Our two-day trip to the Jiuzhaigou (the Nine Villages Valley) began with a one-hour early morning flight from Chengdu to the mountains of the northern Sichuan province. We arrived to a chilly but sunny morning, thousands of feet above sea level. None of us had checked the weather beforehand, so we were all shocked at how cold it was and decided we didn’t bring nearly enough warm clothing. The bathrooms of the airport were filled with Chinese people changing from light Chengdu clothing to warm mountain clothing. Our tour guide, Jenny, picked us up and we headed to Huanglong Valley (which is the opposite direction to the Jiuzhaigou, the airport is in between the two). We stopped in a little village and had yak noodle soup for breakfast. The nine villages referenced in the name are villages comprised of Tibetan people and they sure do love their yak.
We headed down the main (and only) road and quickly realized we were in for one bumpy ride. The government has ordered the two-lane highway to be widened, and instead of working on it bit-by-bit as they would in the States, they are widening the entire thing at one time. This means the road is ripped up, so you have to drive on uneven or pot-hole riddled dirt or gravel road. There are workers living in tents on the side of the roads or other make-shift housing. Talk about a short commute to work! The highway is very much a mountain highway, and wound up and down the sides of the mountains and the valleys. After a two-hour drive on the bumpy road, we all felt like our heads were going to fall off our necks and we all had headaches.
We stopped along the way at a scenic viewpoint atop the highest peak in the area, and it was breathtaking. The peaks were still covered in snow and there were Tibetan prayer flags everywhere. I was once again a local celebrity, and had a throng of tourists surrounding me within minutes wanting to take my picture. I posed for a few, but my “people” quickly let the crowd know that picture time was over and I got back onto the bus and we headed to the Huanglong Valley.
Pictures: Yak soup for breakfast; prayer flags and the mountains
No comments:
Post a Comment