Just another dimension?

Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Sichuan Trip part 8 -vvv

Day 8: 16 Nov 2007

We left Danba in the early morning but not before having assorted yak organs for breakfast. I took the opportunity to try the famous Tibetan butter tea I had come across so often in my trip research. It looked and tasted like cheese dissolved in hot water. I rather liked it.

Yak organs

Tibetan butter tea

The plan for the day was to travel to Xinduqiao, stopping along the way if we see anything interesting. The first stop was a natural hot spring by the road. The hot steam was perfect for warming my frozen hands. I didn’t want to soak in the water though; I read that sick locals like to visit hot springs. It was especially uninviting when the driver told me you can cure STDs by soaking in the hot spring for a week.

After leaving Danba, the road started to climb in altitude again. When we reached a snow covered mountain pass, the driver stopped to let us take a look at a typical Tibetan house. A little girl ran out, expecting us to take a photo with her. I knew it would cost me so I ignored her. She turned to easier prey, i.e. my mother, and demanded 10 RMB for a picture. That’s pretty high. The more adorable girl I saw at Siguniangshan only costs 2 RMB and she’ll even bring a kid (baby goat) for you.

The next place was the lamasery at the Tagong grassland. Renovation works were in progress so the place was rather messy and some parts were off-limits to visitor. I’m not sure if this was the temple where the Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng supposedly left a Sakyamuni Buddha statue but I didn’t see anything in there that looked more than a century old. My father wasn’t very happy about paying the 10 RMB entrance fee but I found that rather odd considering he had no problems giving 10 RMB to the girl who tried to rip us off a few hours ago.

The snow started getting heavy when we left the temple. We noticed a couple taking wedding photos outside the lamasery, wearing modern tuxedo and white gown. In this weather, that’s really hardcore.

We arrived in Xinduqiao soon after and found a hotel even cheaper than previous one. However, the rooms were freezing cold. (All hotels had no heater but at least Danba wasn’t as cold due to the lower altitude). You could even see the condensing moisture as you breathe indoors.

We walked around town a bit but didn’t see anything remarkable. The sky had been overcast ever since we entered Danba. The river running through Xinduqiao was rather polluted. All sorts of litter lay along its bank, definitely not a pretty sight.

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Yiheng made 8:02 AM

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