Mount Everest or Qomolangma in the local lingo

June 8, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

Despite its popularity and the advanced transportation and communication networks Mount Everest is still a bugger to get to. Our journey started with a 24 hr train ride from Xining (it would have been 44 hours if we had tried it from Beijing) to Lhasa. A couple of days to acclimatise to the altitude then a monster 13 hr drive to Shigatse. A quick nap and a feed and another 11 hr drive to base camp…the last 75kms on a bone jarring dirt track. Dawn photo session followed by breakfast and another trip up the mountain at 9 am with a 10:05am departure back for the 10.5 hr drive back to Shigatse. A shower, meal, nap and we were headed back on a 7hr drive to Lhasa for a night, before our 23 hr return train journey to Xining.

I guess if such a naturally beautiful place is to stay pristine then it will need to be out of the way. If you could get there by hopping a flight and taking a short cab ride it would cheapen the experience…we earned our views and photos.

We were blessed with stunningly blue skies and clear weather throughout all of our time in Tibet. As you drive through endless tracts of desert and dry riverbed you begin to realise how desolate Tibet actually is. There are some stunning sights but they are a long way apart. I had an image in my mind of what Tibet, Everest and base camp would be like and I was completely wrong on all three counts. The place is full of natural beauty but in a barren kind of way. The soil is poor and the temperatures are cold so the vegetation is sparse and the landscape is dotted with hardy animals like yaks and goats.

About 140 kilometres from the mountain along the torturous drive you catch your first real glimpse of Everest…and all the pain melts away. The great weather meant that our first viewing was the postcard shot. Our photo was of the peak with the wind blowing the snow wistfully from the top. A 10 minute stop for photos, oohs, aahs and wows…then back in the van for more torturous bumps.

There are little if any facilities along the road and those that exist are feral. Nine people were jammed into a van for essentially 5 days solid driving with zero privacy…to see a mountain and the odd temple and monastery along the way. As you do the obscenely long and uncomfortable drive you are told to drink copious quantities of water to offset the effects of altitude sickness. We all did what we were told and still all got altitude sickness to one degree or the other. Bumpy roads, full bladders, no facilities…we got to know each other pretty well.

Altitude sickness is a phenomenon that affects everybody but in different ways and to different degrees. Some of the others in the group were put on drips, given oxygen and took anti-altitude medication. Jill and I had none of any of this…we did both get the headaches and shortness of breath, we both skipped the nausea and vomiting and I got the added joy of sleeplessness. I basically had no sleep between leaving and returning to Lhasa (about 78 hours all up) then Jill forced another 9 hours on me as we had to go shopping and topping up our mobile phone credit. After 87 hours of being awake I caught about 4 hours sleep then headed for our 23 hr train ride back to Xining.

We finally arrived at Everest base camp at 10pm tired grumpy and exhausted. We did have a few choice photo opportunities along the way. But it was dark when we got in so we got into our accommodation, got fed and crashed. The accommodation was an indigenous tent on the side of the mountain. It had a wood stove in the centre, carpets on the dirt and a bench doubling as beds around the outside. The seven of us bunked down for a freezing night of communal camping while the driver and guide headed off to another tent.

When I said it was a wood stove in the centre of the tent…this was accurate…but… It was not wood that was being burnt. The fuel of choice in Tibet is Yak dung paddies and sheep and goat pellets. So in addition we had a rural aroma permeating the tent. The facilities were about 100 meters away and were totally rank and there was a very real threat that you could fall into a pit of raw sewage. Because of the threat of falling through the wooden floor in the tin shed onto the pit of raw sewage, those that had gone before had gone on the floorboards rather than braving the hole. So most of us chose torchlight and the rocky riverbed…behind whatever stone that might give you some semblance of cover. Clearly we were not the first with such an idea and the area was littered with human and animal excrement. So we added our fair share and moved on…I have a detailed version of this for my nephew Fleebs but have been banned from publishing it.

After a fitful nights sleep for most and no sleep for me…the sun rose and most of us headed to the other end of base camp for sunrise shots of Everest. Standing at over 5200 meters watching the early morning sun reflect off the highest point on the planet seemed to make all the pain of the preceding few days melt away. Back for brekkie then hop a bus to take you another 6-8 Kms closer for an hour of photos and our odyssey was over…except for the return journey.

Mount Everest is definitely a bucket list item but one that needs to be seriously considered before embarking. This is a destination that cannot be taken lightly and is a serious investment in time and damage on your body. Our trip was in the Tibetan summer and the weather was perfect…and the trip was still tough. The guide told us stories of others that had had weeks on the mountain and barely got to see it due to the clouds and mist…we were VERY lucky.

While it is a fantastic thing to have done and no doubt in the future we will regale you with stories of the time we slept in a tent at the northern face base camp (EBC for those of us who have been there) of Mount Everest in Tibet… we are both glad it is over and we are headed back to Xining for some well earned rest and a little bit of pampering. We can get one hour massages for less than $8 and both of us are aching and in need of some down time.

Tibet

Tibet – Lhasa to Shigatse

June 8, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

We headed off on the Sunday morning from Lhasa to Shigatse which was to be a slight increase in elevation but transiting through a serious elevation bump. As it was a holiday weekend the Everest ticket office closed early so we took the long route to get there. This saw us leaving at 9am and arriving in Shigatse at around 8 pm that night.

The entire time was not spent driving but rather we stopped off at three of the most spectacular sights that we have seen thus far. The first was the Khambala Pass at 4794 metres above sea level. This was the passage to pass over the mountains and from the top you had a magnificent view down over the Yamdrok-Tso lake which is one of the three holy Buddhist lakes. While perched high on the hill I managed to get Jill to ride and be photographed atop a yak.

Heading down from the pass we stopped at Yamdrok lake for some more photos and the ever present trinket selling. Alas having seen the placid yak atop the hill I tried to pat the one at the bottom of the hill…while he was eating…bad mistake. Tip for young players if an animal is eating…leave them alone…especially if they weigh about as much as a car and have big horns. Anyway…after a minor goring and some serious threatening gestures later…I learnt a lesson.

A bit later on we made a stop at the Karola Glacier which was happily at 5020 metres at its base where we were but was 7191 at its peak. A few photos and some more locals pestering us to “looky looky… Cheap cheap” at the now ubiquitous trinket shops and we were off again.

After this we went to the Pekor Chode Monastery which was built in 1914 and was the first monastery that allowed photographs inside (for a small fee). One monastery is very similar to the next and the key images, layout and structure are all pretty much the same. This one was one of the few that allowed photos or at least did not charge extortionate rates to allow any images within. All of the monasteries have been stunning although due to the burning of incense and yak butter candles I have had shortened adventures prior to choking on the fumes. We paid the fee and Jill went crazy.

The standout feature to this place was the sand paintings. The monks sat in a circle on the floor and poured coloured sand onto the ground. Not that impressive you may think…but they did it in an artsy way…a seriously impressive 2.5-4 metre diameter intricate as all get out kinda artsy way.

We got into Shigatse, had a meal and crashed. Well sort of…I spent about 90 minutes hyperventilating as I could not get breath into my lungs. At 12:30 am I went to reception in an attempt to purchase oxygen…as I stepped into the hallway I nearly fell over as it was choked with cigarette smoke and incense. As a long term former smoker I am not opposed to smoking but when you are at altitude and every bit of oxygen is precious…copping gobfulls of smoke and the incense they use to try and mask it is debilitating. No oxygen in reception but a short time later the drunks went home and the incense stopped burning and I could breathe again.

The next morning saw us visiting the Tashilump Monastery in Shigatse while the guide got us our Everest passes then we did the big drive to Mount Everest…or Qomolangma in the local lingo. Along the way we reached the highest elevation that either of us had or will ever likely be at at 5248 meters which was at Gyatso La (Ocean Pass) which is actually about 50 metres higher than at base camp.

Tibet

Tibet…Lhasa

May 30, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

Our foray into Tibet started with a 24 hour train journey from Xining to Lhasa. This is the world’s highest railway, the “Qinghai-Tibet Railway” with some people calling it (falsely) the “rocket to the roof of the world”…this is by no means a rocket train. The train peaks at a whopping 5072 meters above sea level at the Tanggula Station, also known as Dangla, which is unsurprisingly the world`s highest railway station.

The oxygen here is half of that which is available at sea level and as such oxygen is pumped into the cabins of the trains from the 3500 meter mark. This would ordinarily be a good thing but alas this is offset by hoards of Chinese men standing in the enclosed trains smoking cigarettes next to the no smoking signs. As a former smoker for many years I am fast becoming an anti-smoker due to the manner in which the Chinese blatantly disregard all semblance of consideration.

The scenery along the journey is spectacular…with wide sprawling plains criss-crossed by streams and dotted with sheep (the non fat bottomed kind) and yaks…all leading to snowy peaks. When the sun rises in the morning you find yourself in a 100% whiteout as the clouds and snow envelop the train. As the train climbs to its highest point the clouds give way to the icicles that slide down your windows and the majesty of the mountains.

The trip to Tibet is very heavily controlled and cannot be done on an individual basis but rather must be done as part of an organised tour. This obviously adds to the expense and places you fairly in the midst of touristville with no options for escape. The first real stop on the tour was the Potala Palace which is the traditional home of the Dalai Lama and has been since the 17th century.

In 1959 the current Dalai Lama fled to India during the Tibetan uprising. The palace is built at an altitude of 3,700 m (12,100 ft) and houses the mummified bodies of the previous Dalai Lamas (5-13). According to our guide the monks go in to cut the hair and fingernails on the deceased Dalai Lamas every so often.

Following the Potala Palace we headed to the centre of town to the Jokhang Temple which is the oldest (7th century) and most important temple in Lhasa. The temple is surrounded at all times of day by people performing a full body prostration kora around the temple. For the heathens amongst you (like me) they stand praying for forgiveness for the sins of the body, the mouth and the heart…and then lie face down on the stones…stand take three steps…and do it again. The guys in Lhasa did three laps of the temple (about a kilometre each lap) but according to the guide people are known to do this between religious sites totalling over 500 kilometres. Many of the ones we saw had callouses on their foreheads.

The next day we headed off en masse again to the Drepung and Sera Monasteries. The Drepung monastery was the home of the Dalai Lamas prior to the construction of the Potala palace by the 5th Dalai Lama. As such it holds the bodies of 2-4 with the first Dalai Lama really not getting a lot of kudos. These are beautiful sights on either end of the city. We had planned to head to the museum but were advised by the tour guide that there was no history there…just the Chinese story about the peaceful integration of Tibet.

The monasteries at high altitude are proving to be a fair challenge. The scarcity of oxygen, combined with the stairs you climb to get to them means you are breathing very heavily when you get there. Alas upon arrival you are sucking in gobfulls of incense. Add to this the fumes from the yak butter candles and there is some serious hyperventilating going on. I swear that breathing in the fumes from the yak butter candles upped my cholesterol level by about 5 points.

On an evening outing we floated past the Potala Palace on our way to the local night market and found that is was lit up in the evenings. So on our return to Lhasa after hitting Mount Everest Base Camp we grabbed the group and headed to the palace for an evening photo shoot.

China

Kashgar

May 24, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

Having left Kyrgyzstan we returned to Urumqi to find that all hell had broken loose. We landed at about 4pm to find that a terrorist bomb had been detonated that morning about 500 meters from our original hotel. The bomb had killed 39 and injured 94 and surprisingly the security had gone into overdrive throughout the city. The baddies drove 4WD’s into the crowd before lobbing hand grenades at a petrol station.

The issue is between the Muslim Uighur minority and the Chinese proper (mostly the Han Chinese). The two groups just do not seem to play nicely together. This part of China has been such for over 1000 years so it is not a turf thing but more a divergent lifestyle kinda thing. This has been the 4th such attack in the last two months and the death toll is over 100 now. The one that happened just before we landed in Urumqi last time was a bombing in a train station. As people fled the blast a second group of baddies were outside with knives and were stabbing those running from the explosion…charming.

Either way we were only transiting and hopped a flight the next morning to Kashgar. Alas this is within the same province with the same ethnic minority and the security was through the roof and the tension was palpable. In excess of 100 armed troops and police in full riot kit were stationed outside the peoples park along with tanks and troop carriers etc. the looks on the faces of the locals was threatening and very unlike anything we have experienced thus far throughout China. The Uighur are renowned for their brick carving so the buildings around the old parts of the city were spectacular.

Possibly the three standout memories and experiences of this place are all food related…not really surprising coming from me but the number one memory will be the multitude of bakeries making and selling fresh bread from the street stalls. The second will be the butchers…everything is mutton here and a wander past the butcher stall will have 1-5 live sheep out the front (depending on the time of day), the remainder hanging unrefrigerated on the street with the sheep heads lying on the ground to prove the freshness. And the last is the aromas from the spice trade.

Like Urumqi this city is heavily Muslim and the faces are almost entirely central Asian/middle eastern and the Chinese influence is negligible. This part of the world is much more influenced by the Turkish part of the world than the Chinese. The food and clothing reflect very little of the China we have experienced thus far. We hit the Bazaar (Sunday Market) and wandered the streets sampling some of the very different fare on offer. The Sunday Market in Kashgar is renowned as the biggest market in central Asia and has been a pivotal trading point along the Silk Road for over than 2,000 years. Jill was in heaven when we found the man with an entire table of date nougat…he who would happily cleave off big chunks for less than a dollar.

We arrived here in stunning sunshine and blue skies aplenty. Alas overnight a sandstorm hit (we are on the edge of the desert) and that was the end of blue skies and respiratory pleasure for the next 3 days. The main reason for heading here was to attend the livestock markets that take place every Sunday. These are like no other on the planet so were a must see. Prior to this we hit the Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, People’s Park, and saw the 18 m (59 ft) high statue of Mao Zedong. But the livestock markets were the highlight by far. Kardashian sheep as far as the eye could see, horses, donkeys, cows, camels all being tested, prodded and poked.

The horses were being put through their paces by bareback riders amid crowds of bidding Arab types yelling, screaming and chanting. The manner of testing the quality of a sheep was troubling at best…as the fatty deposits on the rear are the prized bit…there was a bunch of Arab types goosing these poor defenceless sheep. It reminded me of the old Rodney Rude learning to drive joke of…

Q. can you make a U-Turn
A. I can make her eyes pop.

At the end of our time at the market we decided to head back to the bazaar as Sundays were the busiest day. The ride to the bazaar was in the back of a three wheeled open air motorbike ute thing and on arrival Jill managed to catch a pickpocket trying to get into her backpack and pinned shut pants pockets. Now this was fun…as she bashed him over the head with her water bottle…yelling I know it was you you dirty thief. He slunk away meekly while trying to ignore the bottle hitting him on the noggin. I will finish this post with three of our favourite photos from this leg of the journey…the fat bottomed sheep were just funny and a highlight of the region and Jill was overly enamoured by the puckering camel.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan…Bishkek

May 23, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

Once again the flight was spectacular. This part of the world is lined by tall, rocky, snow capped mountains with broad open plains on the other side. The plane flights tend to have one or other of these views in all of its glory depending on which side you sit.

Our introduction to Bishkek involved the usual haggling with black list taxis to try and get us to our destination, which was in the heart of town. All of this in Russian which of course we speak none of. Add to this the total inability to recognise the written language.

The A’s mean A, the K means K as does M, O, and T…but that is where it ends. the B means V, H means N, P is R, C is S, Y is U…and then there is a bunch of random things. The 3 in the middle of the words (Z) threw me…as did the funky K which is mirror imaged on itself meaning Zh.

Add to this the backwards N’s, R’s and the squiggle that is the D and we were struggling at first. After a couple of days we got a partial handle on things. Anyway these are the challenges of not being multi lingual and choosing to travel to foreign places.

We got our taxi which was a 1970’s vintage Russian bomb. The doors needed manhandling to open or close and the boot took about 9 slams before the latch caught. So off we went…the first sights were sheep, cows and donkeys grazing on the side of the road…being herded by men on horseback…OK. The trip was relatively uneventful until we hit the traffic of the city and were creeping along at a snail’s pace. At one point the exhaust fumes were pouring through the handbrake…filling the car with exhaust smoke. On the positive side, we now know where old cars go to live out the rest of their lives…particularly Mercedes’.

Bishkek is built on the plains alongside the mountain range and is flat and pretty. Our hotel is in the heart of town and is possibly one of the taller buildings around…at 4 storeys. Directly opposite was a fantastic café called Adriano’s which served good Italian espresso and had semi decent Wi-Fi. The main square was about a block away and bars and clubs were everywhere. We went for our usual wander around until we found the Pinta Pub and settled in for some local ales…followed by a few more a little later at the Black Rabbit. A couple of days later during another visit to the Pinta Pub we found that they served “Towers of Beer”. For those of you wondering a tower of beer is good. By the time we had finished in Kyrgyzstan we had managed to sample the following local ales: Arpa, Jivor, Bavarskoe, Apna, Svejak, White Bear, Venskoe, Karagandinskoe, Shymkent, and Baltika beers. Oh and I cannot forget my personal favourite Zatecky Gus.

The hostel took us to the local ethnic village which had yurts (local traditional housing) and they introduced us to some of the traditional foods and drinks. We can now officially add horse meat to our list of eaten items we also had Shoro (a fermented yoghurt), Charlap (a fermented wheat drink), and Arlash (a mixture of the two above). They assured us that once you get used to it…it is quite nice…we are not used to it and it was disgusting .

We made arrangements to go to the Alamein gorge, Sokuluk canyon and the Belogorka waterfall. Due to lack of numbers the Saturday trip fell through. But the Sunday trip to the canyon and waterfalls went ahead. Tourism is in its infancy here and is based around the natural beauty of the region. As such hiking and trekking seem to be the main go…with the odd horse riding thrown in. Having spent an entire day trekking it is safe to say that trekking is not for me…but the sights were good.

The main thing that this trip did for us was to introduce us to the fabled fat bottomed sheep. Having subsequently looked into this the fat tailed sheep make up about 25% of sheep in the world…but I had never seen anything like them and they were a 100% novelty to me. These sheep are highly prized and the fat deposits are extremely expensive but all I could think of was Kardashians.

We met a Brit couple (Simon and Emily) in Urumqi who were heading in generally the same direction so we met up again in Bishkek for a traditional meal at one of the local restaurants and a tower of beer. Followed the next day (my birthday) by a group excursion to the Osh Bazaar. And more wanderings, tourist shopping and towers of beer. The highlight of the day was when Simon got pulled in by the (corrupt) police in the bazaar and was turned over for drugs (which they found none) in a poorly veiled attempt in a shakedown for bribe money from the obvious tourist. Given that neither he nor Emily had come down in the last shower of rain…they left with their wallets in tact.

The local dress in Kyrgyzstan for men at least is the Kyrgyz felt hat or Ak-kalpak…a tall thing that is worn daily by many and not just in a ceremonial sense. The other stand out feature is the abundance of gold teeth. I honestly did not think that such things still occurred however in this part of the world you are no one unless you have a gob full of glimmering chompers. They are everywhere.

China

Urumqi

May 11, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

So leaving Jiuzhaigou was an experience. Our flight required a 5am departure for the 90 minute drive to the airport. The airport is surrounded on three sides by snow capped peaks and it was stunning. It is nearing summer here and to have snow on 3 sides was pretty darn impressive. As the plane took off we could see the cloud layer below us and rising above the clouds was the dark layer of rocks and trees of the mountains and then the glistening snow layer.

Unfortunately airlines are a little funny about using telephones on take off and landing so we did not manage to get any photos of this but believe us when we tell you it was spectacular. In fact our entire trip to this part of China has been amazing and anyone planning to travel should have this place high on their list of things to do.

Our next stop was to the town of Urumqi in the north west of China. This place is the local provincial capital and due to the way the transport system works, we will be in and out of Urumqi quite a few times over the next few weeks. The flight into town skirted the Tian Shan mountain range so the view from the left hand side of the plane was that of snow peaks as far as the eye can see.

Urumqi translates to beautiful pasture and is yet another stop on the northern section of the Silk Road. While the name means beautiful pasture it is anything but… Urumqi has been recorded as one of the most polluted cities on the planet (in 2007). In its defence the city has cleaned up quite a bit since that time but is really just a big industrial centre in the west of China with not too much going for it.

Urumqi is actually in the Guinness book of records as the most inland city on the planet…meaning the furthest from any sea or ocean in the world. The closest body of water is over 2500 kilometres away in any direction. As a city it is big and ugly. For those old enough to remember the commonwealth bank money tins we got given back at school… that is the housing here…row after row of these ugly multi-storey boxes. Being China they still do a good park and the open spaces between the ugly buildings is quite nice but it is not a place high on the destination sakes.

The area is largely Muslim but the eclectic mix of facial features here is possibly the most varied we have seen anywhere in China thus far. The traditional Chinese features are here but it mixes with the Tibetan, Middle Eastern, Indian and Russian facial features and the various hybrids that occur over time.

Being a largely Muslim area the food is very different to most of China…and is fantastic. We hit the street stalls and had a Muslim version of a pastie with lamb, beef, onions and spices…which was great and cost between 30-40 cents each. The lamb kebabs and naan are a fantastic and are available everywhere…it is a bit like getting a good coffee in Melbourne. There is the obligatory night market with food stalls aplenty and the bazaar which is a cornucopia of all things regional with spices, fruits, foods and the usual tourist trinkets.

I got into essentially a flattened and roasted chicken that is cleaved into bite sized pieces and served with a chewy style of dry naan and spices. This was sold everywhere throughout the bazaar and was on the stand with the whole roasted sheep, and the stand next door to the sheep heads and entrails. Anyway…Chook, fingers, bread…tuck in. Would have been nice to wash it down with an icy ale…but it is frowned upon right next door to the mosque…go figure.

We went to the Xinjiang Uygur Regional Museum which is a tribute to the minority communities in the area. According to the museum there are over 47 nationalities or cultures residing in the Urumqi area. Thus explaining the variety in facial features. We did the normal tourist spots (parks, pagodas, temples etc) which were fine without being startling.

Jill loves tulips and at this time of year they were in full bloom everywhere throughout the city.

China

Jiuzhai national park

May 9, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

After leaving Chengdu we made our way on an 11 hr bus ride to Jiuzhaigou (nine villages valley) which is the home of the Jiuzhai national park. Jiuzhaigou Valley is on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau and is another documentary special joint that will be instantly recognisable. It is known for multi-level waterfalls, colorful lakes, and snow-capped peaks. But the standout features are the crystal clear lakes with the fallen trees within that are 100% visible due to the clarity of the water.

On our drive here in the bus we climbed up over the 3500 metre mark…so much so that snow was falling. This is not something we had expected and were dressed much more for the 30 degree days of Chengdu than we were for snow falling at altitude. Thankfully the town was down at around the 2000 metre mark so there was no snow by the time we arrived.

The place actually has wild pandas (not that you would ever see one) and the Sichuan golden monkeys. this place is stunning. there will not be a heap of text on this post as essentially we hiked around this national park taking a bucket load of photos that will never do this place justice. Neither our phone cameras nor our photographic abilities will be good enough to truly represent his place. But we eagerly took our happy snaps and I hope you enjoy them.

The park is huge and there are about 15-20 crystal clear lakes and too many waterfalls to count. The water cascades over just about everything and at every turn there is a phenomenal sight. They have built a wooden boardwalk style thing so as not to disrupt the nature from us trampling hordes. So much so that the blurb identifies that there is over 70 kilometres of boardwalk that was built through the park. We did not walk the whole 70 but there was at least 15-20 kilometres hiked by us.

Did I mention that we were both losing weight…I think this sort of walking around the various sights may be helping…but what would I know.

Alas these photos will never truly do this place justice. The full spectrum of colours was on display and the different shades of green, blue and brown in the waters was something to behold. If you are compiling a bucket list then I would seriously consider putting this place high upon the list.

China

Chengdu…

May 4, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan province in southwestern China. What it is most known for nowadays is that it is the global home of the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base…the launching point for the world’s largest (Leshan Giant) Buddha…and the home of Sichuan (or Szechuan) cooking. All of these things you would probably have seen on documentaries of lifestyle type programs on the box.

We arrived on a national holiday weekend so the place was nutty and we hid from the crowds for the first couple of days. Planning the next legs of the journey which seems like it will take us into Kyrgyzstan for my birthday in downtown Bishkek. Added to this Jill downloaded the bits that she needed for her next assignment.

Sichuan province is the home of about 80% of the 1500 pandas that are alive today. It is also where they established a breeding research base about 10 km from the middle of town… which is awesome. It costs about $10 to spend a day there, but the early mornings are the best time as they are up and about and active. For about $120…($140 on weekends) you can volunteer providing keeper duties (shovelling $hit and lugging bamboo…I presume) and be shown through some of the studies…and get a certificate. For double the price…you can do it for two days. For under $350 (2000 yuan) you can have your photo taken cuddling a baby panda. In any case your $10 buys you great views of lots of adult and baby pandas doing panda-esque activities.

The Leshan Giant Buddha is a 71 metre tall Buddha carved into a cliff face and is the tallest Buddha in the world. Wiki tells me that construction started in 713 and finished 90 years later. A Chinese monk named Haitong hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels traveling down the river. As it happened the carved away stone removed from the cliff face got dumped in the river below…changing the currents…making the water safe for passing ships.

The Buddha was pretty darn big and the hike from the top to the bottom and back up again was not too onerous. It was however made amusing by a hoard of Chinese women attempting to do it in the ridiculous high heeled stripper shoes that they all tend to wear. This is a common theme of hikes within China…Chinese women attend in short skirts and 4 inch+ high heels and climb mountains etc.

Sichuan (or Szechuan) cooking is possibly the hottest food on the planet. The use of spices and rear splitting chillies puts shame to the hottest of Indian vindaloo’s. The real issue is that everything on the menu is like this…so there is absolutely no respite from the chilli onslaught.

Our first night we hit a joint around the corner and pointed at the pictures of what seemed like three fairly innocuous dishes. The first we both agreed was a photo of crab claws…what arrived was the skull of a small mammal… drenched in chilli and oozing chilli oil…Jill laughed and left it to me…I ate it…and we took the photo back to the hostel to ask the guys there to name that animal…it was a rabbit…much happier now.

The next was a mushroom dish that had large red and green chillies and seeds throughout… Jill managed three mouthfuls of this while I ate bugs’s skull…before she quickly began downing her amber ale. After splitting the skull apart and eating the meaty bits I moved to the mushrooms which were milder than the skull…then our main came which was a pork and mushroom deal…OMG…this one had a bite to it…

Safe to say that not one of Jill’s side of the family would survive here…some of my lot would be ok…but even the kamikazes will find this joint on the challenging side. The key issue is that there is no respite and the cumulative effect is debilitating. In addition to the chilli there is a special Sichuan pepper which adds another numbing dimension. We did another cooking course…where we learned to use the murderous items from the night before. So upon our return (whenever that may be) we are equipped to replicate some of these gems…any volunteers?

I hate to admit this but I am actually developing a taste for eating tofu… Tofu for me was always tree hugging, hippie, vego freak, meat substitution, rubbish to be mocked mercilessly…along with the people who eat it (cos they don’t get enough protein so are too weak to lift their arms in objection to the mocking). It actually tastes ok when done right…don’t get me wrong… big slabs of cow is still king…but maybe the mocking will be reserved to the stuff like tofurkey or faken.

China

Guiyang and Anshun

April 26, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

We are well and truly off the beaten path now…English is virtually non existent and every little action is becoming more and more challenging. We checked into the best hotel that we have stayed in since leaving Australia when we arrived in Guiyang. Sadly it also had the worst wifi since we left too.

While the hotel was lovely there are a few elements that make it uniquely Chinese and a little odd to say the least. There does not seem to be any service elevator so guests share the elevator with staff going about their business. As we have noticed throughout China if you wait…you lose…so people push and shove to get onto buses, taxis, trains etc. that is just China and you get used to it…but when a cleaner races a guest to the lift and pushes door close so that the guest has to wait for the next lift well that is another story. And this goes for the laundry dudes filling the lifts while you stand waiting to use them, and the restaurant staff taking food to the kitchens etc. The service staff however do allow guests first use.

The hotel was right next to an amazing food street which we spent most of our time eating at. Great food, dirt cheap…the only trouble was getting access to coffee and ordering in a town with little or no English. The town is also home to one of the largest statues of Mao Zedong across the road from yet another stunning park and square (something China does like nowhere else).

We spent a day hiking around the 1000 acre park in the middle of town which was essentially a massive forested hilly area. Having schlepped it up most of the mountain Jill decided we could catch the cable car back (why we didn’t catch it up was apparently my fault)…so we started on a journey of stairs up the mountain. Half way up we met some locals who said there was nothing at the top. I stopped…Jill kept going…20 minutes later she returned regaling me of the beauty that was the mobile telecommunications repeater tower.

Next we headed for the town of Anshun which has even less English but is the launching point for the Longgong Dragon Caves and the Huangguoshu Waterfall which is the tallest in China. We looked at the caves and they are quite expensive and as tackily commercialised as a thing could be… so after some thought we decided to boycott the caves. We aimed to hit the waterfall and headed for the bus station…after much walking we failed. So we got our return train ticket to Guiyang extended by a day, hopped a local bus and headed for the inner city sights.

We made it to the lake and the Confucius temple…now most of you would know that I am an avid studier of the writings of Confucius and as such I sought to educate my wife by advising her of some of his better known teachings. This did not go well. I think things went wrong when I advised her that “Confucius say…man who go to bed with itchy bum…wake up with smelly finger”.

The next day came and we took another crack at getting to the falls… Success. About 5 bus rides, well over $100 in park fees etc, much gesturing and no food or drink…we made it to the falls. It must be said that our lack of Chinese is really proving to be a detriment as we get into the back blocks of China.

The area is actually a series of waterfalls with the Doupotang falls being the first that we hit and the Huangguoshu being the biggest. The area is similar to Guilin and Yangshou and is full of karsts (lumps for those who have been following). The falls were stunning…a great little walk that could be (and was) done that took you behind the falls into caves that had the wall of water cascading past you…very cool.

Similar to the stone forest near Kunming, there had been a bunch of drug affected geologists who were given naming privileges in the area. As such there were very grandiose names given to rock formations such as the “Stone of Evolutionary Spirit” and the “Nine Dragon Rock”…none of these things could be seen within the rock formations without the use of mind altering hallucinogens. But anyway that was their names.

The journey to get to the waterfall was monumental…but the effort was well worth it. On the positive side…after hiking down several kilometres worth of stairs to get to the base of the waterfall and traverse in behind it in the caves with the water curtain…you find yourself at the bottom of a large mountain with the daunting task of hiking back up all of those stairs. But no…the Chinese have built a pair of extraordinarily long escalators which for about $6 will save you the pain of the climb…each escalator ride goes for about three minutes (time your next ride at a shopping centre for some perspective)…we paid.

As there is a public holiday in early May in China we were killing a bit of time so as not to be in Chengdu (the global home of the Pandas) during the peak holiday time. So we headed back and had another couple of nights in Guiyang. Our hotel while odd, backed directly onto a shopping mall with the most amazing indoor aquarium in one of its central openings. About three storeys high and full of eels, rays, gropers, turtles etc.

China

Shangri-La and Dali

April 17, 2014 richardpieper Leave a comment

Shangri-La After tiger leaping gorge and the 1600 meter each way climb and descent we found ourselves 2 days later in agony. Thighs and calves were burning and shaking. Walking up stairs or squatting to get something from our bag was murderous. Jill has decided that she wishes to head to Tibet to hit the northern base camp of Mount Everest….just to say she did. Everyone who goes here gets altitude sickness it is just a question of how badly. Altitude sickness strikes randomly with no rhyme or reason. 20 year old marathon runners can be debilitated while 70 year olds may only have a mild headache. We headed up the mountains to test the altitude and specifically how I held up at altitude.

The two previous times that we went up the mountains I was ill but they were both in India and at least one of these was food related. So how I would react was a little unknown and the Tibet trip would be expensive so we did not wish to waste the money if we would be crook the whole time. So to test this we headed up the heights. The northern base camp of Everest is at 5150 meters (16,900 feet) which is obviously considerably higher than anywhere else I have been. There is a southern base camp on the other side in Nepal. For context Mount Kosciuszko the highest Australian point is at 2228 meters (7,310 feet). Darjeeling was 2045 meters and Shimla was at 2200 meters. Shangri-La took us up to 3200 meters (10,498 feet). Got here…not an issue for either of us…it was the dodgy Indian curries that got me…not the elevation.

Shangri-La was renamed in 2001, from Zhongdian, after the fictional land of Shangri-La in the James Hilton novel Lost Horizon, in an effort to promote tourism. The town had a massive fire in January this year which destroyed about 2/3 of old town…where we were staying. Looking at the buildings it is no surprise as everything is wood and one stray spark will start the inferno. This is being rebuilt as we speak but the place is fairly well decimated at the moment.

There is a fantastic monastery right next to the square that is stunning. It has a fully functioning Tibetan prayer wheel that is about 30 meters high and is in glimmering gold. Every evening at 7 pm the locals dance around the square in traditional gear and co-opt anyone who stands still for too long. After a while there are hundreds of people prancing around in a circle trying to copy the choreographed moves of the locals. Quite a sight to see. a bit further down the road is the main monastery of the area which is both huge and hugely impressive.

After Shangri-La we did an 8 hour bus ride to Dali which is one of the major tourist destinations of Yunnan province. Thankfully we did it in a faster time because I had a small screaming child behind me…accompanied by his grandmother who shrieked more than the child…and beside me I had the bus-sick woman who vomited at least 6 times and continually spat into the bucket in the aisle between us. A charming ride. It was minus 3 degrees when we got on the bus in Shangri-La and was 28 degrees when we got off in Dali. We were rugged up and sweating like pigs.

Dali was an absolute pleasure…good accommodation…great food…well priced…lots to see. We arrived just in time for the Bai Festival (one of the 32 Chinese ethnic groups) which meant the place was packed and totally nutty with bedlam aplenty. On Easter Sunday we walked to the 3 pagodas just down the road (3.1 kms) from us…to take a quick photo. Upon arrival we found it was an entire complex and not just the 3 pagodas. So we paid and entered what was about a 3 km long complex of temples, pagodas and funky parks and buildings. Added to this distance was in excess of 2000 stairs (which of course we walked them all…and I counted) and then walked back.

Feeling tired and thirsty we popped into old town for a cold drink and a meal…after this we found the fish feet person. For the uninitiated there are fish tanks where you put your feet and little fish feast upon all the manky bits. Bec Ballinger and Jill were planning to get this done in Hong Kong but missed out…Tickles like hell but was kinda fun. The next day Jill signed us up for a Chinese cooking class. We met the lady outside the bad monkey bar at 10am and then proceeded to wander the markets as she explained certain items to us.

We did the slow wander up the hill to her house where she set us up for our cooking class. We made a dried tofu salad, fish flavoured eggplant and Gongbao chicken. Myself and the Israeli guy also doing the course tripled the amount of chilli in the chicken dish. We spent a really nice five hours cooking and learning how the various ingredients combine together to make the dishes. Believe it or not the Tofu dish was the nicest of the lot.

midliferadventure

Mount Everest or Qomolangma in the local lingo

Tibet – Lhasa to Shigatse

Tibet…Lhasa

Kashgar

Kyrgyzstan…Bishkek

Urumqi

Jiuzhai national park

Chengdu…

Guiyang and Anshun

Shangri-La and Dali

Travelling the world in a pre and post COVID state