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March - October 2005

Intrepid Season 2005 - China, Tibet, & Nepal (part III)

Brett Voegele
2005-11-19 14:41:04

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in Xian we were back on an overnight train - this time bound for Lanzhou. Lanzhou was simply a breakfast stop before piling into a sardine-can-with-wheels for what turned out to be a 10-hour journey to Xiahe (Tibetan: Labrang). The best sign seen along that stretch of road stated:

Do not chuck jetsam.

What...flotsam is OK? Someone please tell me why they can't simply say, "Do not litter" like any other country?!? You've got to love Chinglish.

In Labrang we spent a morning wandering around the monastery before jumping back in the can for the 5-hour trip to Langmusi. I always enjoy getting back to Langmusi as it has a timeless feel to it. We spent our time hiking in the surrounding area and hanging out in Leisha's Cafe - eating huge portions of food and chocolate 'cakes' for dessert. A great place. The next day we stopped at a rural school to see the local children sitting outside learning the Tibetan alphabet, before we headed to our homestay in the region. The passengers usually enjoy the homestay as they get a glimpse into how the locals live.

The next two days were, as is pretty standard, impossible to predict. The first day we took 11 hours to reach Hongyuan. Normally it takes about that long as we stop at nomadic tents and a monastery along the way. This time we had to bypass the monastery, and only spent a few minutes in a nomadic home. We discovered that the overturned truck we'd seen minutes before along the road had killed a person from one of the tents in the area. Figured it best for us to move along. So why did the trip still take 11 hours? Well, for 3 hours we sat along a muddy stretch of road in the grassslands because a bus and truck had become mired in the mud and were blocking all traffic. We then broke down for about an hour, and came across an accident blocking the road farther along. Never a dull moment. And the next day? I always ...