English how about just conversation?
My three-day-trip to Jiuzhaigou
Soon it is time for Wanghua and me to leave. Today is Friday, and Friday afternoon. Saturday and Sunday are the days when my friend is most busy giving private English lessons. Therefore I have decided to fly to Jiuzhaigou this afternoon, and come back on Sunday evening. Jiuzhaigou is a place most Chinese want to go to. It is said to be so very beautiful. It is said to be the most beautiful place in China, with high mountains, waterfalls, little lakes reflecting the autumn colours. When I ask my friends, whether they have been there, they say no, but insist they really want to go there. If possible, accompany me, being my guide.
Flying to Jiuzhaigou
It was no problem getting e-tickets using my computer and creditcard in Germany. Much easier than getting tickets for trains or buses in China. On the way back, Wanghua buys us a snack at a kiosk. Well. As I will be away for not more than two days, I only pack the things that are absolutely necessary, including lots of films for taking pictures, in my small bag, leaving the backpack and the washing which is not yet dry, at my friend´s home. I do not forget the warm jacket and the winter shoes. Near there I can get on a bus, which however does not exactly take me to the airport, but near it. Then I sit on a motorcycle taxi. Ten minutes later I arrive at Chongqing airport. No problem checking in, the e-ticket really works. I only have to show my passport and tell the employee which plane I am booked on. It is a Sichuan Airlines plane. When it is time for boarding, I go to the waiting hall. But boarding is delayed, allegedly because of weather conditions. I must wait. And wait. And wait. The airline offers a free can of 7up. At long last, after more than three hours´ waiting, my flight is being called: Please take all your belongings and your boarding card to the gate. It is a small plane. Soon after take-off Chongqing´s high rise buildings disappear in the fog, or is it smog. I can see the plane is avoiding a steep mountain, which can be seen in the mist like a bluish wall. Then we get into bright sunshine with a sea of clouds deep below.
Jiuzhaigou is not very far. Only a little more than one hour´s flight. Getting there by bus would at least take two days. The flight is very pleasurable, although at times a little bumpy. The stewardesses have no time to hand out a meal, they bring some nuts and a small bottle of water. When the captain tells us that the plane is going to land in about twenty minutes the sea of clouds is getting nearer and nearer, and there are several mountain peaks reaching out of it, like islands. Those mountains are over 4000 m high. The lower ones are hidden in the sea of clouds. The next ten minutes are breathtaking. The plane dives into the „sea“, no more sunshine. In the clouds, the view is rather limited. When I am looking out of my window there are snow mountains. Sooooo near. When I look to the other side, there are also snow mountains. Soooo near. No time for getting scared. It is really fascinating, the plane´s speed and all the mountains. The fog is getting thicker. How can the pilot see where the mountains are? When I look down, there are more mountains, the plane seems to almost touch them. I hope the pilot has enough experience and knows exactly the small corridor he can use for getting down to the tiny Jiuzhaigou airport. When at last we touch down at the runway, I am really relieved. We did not crash against any of the mountains with a speed of 600 km/h.The little plane brakes as best it can, the runway being so short. At the end of the runway, the plane makes a 180 degree turn. Soon we can get out. I can breathe normally again. Well, no. Jiuzhaigou airport is on a small plateau at over 3000 m altitude. So breathing is a little difficult, but the lungs fill with clean mountain air. In Chongqing the temperature was nineteen – twenty. Here it is three degrees, and a little windy.. The dangerous mountains are still looming in the distance.
Soon after getting into the minibus, evening is coming. The plane was over three hours late. So I cannot enjoy the beautiful scenery. However there is still the yellow glow of the setting sun behind the mountain ranges in the west. The little town of Jiuzhaigou is 85 km from the airport. The bus takes nearly two hours go get there, stopping at several hotels to let their guests out. One of the hotels is a fantastic place. Like a green tropical oasis with glass fronts. How much for a room here? I can´t imagine. I have reserved a room at a hostel, not far from the entrance to the wonderful Jiuzhaigou park. The hostel whose name is Lang Jie is built in Tibetan style. Here is the easternmost region of Tibetan settlements. The two men in the untidy room which is used as a reception cannot understand me, and I cannot understand or speak any Chinese or Tibetan. They dial a number and give me the phone. I can hear a woman´s voice. She identifies herself as Tracey. She is young and can speak perfect English. A few minutes later, she comes. No problem, I pay 80 yuan for a big room with two double beds and a nice spacious bathroom. There is no heating in the room. But there is an electric blanket in the bed. So this night, I will not feel cold. She gives me lots of valuable advice: for example, the taxi to the park entrance will cost 12 yuan. The best time for visiting the park is not the early morning, it is later, maybe the early afternoon when the fog has dissipated.
Virginia
Mitglied
RE: how about just conversation?
@jacare4
Great, Udo! I really feel as if I were travelling with you. Where are we going to next?
Best
Virginia
@Virginia
Dear Virginia,
you asked where I was going to take you next? Do you mean: after Jiuzhaigou in China? Well, first into the most wonderful nature reserve of Jiuzhaigou in Sechuan province and then back to Chongqing and, after that, maybe to Yunnan Province.
Love. jacaré4/Udo
Dear Virginia,
you asked where I was going to take you next? Do you mean: after Jiuzhaigou in China? Well, first into the most wonderful nature reserve of Jiuzhaigou in Sechuan province and then back to Chongqing and, after that, maybe to Yunnan Province.
Love. jacaré4/Udo
Virginia
Mitglied
RE: how about just conversation?
Great, Udo! My little suitcase is packed 😄. In these dreary times with all the restrictions, your exquisite travel log really brightens up my day!
Love 🌸
Virginia
Dear Virginia, you are welcome to travel with me along the boardwalks to all the waterfalls and crystalclear lakes of Jiuzhaigou. You do not really need your tiny suitcase, but a small backpack would be fine with some drinking water and something to eat when we picknick. It might be a little chilly, so don´t forget your coat and gloves.
jacaré4/Udo
jacaré4/Udo
Virginia
Mitglied
RE: how about just conversation?
I will comply, sir 😄
Love
Virginia
Visiting Jiuzhaigou
As it is still much too early for sleeping and I am hungry I look for a place where I can have dinner. I want to go for a little walk although it is rather dark. Looking up to the sky I can see lots of stars shining brightly. The hostel is on a small hill. I can see the form of a Tibetan stupa outlined in the dark. Several women wearing Tibetan clothes are talking on the path leading down to the main road. Later I find out, they are waiting outside a primitive toilet with no light. Across the road is a hotel with lots of kiosks nearby. No customers, but the people there invite me to come and have a look. I do not want to buy anything they offer: mostly things made of yak skin or yak horn, and lots of cheap simple rings, bracelets and necklaces. On the way back I find a nice little restaurant near my hostel. I get in. The people working there are very busy. A friendly attendant shows me where to sit down. As they cannot speak English, and the menu is completely written in Chinese, I follow the attendant to the open kitchen where I can see the ingredients they are using. So I can show them what I want to eat. There are roasted salted peanuts in a glass. I want some of these. I want mushrooms and rice. This is enough. Preparing the food does not take long. A few minutes later I get my peanuts and the plate with the mushrooms, to which garlic, soy sauce, chili and some other things have been added. Very delicious. A little later a couple who are also staying at the hostel, come in and I invite them to sit at my table. They are very nice people, both good at speaking English. I do not feel lonely as we are having a good conversation. They have come from Beijing for spending the weekend at Jiuzhaigou. She is an opera singer, and he is working for Schlumberger, a multinational oil company. He has worked several years for this company in Norway and can „snakke norsk“. As they can read the menu they order typical Tibetan food: vegetable soup, Yak stomach and Yak tongue.
Visiting Jiuzhaigou nature reserve
The next morning I get up rather early. It is still dark outside. A taxi takes me to the park entrance. I am one of the first visitors. The entrance fee is 220 RMB, plus 90 RMB for the park bus ticket. This is for one day. I can use the bus as often as I like. I show my passport and can get a senior ticket for 170 yuan, but I must pay full price for the bus. They tell me, I can extend the park ticket to another day, paying 20 yuan more when I come back in the evening. However no discount for the bus on the second day. OK. I get through the gate and on a green bus. The park is situated in a long Y – shaped valley, whose length is about 30 km, always rising uphill, from about 2000m to a little more than 3000m. There are several Tibetan villages in the valley, which however are still asleep at this early morning hour. I stay on the bus until it gets to the far end. The guide on the bus is talking all the time. No English. She explains what can be seen on either side, which places are best for visiting. When I get off, it is snowing, no big snowflakes, just tiny ones, but it is snowing. I feel comfortable and happy wearing my winter coat and my winter shoes. There are boardwalks into the pristine forest, thus canalizing the people that otherwise would disperse everywhere among the trees, frightening the animals and trampling the plants. In the early morning hours, there are not many people, but later, there will be lots. Some of the men enjoy shouting at the top of their voices, trying to get an echo from the nearby forested mountain slopes whose tops I cannot see as they are in the clouds. The snow however and the trees are muffling the sound. Others have good fun making a snowball fight. In some places I can see prayer flags, especially where springs come out of the ground, and where special trees are, considered holy by Tibetans. At the place where the buses let the passengers alight, there are lots of toilets. Women in Tibetan clothes invite visitors to dress up as beauties in festive clothes. Chinese like this and have their picture taken. So it is good business for these women.
As it is still much too early for sleeping and I am hungry I look for a place where I can have dinner. I want to go for a little walk although it is rather dark. Looking up to the sky I can see lots of stars shining brightly. The hostel is on a small hill. I can see the form of a Tibetan stupa outlined in the dark. Several women wearing Tibetan clothes are talking on the path leading down to the main road. Later I find out, they are waiting outside a primitive toilet with no light. Across the road is a hotel with lots of kiosks nearby. No customers, but the people there invite me to come and have a look. I do not want to buy anything they offer: mostly things made of yak skin or yak horn, and lots of cheap simple rings, bracelets and necklaces. On the way back I find a nice little restaurant near my hostel. I get in. The people working there are very busy. A friendly attendant shows me where to sit down. As they cannot speak English, and the menu is completely written in Chinese, I follow the attendant to the open kitchen where I can see the ingredients they are using. So I can show them what I want to eat. There are roasted salted peanuts in a glass. I want some of these. I want mushrooms and rice. This is enough. Preparing the food does not take long. A few minutes later I get my peanuts and the plate with the mushrooms, to which garlic, soy sauce, chili and some other things have been added. Very delicious. A little later a couple who are also staying at the hostel, come in and I invite them to sit at my table. They are very nice people, both good at speaking English. I do not feel lonely as we are having a good conversation. They have come from Beijing for spending the weekend at Jiuzhaigou. She is an opera singer, and he is working for Schlumberger, a multinational oil company. He has worked several years for this company in Norway and can „snakke norsk“. As they can read the menu they order typical Tibetan food: vegetable soup, Yak stomach and Yak tongue.
Visiting Jiuzhaigou nature reserve
The next morning I get up rather early. It is still dark outside. A taxi takes me to the park entrance. I am one of the first visitors. The entrance fee is 220 RMB, plus 90 RMB for the park bus ticket. This is for one day. I can use the bus as often as I like. I show my passport and can get a senior ticket for 170 yuan, but I must pay full price for the bus. They tell me, I can extend the park ticket to another day, paying 20 yuan more when I come back in the evening. However no discount for the bus on the second day. OK. I get through the gate and on a green bus. The park is situated in a long Y – shaped valley, whose length is about 30 km, always rising uphill, from about 2000m to a little more than 3000m. There are several Tibetan villages in the valley, which however are still asleep at this early morning hour. I stay on the bus until it gets to the far end. The guide on the bus is talking all the time. No English. She explains what can be seen on either side, which places are best for visiting. When I get off, it is snowing, no big snowflakes, just tiny ones, but it is snowing. I feel comfortable and happy wearing my winter coat and my winter shoes. There are boardwalks into the pristine forest, thus canalizing the people that otherwise would disperse everywhere among the trees, frightening the animals and trampling the plants. In the early morning hours, there are not many people, but later, there will be lots. Some of the men enjoy shouting at the top of their voices, trying to get an echo from the nearby forested mountain slopes whose tops I cannot see as they are in the clouds. The snow however and the trees are muffling the sound. Others have good fun making a snowball fight. In some places I can see prayer flags, especially where springs come out of the ground, and where special trees are, considered holy by Tibetans. At the place where the buses let the passengers alight, there are lots of toilets. Women in Tibetan clothes invite visitors to dress up as beauties in festive clothes. Chinese like this and have their picture taken. So it is good business for these women.
HI Udo
I am still travelling with you in Ci QI Kou.
What a beautiful area and the picture I can see of it in the web are terrific. It reminds me very much of a Town in Morocco.
If anyone wants to have a quick look ??
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk01F5hA3UVyVIfuWtQSIOKhsXabvFQ:1611915071744&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=Bilder+von+der+Stadt+Essaouira&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwirjInK88DuAhXNiqQKHcoiCQoQ7Al6BAgDEEs&biw=1536&bih=750
Bilder von der Stadt Essaouira
Die Stadt des Windes!
I am off to read your next part. Thanks for letting us be part of it.
Love Yoli
Dear Yoli,
You are right, there are so many wonderful places all over the world. Essauira certainly is one of them. I have always wanted to visit Morocco and its beautiful cities, so famous. I almost succeeded but only got as far as Tangier. I only had enough time for a guided day tour. I really was pleased to get on that tour organized by a Tarifa travel agency.
How come you know Essaouira? Seems to be one of the places that should not be left our when travelling in Morocco.
When he was 16 years old, my son and a his friend went to Morocco by interrail. They went in summer. It was soooo hot. Only then they realized that they had chosen a bad month for touring Morocco. It was ramadan, which means no food and nothing to drink from early morning sunrise to late evening sunset. They decided to travel back to Spain and France as soon as possible.
jacaré4/Udo
You are right, there are so many wonderful places all over the world. Essauira certainly is one of them. I have always wanted to visit Morocco and its beautiful cities, so famous. I almost succeeded but only got as far as Tangier. I only had enough time for a guided day tour. I really was pleased to get on that tour organized by a Tarifa travel agency.
How come you know Essaouira? Seems to be one of the places that should not be left our when travelling in Morocco.
When he was 16 years old, my son and a his friend went to Morocco by interrail. They went in summer. It was soooo hot. Only then they realized that they had chosen a bad month for touring Morocco. It was ramadan, which means no food and nothing to drink from early morning sunrise to late evening sunset. They decided to travel back to Spain and France as soon as possible.
jacaré4/Udo
Pictures taken on my Jiuzhaigou trip.
Flight from Chongqing to Jiuzhaigou. A small plane and lots of mountains right, left and below.
Young Tibetan women in Jiuzhaigou nature reserve.
Waterfalls in the park
Please excuse the bad quality of the pictures.
Flight from Chongqing to Jiuzhaigou. A small plane and lots of mountains right, left and below.
Young Tibetan women in Jiuzhaigou nature reserve.
Waterfalls in the park
Please excuse the bad quality of the pictures.