 7:15 a.m. I just finished a shower when the manager, Big John, informed me he had found a taxi to Litang with three others and when could I be ready? Feeling some urgency in his voice, I told him in fifteen minutes. The taxi arrived a bit late, I loaded my bags, sat in the taxi for a few minutes and then was informed they would be leaving at 10:00 a.m. instead. Oh well, at least I was on time!
I shared the taxi (really a boxy little minibus) with four Tibetans, one being the driver. They were all very polite but did not speak a word of English. The scenery was beautiful and not near as dangerous as the trip from Zhongdian to Daocheng. Most of the countryside was rolling mountains and river valleys. We stopped a couple of times for pee breaks and once so I could take photos. One of the Tibetans wanted to buy my digital camera (new $400) for about $12. I was forced to decline. It was a very pleasant three hour trip.
Litang is much smaller than Daocheng, but lovable. It took me about 20 minutes to locate the hotel recommended by a friend, the Crane Hotel, and I'm glad I waited to find it. I had checked out a couple of other places along the way and their sanitary facilities weren't very sanitary. The section of the Crane Hotel I stayed in looked brand new. I got a private room with a nice, clean bathroom including hot water and a flush-style squat toilet. The room had large windows looking out at the mountains, a comfortable bed and a TV (not necessarily a plus, Chinese TV is the most boring I have ever tried to watch.) Even so, I was in heaven!
Nearby a restaurant owner had shouted "hello" and spoke some English before I reached the Crane Hotel. I decided to go there for lunch. I had chicken with green peppers, peanuts and a "yellow sauce" and it was excellent! The owner was very friendly and had a hand drawn map of Litang with points of interest, locally and in the surrounding areas, marked out. I decided to visit the monastery up the hill.
It was a 15-minute walk to the monastery. I arrived just as a bus unloaded a group of Chinese tourists. I mingled in and was included in a tour of the monastery led by the master monk. It was quite fascinating and beautiful. At first we were told not to take pictures, but a little later on they said "today" we could take pictures. I didn't understand a word of the what the master said in Chinese, but occassionally one of the young Chinese tourists interpreted for me. Later we visited the master monk's residence and were given a gift of a string necklace along with a blessing.
This monastary did not have any entrance fees (as many now do) but there were numerous and obvious locations to donate money along the way. I appreciated the "give as you feel" approach.
After leaving, I thanked the young man who had interpreted for me and found out he and three of this friends were not part of the tour either, but were students on holiday from Beijing. One of them wanted to talk to me further, as the others stopped to look at items in a store. He spoke English very well and was very smart. We covered subjects from A-Z, customs, movies, politics, cameras. He was then kind enough invite me to eat with him at a local restaurant. He confessed, he had never eaten with a "foreigner" before. He chose a plate of tasty dried beef that you dipped in a dish of dried chili, stir fried vegetables, and a chicken-mushroom soup. All of it was very good. He was able to get a doggy bag for some of the left over beef, only because they had given us so much. He insisted on paying for the dinner. We exchanged email addresses and I hope to be in touch with him in the future.
I copied the photos from my camera to the computer and sorted through them, as I usually do. I decided to venture out and find an Internet cafe, but was unsuccessful. Along the way, I heard some club type music and followed it upstairs to a local club. I later found that all the staff and clients were Tibetan. They were very friendly. I tried some of the Tibetan home brew by accident. I had asked for "Tibetan Beer" and they poured me some hard, home brewed alcohol out of a thermos instead. It's tough not speaking the language. The brew was pretty intense and had a strange taste to it. I managed to down about an ounce or so. I was invited to table of Tibetans and sat and drank with them. Later on we danced as a group and it was a lot of fun. Never thought I'd be partying with the Tibetans in Litang!
I was a bit sleepless and decided to get up early (for a traveller) about 7:15 a.m. I just finished a shower when the manager, Big John, informed me he had found a taxi to Litang with three others and when could I be ready? Feeling some urgency in his voice, I told him in fifteen minutes. The taxi arrived a bit late, I loaded my bags, sat in the taxi for a few minutes and then was informed they would be leaving at 10:00 a.m. instead. Oh well, at least I was on time!
I shared the taxi (really a boxy little minibus) with four Tibetans, one being the driver. They were all very polite but did not speak a word of English. The scenery was beautiful and not near as dangerous as the trip from Zhongdian to Daocheng. Most of the countryside was rolling mountains and river valleys. We stopped a couple of times for pee breaks and once so I could take photos. One of the Tibetans wanted to buy my digital camera (new $400) for about $12. I was forced to decline. It was a very pleasant three hour trip.
Litang is much smaller than Daocheng, but lovable. It took me about 20 minutes to locate the hotel recommended by a friend, the Crane Hotel, and I'm glad I waited to find it. I had checked out a couple of other places along the way and their sanitary facilities weren't very sanitary. The section of the Crane Hotel I stayed in looked brand new. I got a private room with a nice, clean bathroom including hot water and a flush-style squat toilet. The room had large windows looking out at the mountains, a comfortable bed and a TV (not necessarily a plus, Chinese TV is the most boring I have ever tried to watch.) Even so, I was in heaven!
Nearby a restaurant owner had shouted "hello" and spoke some English before I reached the Crane Hotel. I decided to go there for lunch. I had chicken with green peppers, peanuts and a "yellow sauce" and it was excellent! The owner was very friendly and had a hand drawn map of Litang with points of interest, locally and in the surrounding areas, marked out. I decided to visit the monastery up the hill.
It was a 15-minute walk to the monastery. I arrived just as a bus unloaded a group of Chinese tourists. I mingled in and was included in a tour of the monastery led by the master monk. It was quite fascinating and beautiful. At first we were told not to take pictures, but a little later on they said "today" we could take pictures. I didn't understand a word of the what the master said in Chinese, but occassionally one of the young Chinese tourists interpreted for me. Later we visited the master monk's residence and were given a gift of a string necklace along with a blessing.
This monastary did not have any entrance fees (as many now do) but there were numerous and obvious locations to donate money along the way. I appreciated the "give as you feel" approach.
After leaving, I thanked the young man who had interpreted for me and found out he and three of this friends were not part of the tour either, but were students on holiday from Beijing. One of them wanted to talk to me further, as the others stopped to look at items in a store. He spoke English very well and was very smart. We covered subjects from A-Z, customs, movies, politics, cameras. He was then kind enough invite me to eat with him at a local restaurant. He confessed, he had never eaten with a "foreigner" before. He chose a plate of tasty dried beef that you dipped in a dish of dried chili, stir fried vegetables, and a chicken-mushroom soup. All of it was very good. He was able to get a doggy bag for some of the left over beef, only because they had given us so much. He insisted on paying for the dinner. We exchanged email addresses and I hope to be in touch with him in the future.
I copied the photos from my camera to the computer and sorted through them, as I usually do. I decided to venture out and find an Internet cafe, but was unsuccessful. Along the way, I heard some club type music and followed it upstairs to a local club. I later found that all the staff and clients were Tibetan. They were very friendly. I tried some of the Tibetan home brew by accident. I had asked for "Tibetan Beer" and they poured me some hard, home brewed alcohol out of a thermos instead. It's tough not speaking the language. The brew was pretty intense and had a strange taste to it. I managed to down about an ounce or so. I was invited to table of Tibetans and sat and drank with them. Later on we danced as a group and it was a lot of fun. Never thought I'd be partying with the Tibetans in Litang!
posted by Chris at 10:00 PM
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