To describe Deqin is difficult. I was trying to think of adjectives to describe the mountains as we went along through the passes. Then Liu blurted "It is all spectacular". That is about as good as it gets. In Shangri la we were waiting at the bus station to take the bus to Deqin and a taxi driver from Deqin asked us where we were going. He was driving back to Deqin and could offer us a faster and more comfortable ride in his taxi for about 5 dollars more than the standard bus rate. So we took him up on it.
About halfway we stopped for lunch and I had my first donkey meat. It was actually pretty good. There is a saying in China, "Dragon meat in Heaven, Donkey meat on earth".
In Deqin we noticed a big difference in temperature. We had to wear our long pants and fleece sweaters. The hotel that we booked was outside of town directly across the street from the massive Kawa Karpo mountain that is 22,000 feet above sea level. The valley at the base of the mountain is at an elevation of less than 10,000 feet. VERY big mountains. The frontside of the mountain is in Yunan and the backside is in Tibet. This is about as close as you can get to Tibet without a permit. Deqin is about 80% Tibetan people. So the culture, clothes, and food from Tibet are all there. The first night we were tuckered out from traveling and crashed out quickly. The next morning we went to the city and explored. We were going to try to hike up to the glaciers, but the trip would have cost about 700 RMB (about 100 US dollars) and that price was too steep for our budget. So we hiked up the river a ways and ate some yak meat at ta Tibetan joint. While we were walking around town, we found an awesome single lane market. They were selling live chickens, mystery meats, fresh produce, tea pots, trinkets, really just about anything you could imagine. The lane was only about 3 feet across and maybe 200 yards long. We got some great shots and pictures. That night we racked out early. Sleeping above 12,000 feet can take a toll on the body, I had some weird dream that I owned the Chiefs and decided that they would be better off playing badminton instead. So I was trying to convert my team from football shape to badminton shape with a rocky type montage. Weird dreams.
We headed to Guangzhou and stayed at Liu's friends house. The trip from Deqin to Guangzhou was a long one. First we took a bus from Deqin to Dali. It was supposed to be a 12 hour bus, but ended up being closer to 15 hours. We took a sleeper bus and it was pretty disgusting. The people in Deqin are pretty much at the end of the road. Not a lot of showers or hygiene going on there. On a sleeper bus, everyone takes off their shoes and the smell is... well... let's just say overpowering. Liu had a middle seat in the bus and I had a window. She thought she was going to puke from the smell (I had my head out the window), so we traded for a "little while". Needless to say she never relinquished the window seat back to me and I suffered for about 10 hours. In Dali we had a room waiting for us. We checked in at 3 am. Our next bus left at 7 am the next morning. So we had about 3 hours of sleep and hopped on the bus from Dali to Kunming. This was a 4 hour bus. In Kunming we had about 3 hours to kill before our Hard-Sleeper train to Guangzhou. That train was 26 hours. Luckily we had most of the train to ourselves the final 10 hours. So pretty much we traveled 45 hours during a 56 hour time frame. We were happy to reach Guangzhou.
In Guangzhou we were taken to a traditional Cantonese lunch by her friend. It includes Goose feet, goose stomach, chicken ankles, blood cakes, and an assortment of stuff I couldn't identify. Very interesting. The next day we went shopping at the knock off market. Liu was in heaven. She loves shopping. One interesting note. We were looking at sunglasses around 4 pm in a stall. All of a sudden the metal door started coming down with liu inside. She didn't react quickly and had to be pulled out of the stall by the attendant (she was almost trapped inside). We asked what was going on because they didn't close until 6 pm. They said that someone had seen the cops in the market, so all the shops selling the knock off items close down quickly. 20 minutes later they were all back open again.
That is about all for today. Nima is with us now in Hong Kong and we will update on this leg of the journey later.
Liu riding with the King
A lush valley between Shangri la and Deqin
Donkey Meat
RPG's alongside the road
Mountains valleys oh my
White Horse Mountains
Old Growth tree with Licen growing.
Inspirational point
At Sunset in front of Kawa Karpo
Tibetan prayer flags attached to a tree
Wideshot of the mountains out of our hotel window. Remember this is early August and there is still a lot of snow
Prayer altars in Deqin
Little old lady and I. Traditional outfit
Cool Tibetan guy who owned the resturant we ate at.
Prayer flags zig-zagging the mountainside
Another picture out the hotel window
Liu and I at sunset
The alley in Deqin where we went shopping
Fresh produce
Another shot in the market
Liu negotiating the price of some fruit.
The old town
