Higher than Lhasa

Getting to Tagong

I had trouble getting to sleep last night; it must have been the altitude at around 2600m / 8530 ft. I took half a sleeping pill and had a good night sleep, waking up well before 0600. I got ready and taxied to the station for the 0700 bus to Tagong.

Actually the bus was bound for Ganzi (11h) and I was getting off at Tagong (3h). Strangely the bus was very empty and it was supposed to be very difficult to get a seat. I wonder if they reserve the seats for people travelling further afield rather than just to Kangding and there wasn’t much of a demand today.

The scenery along the way was beautiful. There were quaint Tibetan homes on the golden grasslands. The rocky hillsides were decorated were many coloured Buddha reliefs and inscriptions. Rocks in the river were also decorated with inscriptions; in fact in one stretch every boulder had been inscribed.

I had well and truly regained my sense of adventure by now and was thinking about future travel in China (whereas a few days ago, I thought it would be my last time). I had this brewing idea of going back to Xinjiang (which I visited in 1998) and continuing to Uzbekistan.

Settling in

Less than 3h after leaving, we arrived at Tagong square (12300 ft, 3750m). This is higher than Lhasa (11450 ft, 3490m).  I walked across the square to Khampa Art Cafe. Max (Czech) met me and showed me the rooms available. I chose the corner one with more light (but had to change later as their funny Philips-style keys are very hard to work).

My chosen guesthouse, the Khampa.

I had a craving for muesli and coffee which they did well. Oats with yak yoghurt topped with nuts, apples, goji berries (so Chinese) and the characteristically skinny and light Xinjiang sultanas.

I chatted with Max over breakfast.  Out of curiosity I asked him how long it would take to get to Lhasa by bus (2 days) and whether permits are checked strictly.

He said anyone looking Chinese/Tibetan could probably get through but not Europeans. Interestingly, he said, I’d more likely get through on a bicycle in summer when thousands of Chinese cycle from Chengdu to Lhasa. That surprised me a little as I didn’t think Chinese would be into recreational cycling, having been cycling out of necessity not too long ago. It would seem too soon in the evolutionary cycle (excuse the pun) to come back a full circle so quickly.

First explorations of Tagong

I didn’t allow myself much rest. First up was Tagong’s Lhagang monastery next door. It was nice but with ongoing lecture by a senior monk, I didn’t explore the inside very much.

Max had showed me a way to get to a viewpoint without paying. It wasn’t a hard walk but I took it easy as I didn’t want to exert myself in the altitude. I was fine except when recovering from squatting to take photos or from tying shoe laces.

Speaking to some locals, there is a certain nationality that makes up the bulk of the travellers. It seemed they were the only ones in town! They are not well-liked here as in another Asian country. Here, there is no historical prejudice (that Muslims and Christians might have), so they are judged purely on their behaviour.

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I returned for a light lunch of momos.  There were monks visiting the cafe and I had noticed that there were quite a few monks with the latest iPhones.  I thought they were meant to be free of material possessions. Asking about this, I was told that they get given these things and even 4WDs from HK/Taiwan devotees.  And they definitely prefer Apple over Android because Apple supports Tibetan script but Android doesn’t.

Resting in my room. I got really cold and needed my longjohns. I decided to go for a short walk in the sun before sunset, which turned out to be the right move.

I grabbed a light dinner of thukpa inhouse. Chatting to Max’s mother-in-law, she insisted that I was zhongguoren. I couldn’t make her understand that I was huaren and not zhongguoren. And of course, she believes she is zhongguoren as well, which is correct, despite being of Tibetan ethnicity.

Anyway, I found conversation with her very frustrating.  Her accent was very strong.  I couldn’t decide whether she was speaking Sichuanese or Mandarin with a strong Sichuanese accent. This is my third Tibetan guesthouse where they speak to each other in Mandarin or a Chinese dialect rather than Tibetan. That seems so wrong when many Chinese (especially in Guangzhou province) speak to each other in their native dialect instead of Mandarin!

I retired while the temple chanting was still going. It had been going on and off through the day. I had trouble getting to sleep because of the altitude and took half a pill. It was a bad night sleep regardless and the dogs were very vocal.