The village's name was Tagong, and it was the only place that I have visited that has a Tibetan majority. The architecture is unique: colorfully decorated stone buildings are the norm, and they show almost no trace of traditional Chinese style. Monks walk the streets in saffron and brown robes or they spend time praying or spinning prayer wheels in and around the multiple monasteries within and surrounding the village. Smiling Tibetans warmly wave and spurt forth greetings as one walks the streets. Thousands of prayer flags have been planted in the hills immediately surrounding villages; they flap in the wind, supposedly sending floating their prayers into the air and constantly blessing the surrounding areas. These elements and more came together to create an experience unlike any that I have had before in China.
Arrival Day (Pictures for the day)
The first day began with a missed bus to Danba thanks to a landslide, which I mentioned in my previous post. (Now that I am officially safe off of the mountain roads, I can state how fortunate I feel that I chose my particular dates of travel; apparently the landslide led to injuries and deaths. I don't know the numbers, but I hope there were very few of the latter.) The closed road, however, turned out to be a benefit for me, because I was able to change my destination, and I had the privilege of riding in a small mini-bus with a very nice Chinese couple.
The first portion of the journey was essentially uphill toward the highest pass between Kangding and the next series of villages. Based on my brother's experience in Bolivia and Peru about 9 years ago, I was a little bit worried about the extreme discomfort and vomiting resulting from altitude sickness. However, I was quite relieved when I passed 4,298 meters (about 13,000 ft) without any problems.
After crossing the pass, the jagged peaks of the high mountains gave way to the rolling grasslands that stretch to Tagong and beyond. As we moved through these green, flower speckled lands we saw a number of tents and houses that were put up by members of the Zang Chinese subculture. Around these dwellings, Furry Cows (Mao Niu in Chinese) grazed. Also in these grasslands we began to see bits of Tibetan culture. The most interesting Tibetan spectacle that we saw on the road was a group of people around a pile of rocks and sticks throwing what looked like giant bits of confetti into the air and cheering as they did. I still don't know the meaning behind the celebration (It sounded like a celebration), but it was cool to watch.
Shortly after viewing the Tibetans, our driver decided to take a little off-road run which, from time to time crossed the road, but eventually went back off-road. Surprisingly enough, even though the roads were terrible (only about 3 miles of the whole trip was paved), high enough that a fall would have killed everybody in the car, and occasionally crowded with huge utility vehicles, I felt very safe with the driver that we had on this particular day. And after about 4 hours of passing through beautiful scenery and stopping periodically to take pictures, we arrived safely in Tagong.
Now, I didn't feel any altitude sickness per se, but once I was off the mini-bus and walking around, I did begin to feel very, very tired. I was amazed at how similar I felt compared to when I was in Cuzco, Peru; I was also amazed that I remembered the feeling so clearly once I experienced it again. The altitude in both locations can simply be described as "oppressive." The lack of oxygen constrains the mind, making it ebb and flow to and from clear consciousness (while also enhancing the bright colors - which are already very bright based on the Tibetan tastes); it also constrains the body, leading to breathlessness when walking even at medium paces - though for some people the physical constraint was so severe that they had difficulty breathing if they laid on their sides, rather than their backs, while sleeping. For those who are runners, the feeling is somewhat similar to the daze that you feel after running more than 10 miles.
It was in this physical and conscious state that I spent the afternoon. I had tea with some foreigners who were in the town, took a brief nap, walked around the city taking pictures of the main street and nearby monasteries, and then ate dinner with my tea group. Even though these activities required minimal expenditures of energy, I was still ready to go to bed at 8:00pm, and I slept until 8:00am the next morning.
Day 2: The First Hike (Pictures for the day)
On the second day, I woke up feeling wonderful and rested. Hence, I had a quick breakfast and found three people whom I had met in Kangding - Pep, a semi-retired Spaniard; Joseph, a recent graduate of the University of Illinois; and Netta, an Israeli girl who had been traveling for quite some time - and we began a hike to the north of the town.
We spent the majority of our time traversing the paths along the side of a mountain which had a huge patch of prayer flags, telling stories about our travels and taking pictures as we walked. The paths, for the most part, were fairly simple to cross. However, given the heights (and probably a little remaining altitude-induced dizziness), there were times that I felt a bit concerned. I'm sure that the knowledge that hospital care in the area wouldn't be excellent also made me a little more cautious.
However, the views were simply spectacular. Following grey skies in the morning, the afternoon carried forth patches of blue skies, and we enjoyed every second of sun that we got. We crossed the mountain, and ate some snacks on a huge flat field, surrounded by grazing horses. Unfortunately, though, the sun went almost as quickly as it appeared, and by early afternoon, we were making our way back to the city to avoid the coming rain.
More unfortunately, we had crossed a river before we reached the first mountain that we passed, and as we worked our way back toward the village we realized that there was no bridge near our present location. Luckily for me, I was wearing sandals, and I was able to pick the path through the river for the group; the rest followed after me after removing their hiking boots and rolling up or removing their pants.
We returned to town before the rain began falling hard and spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing. After the hike, I began to feel the altitude again, and I went to bed very early for the second night in a row.
The second hike was to the south of Tagong. The hike itself was uneventful (except that we - on this day "we" was Pep, Joseph and me - saw two foxes, a bunch of vultures and a pair of hawks), but we spent the majority of our time on the highest hills near to Tagong. The views from the top of the surrounding world gave us a great feel for the scale and beauty of the area. Take a look at the pictures in the link above; they'll tell the story better than I can with words alone.
Day 4: The Third Hike (Pictures for the day)
This hike was culturally the most interesting one that we (Pep, Joseph and I) took. On this day we, were also joined by a Brazilian named Gui and his Chinese girlfriend, Wenwen. We set off after morning rain showers intending to visit a monastery that Pep, Joseph and I had seen the day before. However, once we arrived, we were surprised by two things: first, the monastery was unfinished (which allowed us to take some cool pictures), and second, to the north of the monastery was a town which we had not seen or expected to see.
We spent the majority of our time walking through the town, chatting with the locals, and taking pictures of the town and the prayer flags on the hills to the north. From what we discovered, the town only had a Tibetan name, which I don't remember. Also, the vast majority of the inhabitants were monks - female monks.
During this particular time of the year, there are 45 days of prayer (I think that number is right) for good health. We happened to walk through the village on one of the prayer days. In the center of the city was a huge square (which, we discovered, doubles as a soccer field during non-prayer times) that had more than 600 people inside offering flowers and chanting simultaneously. I didn't go inside, but I did peak in through the door, and the view was beautiful: people in saffron and brown robes kneeling and spreading huge clusters of flowers over the ground while a man spoke over a microphone, leading the prayer. I wish I could've taken a picture, but I didn't want to interrupt peoples' concentration to determine if it was permitted.
The final point that I will make regarding this village is related to the friendliness of the people. While in most locations around China, people predominantly keep to themselves (aside from the occasional "hello" and ensuing giggles after getting the attention of the foreigners), the people who I met in this region were genuinely outgoing and friendly. Everywhere that our small group of westerners went, we were greeted with waves, the words "Tashi delek" ("Hello" in Tibetan) and big smiles, which often showed a gold tooth or two. At one point we were even invited into a household when the weather turned bad and given tea, bread, Yak butter and an edible dough. Even though we were willing to pay for the food that we ate, the head of the household insisted that we not give money. THAT was a surprise to me after living in this country for three years - everything has a price in eastern China. It was a very different experience than I was used to!
All of this said, though, I only saw this kindness is directed toward westerners. Based on other experiences, the same kindness is not generally or consistently directed toward the majority race of (Han) Chinese. It's too bad that, though the travelers who I have met tend to get along with both groups, the two groups have so much difficulty dealing with each other.
After the Hikes
The following day I took off early in the morning to Kangding. Since then, I have essentially been dealing with administrative stuff: writing, reading, catching up on my blog posts, making my way to Chengdu, and relaxing as I prepare for the rest of my trip.
Later on today, I will be meeting up with two of my friends from Beijing: Jonny and Aaron. We'll be spending the next 4 days here in Chengdu, and then I'll make my way south toward Hong Kong.
This post should have given you plenty to read for the time being; look for the next one some time in the middle of next week!
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