With no wifi now for three days and still raining, we departed Pingliang heading for Xian, capitol of Shaanxi Province, and home to the famous Army of Terracotta Warriors! We'll be here for three days. A full city tour, nightlife, the Terracotta site, extensive historic sights, getting visa extensions, and mailing home packages of souvenirs and winter gear are on the agenda. We'll also be saying goodbye to Viton, our Vietnamese Aussie, who flys home tomorrow. The four hour drive on the toll road was uneventful and arriving in this massive city was a sight to behold. Skyscrapers and construction went on for miles. The amount of people (6 million) and traffic was mind-boggling. We're below 1,000 ft and the rain had stopped. We settled into our comfy 4* city center hotel to rest, catch up, and regroup. Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
From the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean, this is my first "round-the-world" tour and the first time I am traveling alone. It's also the first time I am NOT the leader of the group. This will be a huge adventure for me, one that tests my patience (smile), stamina and my ability to adapt. I can't wait!
Friday, June 21, 2013
To Xian
Red World
After drying off and warming up we realized it was Zero Beer Thirty (oh, Bobbie, shoulda come)! Now finding a cold one in a warm beer town is not easy! Eventually we discovered a small store hiding an chest refrigerator under a canvas-you have to really work at this stuff sometimes. Magically appearing were eight cold ones. The four of us consumed with glee chatting with the folks coming home from work. Amazing how much you can accomplish with a smile and a hello, a few photos on the iPhone and a bunch of curious kids! Gathering forces we decided to attack an upstairs restaurant that had windows overlooking to park below. "Red World" hesitantly welcomed us-they don't get many faces like ours in this small town. The place was of course completely done up in red-thus the name. The menu was all in Chinese and no one spoke English so we wandered around the other tables looking at everyone's food, pointing and commenting!
Eventually a banquet appeared, individual boiling hot pots, sliced meats, fish, prawns, a dozen or so different veggies, wine, beer, and a bottle of Chinese hooch hidden under the table! We were making quite a stir with photo requests from other guests, the guys in the private room next door yelling and laughing at our hair and beards, and the kitchen staff (all 20+) constantly coming out to check in our status. A few extra plates of food appeared, more beer and more laughs! We ended the evening with several versus of Old Lang Syne, both in English and Chinese-they claim the song is original to them-thanks goodness Robbie Burns isn't in our group! A few hugs, more photos, and even a kiss on the cheek for me from the head chief was followed by the bill! Yikes! For the six of us, all that food and drink, all that fun, came to a staggering $52 USD!Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
Kongtong Mountain
Home of Taoism, this magnificent collection of temples perched high above the city of Pingliang is amazing...even in the pouring rain. We left the hotel at 10:30 (it was REALLY raining earlier). Remember all those Chinese paintings of craggy mountains shrouded in fog with temples perched on top? Well this is the place and it's for real. We toured the mountain, both middle and high, climbed over 1,800 stone steps to the HIGH temple, and were amazed at all the carved gods and altars. Drenched to the skin we retuned down the 8,900 ft perch and back to a warm hotel room for the night. It was quite a day, both historically and physically challenging. It was Tao's first visit to to mountain. He took a lot of notes. Remember his promise a few days earlier! Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
Night Market
We slept a couple of hours and then hit the Lanzhou Night Market. I hadn't slept well the night before so I decided to take a sleeping pill. Funny, it usually takes a couple of hours to kick in so...
Squid on a stick
Chicken wings and things
Noodle bar
Sausage bar
Fried veggies on a stick
Potatoes
Scheun noodle bar
Fried pork and jalapeño sandwiches
Shrimp, crawfish, mussels, clams, snails
Tripe
Land snails in chili sauce - these were the best
BBQ whole fish. This was bass.
Fresh ham sandwiches
Boiled sheep heads. It is cut in half and you pick out the brain with chopsticks. Hmmmm!
Ate it all and went to bed! Pill kicked in...ah!
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
The Long March
In the middle of my narcotic induced stupor we departed Lanzhou early traveling due east along the route of the Red Army's historic "Long March" of 1934 when Mao Zedong defeated the KMT forces of Chang Chai Shiek. Our destination today was Pingliang and the mystically mountain of Kongtong Shan, birthplace of Taoism. We will spend two nights here exploring the mountain and the many Taoist temples. To commemorate the Long March I bought Dan Stewart a new hat to wear while reading about Alaska politics!
Lower Altitude
While we were touring around Xiahe yesterday the lads worked on Sura. They found a shorted wire, changed out a tie-bar, and cleared the fuel line. We woke with no electricity or running water. The town had shut down during the night due to a power failure. With everything else purring and in order, we departed this little part of Tibet late morning for our moderate drive to Lanzhou. From 12,000 ft with overcast skies and rain, we made great time as we coasted downhill. It seems we had enjoyed the one sunny day in weeks while we were there! Good karma continues to precede our journey. At 1pm we stopped for gas and discovered we had a hitchhiker. Our mangy little feline friend must have climbed aboard Sura and rode the last 250km on top of the gas tank. When finally coaxed to give up his free ride he found himself in a new town a LONG way from home :-(. After our gas stop the GPS was pointing ominously at that scary mountain road we had done a few days earlier. No other option was showing. Tao insisted that there was a turnpike that would take us around the mountains and straight to our destination...AND...he was amazingly right! We drove the superhighway all the way to Lanzhou. Through the fog we passed some exceptional Chinese architecturally inspired mosques with minarets that looked like pagodas. We are now more than halfway across China and the Muslim influence is alive and well. Not what any if us expected to see. Upon arrival in Lanzhou, the most air-polluted city in China and one of the 30 most in the world (worse than Beijing), we checked in to a nice hotel. The staff spoke English and in conversation claimed that the only time they see blue skies or the moon is after a heavy rain, and then only for a few hours. At dinner Tao promised that from this point on he was more than familiar with our route and itinerary. We all thanked him for the change and had a few laughs recalling the many wild goose chases over the past several weeks! Heard it before. We'll see how this plays out. Tomorrow we travel to a huge historical site and mountain climbing...really! Sorry, no photos today. The weather was lousy, foggy, and wet. I was grumpy, foggy, and wet. Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
Monday, June 17, 2013
Xiahe
Three others and I woke at 5am to participate in the walk with the monks. Xiahe
is home to the
famed Labrang
Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest
Tibetan Buddhist monasteries outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The town is
populated largely by ethnic Tibetans.
The monastary is huge covering dozens of city blocks and is surrounded by a
high wall with many gates. The walk around this wall is called the Kora and
consists primarily of countless prayer wheels and a few open temples.
The prayer wheels are round drums, made of wood and or copper and brass.
They are mounted on turntables that can be spun manually. They are painted with
colorful Buddhist images and prayer scripts.
We got in line with mostly town's people and a few monks and walked the
circuit. Some touched and turned every wheel softly chanting prayers and
bowing before temples, grave markers, and other religious images and sites.
Other dropped to the ground prostrating themselves repeatedly.
The architecture and carvings of dragons and other religious images were
beautiful. The gilded domes and spires were unique. The smell of incense was
overwhelming in the temples.
The local people have very dark brown skin and black hair. The women wear
their hair in long neatly braided pigtails. Many wear men's fedora hats. If I
didn't know better I could easily have been in Peru or Bolivia with the hats
perched high on their heads and the long colorful woven dresses.
In the morning during the procession I was asked by our tour leader to not
take photos. We were the only tourists doing the walk. We soon spread out and I
was alone. It was a quiet and peaceful two mile walk around the complex.
Later in the morning we returned for a full guided tour of the monastery
and I went back to capture some of what I had see.
We toured three college buildings on the monastery-medicine, philosophy,
and theology. The shrines were elaborately decorated with flowers, food and yak
butter lamps.
We were there on time for the lady morning prayers. One thousand monks
chanting and playing drums and bells. Very unique sounds and smells. Our guide
was a 23 year old monk with excellent English. There was money scattered over
every altar in every shrine. Guess who the wealthiest inhabitants are in this
village.
In the afternoon I shared a private car with a fellow traveler and we
visited the Heavenly Lake of the Good Fortune. 40 minutes out of town and 12,000
feet high was a small lake with a huge good Fortune shrine and bonfire.
Thousands of prayer flags streamed up the mountain sides and millions of good
fortune paper loitered the entire area. Amazing.
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
Tippy-toes into Tibet
We started our sixth day without wifi by enjoying a traditional Gansu style breakfast at our Liujiaxia hotel: rice porridge, grilled peppers, green beans, kim-chi, hard boiled eggs and steamed wheat buns. Interesting!
Today we traveled to Xiahe for two days as close to Tibet as we can get without a visa. This quaint village, high up on the Tibetan plateau, sits in the far southwestern edge of Gansu province outside of the autonomous border. The population is predominately Tibetan. Kinda like sneaking up to a neighbors fence and peeking over and through the cracks.
To get here we had to cross the Yellow River once again, we were told this time by ferry. Departing Liujiaxia we followed the river and its stunning orange and yellow cliffs. We crossed a bridge in serious need of repair-yikes, there were several one foot separations in the pavement looking straight down to the water!
Crossing over another bridge and the river again we found ourselves on the opposite shore of the reservoir and headed in sorta the right direction. Every time we passed a work crew Tao would stop and ask for directions.
The road followed a huge ridge some 8500 ft up, twisting and winding our way still sorta in the right direction. The two lane road was in good repair which eased my anxiety over the steep drops on each side. It was however foggy and cool. Threading our way across the top of the world had its moments. Yikes!
Terraced pastures stepped their way up the steep slopes and the hills were alive with thousands of alpine orchids. Thanks to Amelia I now know how to spot them! We passed through many small Uyghur villages with simple mosques and houses.
Four hours later we were out of the mountains, down to a river and in a good sized town where we stopped for lunch. The meal was vegetarian and excellent. We were more than well fed for $4 each.
We continued past big and small towns following the river through a hugely agricultural valley. Eventually we began to climb again. The houses started looking different, each with the same colorfully painted borders and ornate carved portals. There were lots of prayer flags and totems.
Eventually we were in the middle of a massive mountain highway project and it was so going. Sura was acting up and losing power so there was some concern.
The sun came out, the road signs began being in Tibetan script and then we lost power. We pulled into a truck lot, popped the cab, and attracted a bit of attention. Dave changed the fuel filter and checked the hoses.
Back on the road we limped along a bit more until Sura conked out just 3 km from our destination. The lads jiggled this and that, she turned over a few times, and we made it into town. Looks like a fuel pump.
PS: Never did see that ferry!
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
Today we traveled to Xiahe for two days as close to Tibet as we can get without a visa. This quaint village, high up on the Tibetan plateau, sits in the far southwestern edge of Gansu province outside of the autonomous border. The population is predominately Tibetan. Kinda like sneaking up to a neighbors fence and peeking over and through the cracks.
To get here we had to cross the Yellow River once again, we were told this time by ferry. Departing Liujiaxia we followed the river and its stunning orange and yellow cliffs. We crossed a bridge in serious need of repair-yikes, there were several one foot separations in the pavement looking straight down to the water!
Crossing over another bridge and the river again we found ourselves on the opposite shore of the reservoir and headed in sorta the right direction. Every time we passed a work crew Tao would stop and ask for directions.
The road followed a huge ridge some 8500 ft up, twisting and winding our way still sorta in the right direction. The two lane road was in good repair which eased my anxiety over the steep drops on each side. It was however foggy and cool. Threading our way across the top of the world had its moments. Yikes!
Terraced pastures stepped their way up the steep slopes and the hills were alive with thousands of alpine orchids. Thanks to Amelia I now know how to spot them! We passed through many small Uyghur villages with simple mosques and houses.
Four hours later we were out of the mountains, down to a river and in a good sized town where we stopped for lunch. The meal was vegetarian and excellent. We were more than well fed for $4 each.
We continued past big and small towns following the river through a hugely agricultural valley. Eventually we began to climb again. The houses started looking different, each with the same colorfully painted borders and ornate carved portals. There were lots of prayer flags and totems.
Eventually we were in the middle of a massive mountain highway project and it was so going. Sura was acting up and losing power so there was some concern.
The sun came out, the road signs began being in Tibetan script and then we lost power. We pulled into a truck lot, popped the cab, and attracted a bit of attention. Dave changed the fuel filter and checked the hoses.
Back on the road we limped along a bit more until Sura conked out just 3 km from our destination. The lads jiggled this and that, she turned over a few times, and we made it into town. Looks like a fuel pump.
PS: Never did see that ferry!
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
Bingling Si Caves
I woke early for coffee by the creek waiting for the rest to awake. After a simple cereal breakfast we set off for Lanzhou, the Yellow River, and the Buddhist caves of Bingling Si.
Crossing the Yellow River (more appropriately brown) we entered a tributary canyon and wove through cliffs carved with hundreds of caves used by ancient monks for prayer and solitude. There were numerous graveyards and Buddhist headstones as well. The canyon floor was cultivated with terraces of corn.
It was a cloudy day with scattered sprinkles-helped to clean the dust out of the air and cool things off. We reached the Liujiaxia Reservoir on the Yellow River and checked in to our local hotel. After a quick stroll for lunch we were off the see the caves.
The Bingling Si caves are over 1600 years old, now protected by the lake, UNESCO, and the Chinese government, and accessible only by boats.
We boarded a speed boat that sat ten and headed out across the huge reservoir. Little did we know that it would take 45 minutes to get to the site.
Once landed we walked the paths and catwalks admiring the frescos and carvings. The mountains and the grottos were fantastic with the wind and water carved caves and peaks.
Next we boarded jeeps and drove up into the Yellow River Canyon. We followed the river bed for several miles before reaching a Taoist Temple. There we met the resident monk who gave us a really nice tour. He spoke very good English.
Another terrific ride back, one hour speed boat ride, an amazing shared dinner, and a full night's rest ended this adventure. Whew! Totally blown away!
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
Crossing the Yellow River (more appropriately brown) we entered a tributary canyon and wove through cliffs carved with hundreds of caves used by ancient monks for prayer and solitude. There were numerous graveyards and Buddhist headstones as well. The canyon floor was cultivated with terraces of corn.
It was a cloudy day with scattered sprinkles-helped to clean the dust out of the air and cool things off. We reached the Liujiaxia Reservoir on the Yellow River and checked in to our local hotel. After a quick stroll for lunch we were off the see the caves.
The Bingling Si caves are over 1600 years old, now protected by the lake, UNESCO, and the Chinese government, and accessible only by boats.
We boarded a speed boat that sat ten and headed out across the huge reservoir. Little did we know that it would take 45 minutes to get to the site.
Once landed we walked the paths and catwalks admiring the frescos and carvings. The mountains and the grottos were fantastic with the wind and water carved caves and peaks.
Next we boarded jeeps and drove up into the Yellow River Canyon. We followed the river bed for several miles before reaching a Taoist Temple. There we met the resident monk who gave us a really nice tour. He spoke very good English.
Another terrific ride back, one hour speed boat ride, an amazing shared dinner, and a full night's rest ended this adventure. Whew! Totally blown away!
Sent from Leopard's iPhone. Read my blog at www.leopard2013.blogspot.com
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