Winter holiday (part 2)

So, we had gone to Juizhaigou having heard that the National Park area there was quite beautiful, and thinking that winter would be a good time to go and to escape the hordes... Well, we were right about that, it was beautiful. It was also extremely cold (imagine your fingers going numb after less than 5 minutes outside, even wearing gloves), and a little bit like a ghost town! Still, I'm glad we went when we did.

We got into the park without too many problems, apart from having to shell out a small fortune for the ticket and also for the buses that run round the park. As it was winter, it wasn't very busy, so we had to wait a little while before our bus set off into the park. We were dropped off at some lakes and told that the walk would take about 40 mins and we would be met at the car park at the bottom. Now Rick and I were not keen to be herded around like good Chinese tourists, so we abandoned the rest and wandered up the road a bit, took some photos, wandered along the paths a bit etc. At one point 'our' bus drove past with everyone else on it and the guide signaled to see if we wanted to get back on - we didn't. She looked disappointed...

When we finally arrived at the carpark meeting place there was just one man there with a radio. He asked us where we were going and we told him, even showing him on the map. As we walked off we heard him speaking into his radio about 'two foreigners'. A bit further along the road a green park ranger vehicle pulled up and asked us where we were going and did we want a lift...

This was pretty much the pattern for the next two days. Occasionally we succumbed and had a ride on the bus, but that was mainly just to get in and out of the park. Most of the time we played hide from the ranger / convince the ranger that we have enough clothes, food and intelligence to make it by ourselves without the aid of a bus and a guide!!! Honestly. We met a French couple and they had a very similar story to tell.

But it was worth it - truly beautiful. Clear, bright blue lakes, some lakes frozen over and dusted with snow, ice falls, brilliantly clear skies. Marvellous.

After Juizhaigou, we took a bus to Songpan. It was one of the most beautiful bus rides I've ever taken and it was also probably the coldest. [It was occasionally a bit scary too, but I was expecting that]. We arrived in Songpan and I felt like I was going to die of cold. We staggered down the main street and into a noodle shop. I'd eaten food on the bus, but need to eat more just to get warm.

We had gone to Songpan to go horse riding, but sadly all the horse riding places were closed. So, we just stayed there a couple of nights, relaxed, hiked up to a temple on a hill, drank tea in a tea garden, watched as blood flowed down the river (from the town's abbatoir - niiiice!!) and enjoyed the sunshine. When you get to that part of China, you see lots of people wearing traditional Tibetan-style clothing, with very brown, very weather-beaten faces.

We had a brief encounter with the police, but the police officer who spoke to us was very friendly and spoke reasonable English. He also kindly gave me the rules for foreigners checking into hotels - all in Chinese. Great.

After Songpan we took the bus back to Chengdu via Wenchuan and also therefore via the earthquake zone. We saw lots of crazy stuff: bridges broken in half and tipped into the river, houses destroyed and falling down, massive rocks the size of a small house by the side and even in one case in the middle of the road. We also saw one part of road that was completely bent up by the movement of the earth. We saw lots of tents and temporary housing - clearly a long way to go until the area is fully back to how it used to be.

A couple of nights in Chengdu, enjoying Pizza Hut, KFC and Starbucks (sorry!) before a flight back to Changsha (not train tickets because it was quite close to Chinese New Year by then). We sat on the runway at Chengdu for nearly two hours after being delayed boarding as well. It was pretty foggy, so I guess it was visibility problem. Anyway, we arrived late in Changsha and so missed the easy bus that goes directly to Pingxiang. Instead we had to get a bus into town to the train station and we caught the fast train back. Just.

Exhausted, but a good trip all in all.