So the death of plans A-D meant the birth of Plan E - to be driven back to Benzilan, to cross the river by barge (there is no bridge) with a couple of calfs and a dozen locals as boatmates and to take the really back back road to Sichuan. After a pleasant but rustic ride across the river we managed to get a ride for 50RMB each to the next town - Derong - with a local guy in his ute/pickup truck/minivan type vehicle. The road was pleasantly free of major landslides (we only had to get out and run across one unstable slope that was actively dropping rocks on the road at 70 or 80km/h which we now considered pretty undramatic) and we made good time to Derong. We were told that there was a daily bus to Xiangcheng and we set out to find the bus station. Just our luck the bus had decided not to bother to come today at all. Great. We spent all the rest of the afternoon trying to hitch a ride without success and resigned ourselves to staying the night. The town was small but it was surprisingly hard to find a cheap and decent place to stay. We ended up settling for just cheap. After a meal and a beer or 2 we were back at the room and lo and behold the Tibetan guy's we'd briefly met at dinner were staying at our hotel/guesthouse. They invited themselves into our room and in true Chinese style decided to plant themselves on my bed. Wonderful. One of the guys was evidently pretty smashed and took it upon himself to drop cigarette ash all over my bedding and then stub his cigarette out on the floor of our room (of course he was smoking in our room - as an uninvited guest how could that be a problem?!). Needless to say I was fairly agitated at their uncultured but English came to the rescue. Feeling like a night on the town he dragged them off to play pool and drink beers and left me in peace. The morning of the next day we managed to get a decent price with another Chinese girl to go to Xiangcheng. The trip was without incident and we passed through some very remote and rugger country on the way. Stopping for lunch in a small village English felt compelled to purchase a couple of the famed local "caterpillar fungus". At 15RMB each these tiny stick-like things were expensive, but allegedly great for whatever's wrong with you. At first we thought they were in fact roots or something but closer inspection revealed features like eyes and legs - these things were definitely not plants! As it turns out they're kind of both (Google it) and apparently taste of very little. I didn't partake. We arrived in Xiangcheng in time to find rooms in a very cool, traditionally decorated Tibetan guesthouse and to check out the town - again, a very Tibetan place and completely without tourists. Some of the local houses are probably the best examples of traditional Tibetan homes I've seen and best reveal the way of life these people live wich hasn't changed too much even with all the modernisation in China. I think the photos say it all. The final stage in the epic was getting from Xiangcheng to Litang - a journey that should cost around 60-70RMB and take about 5 hours by bus. Not to be. After trying 3 times the afternoon before to buy tickets for the next morning's bus we were unsuccessful and arrived at the station before it opened - around 5AM to secure tickets. After opening her window the ticket-selling lady (the worst I have encountered in China) informs me that we could not have tickets to Litang. No questions. No explanation. NEXT. Confused and alarmed - to go by bus is the only way out - I approached the bus drivers for help. Me: "Does this bus go to Litang". Driver: "Show me your ticket" Me: "I don't have one but I need you to tell me, does this bus got to Litang?" Driver: Talks to the next person and ignores me. Me (under my breath, or maybe directly to him) "Asshole" Repeat above with the next driver (2 buses). Finally I resort to mild force - Me: (angry, grabbing driver by the arm) "I ASKED you, does this bus GO TO LITANG" Driver (finally): "Yes, but you can't go" Me: "Why?" Driver: some explanation in Chinese that I can't understand that amounts to "F&*k off foreigner" Talks to next person. Now we have a problem. Going back to the ticket lady who by now is a little less hurried but no more helpful I ask (in a surprisingly conciliatory tone) if I can't buy a ticket to Litang, can I buy one to Kangding (the next stop, 10 hours further along the line). It turns out I can. Inexplicably we were forced to pay 147.50RMB for a ticket to a destination 15 hours away as the only feasible way to get a seat on a "full" (full my ass) bus to the destination we needed only 5 hours away. Never have I come across such insanity as this, but it's not like I had any choice. Making the departing bus a minute before it left we set off over the hills to Litang, fuming. The road passed over 4700m on the way to Litang and since we'd had rain the night before at lower elevation the road and hills were covered in fresh snow - pretty unexpected (for me anyway) in June. The driver plowed on regardless of the slippery surface, seemingly ignoring the snow. The snow cover only dropped to 4300 or 4400m so the dangerous section was pretty short and fortunately we didn't die. We arrived in Litang at 4014m one of the highest towns in the world to a chilly morning and grey skies. But we'd arrived!! It had taken 4 days to cover only a few hundred km of some of the craziest roads I've seen, but we'd arrived in one piece and in good sprirts considering.
Image 1 - the crowd waiting for the barge across the river (only one of the 2 calves is in this shot, sorry)
Image 2 - caterpillar fungus anyone?
Image 3 - Typical decoration in the Tibetan guesthouse in Xiangcheng - amazing hand-painted artwork covers every wall and ceiling in almost every room. I have no idea how much time or cost it must involve to execute the detailed painting of an entire house interior but I'm certain it's a massive project.
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