China. More importantly first visit to the First Lounge

[bPeteb]

the walk to our final stop

Disappointed no sweet food offered. I suppose if I'd asked Ryan would have bought.



pickling jars



Our last stop was at a restaurant that had been on the itinerary well before Anthony Bourdain visited and made it uber cool and uber famous. It was great that despite their fame the restaurant always had a table reserved for the food tour. The food was good to great except for the really, really, really bony fish. The egg plant with egg was yummmmm!!!!



I think we were one of Ryan's quieter tours. He told us about being at this restaurant until they were told to leave so the staff could go home. We had a long drive the next day and none of the others wanted to kick on so Ryan got one of us into cabs and walked the rest of us to the metro.

Another great night.

 

[bPeteb]

Chengdu – Dujiangyan - Mt. Four Girls

Pick up at the hotel lobby in the morning. Drive to Dujiangyan firstly. Pay a visit to view the great irrigation system that has worked over 2000 years for Chengdu. Without this project, Chengdu would not be so rich and prosperous. After lunch, drive through Wolong and then arrive at Mt. Siguniang after about 3-hour driving. You can enjoy the landscape along Min River. Then, pass through the Mt. Balang Pass, which is the highest point at the latitude of 4488 meters. Going down along zig-zagged mountain road, you will stop at Cat Nose to overlook the Mt. Siguniang. If weather permits, you can enjoy the cloud sea. Arrive at Rilong Town in the late afternoon and then check into hotel. In the evening freely explore the small town.

Meals: Hotel breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner
Hotel: Yes

All I'll say is not sure about that latitude of 4488m but the altitude was nearly that high and I'm glad that a hotel was included

Woke up to a wet and miserable morning. Not surprised to hear a terrible crunch not far behind as we left the city. Four cars behind us I could see hazard lights on and a couple of people getting out of cars. It was only the second accident we'd seen. Amazing.

The rain had cleared by the time we got to Dujiangyan. I've added link to wikipedia above. They set this up 2000 years ago and they've managed to stuff it up in the last decade. How typical...

I love a good model/diorama




I hate suspension bridges. Really hate them. I sat and watched while my partner and Sophia wobbled across to the other bank and back.

 

[bPeteb]

We headed into the mountains and into the tunnels. I was back on Hokkaido again and that isn't a good thing. I think the longest tunnel was just under 8km. As well as tunnels we were going up. Crazy cyclists take a month off work to cycle the road right into Tibet!



The scenery was pretty spectacular.



You no longer actually go over the Mt Balang pass. You save a few hundred metres of altitude by going through yet another long tunnel but we did get up to



MapMe of China's Stelvio Pass



We stopped at this lookout and had no idea that we were looking down into the valley that was our destination


This is not a Range Rover Evoque. Not surprisingly Land Rover/Tata sued this company to make them stop making this blatant copy. It wasn't the only copy of a Euro or Japanese car we saw

 

[VPS]

Fascinating food - not sure I'd be as game as you but loving this

 

[woodyren]

Enjoying your journey. I also really enjoy the foods available in China and will try most things within reason. We spent quite a few days in Xian 2 years ago and wandered the Muslim Quarter with a friend who now lives in Australia but grew up nearby. Fantastic sights smells and tastes.

 

[bPeteb]

It was only about 10 minutes down from the lookout to Rilong Town where we were based for the next two nights. We'd been given the list of hotels we'd be staying at and had checked out the Golden Palace Celebrity Hotel. We knew it wasn't in the town itself but didn't realise just how far it was. We pulled up outside and there was a concrete pumping truck filling the carpark. Sophia and Mr Liu had a chat and we drove off. I'm not sure what was discussed. We went down into the town with Sophia on the phone. I have a feeling that they wanted to find somewhere else for us to stay. Eventually we turned around and squeezed into the carpark beside the truck.

Our first room 9908 was huge but it was directly above the concrete truck and instead of the view we knew was on the opposite side of the hotel we looked at the road and the carpark



Sophia was still in the lobby when we went down and I asked for a different room. After some discussion we were given a room across the hall



9903 was slightly smaller, and a triple, but still huge and with the most beautiful view of the valley and mountains.



The hotel next door had a large creature crawling up the outside



Dinner down in town. Much drama when we got to the end of dinner and Mr Liu pointed out to Sophia that we hadn't had the beer that had obviously asked for. We weren't concerned in the slightest.

 

[bPeteb]

Our digs lit up.



The skin of a leopard proudly displayed in the window of the 'supermarket' next door



I took this second shot as we were driving back to Chengdu a couple of days later.

 

[bPeteb]

Coming to the eastern Himalayas was a major change to our original plans. We'd originally booked a variation of this tour that would have taken us to Jiuzhaigou. We already new that it had been extensively damaged in an earthquake but one arm of the park was still relatively ok. That was until a flood wreaked havoc earlier this year and the park was closed. At Vivian our tour consultant's suggestion we agreed to head west. It was a great suggestion and we had a magical couple of days in the mountains.

Day one was all about walking. Approx seven km round trip up the Changping Valley.

We pulled back the curtains to be greeted by fresh snow all around us. Amazing!


A super ordinary breakfast was served at the panda hotel next door but who cares with scenery like that in the background!



Map of the valleys around Rilong Town



You're taken by bus to the start of the 'plank walk'



Monastery at start of the plank walk



The highest we got to on this day



there was an option to take a horse/pony all or some of the way. We chose none.





I'm not going to pretend it was easy. We were 3.5km up in the mountains. There were LOTS of steps. I have two rebuilt feet. Knees that require supports if I know I'm walking a long way. Last year I was found to have decreased lung capacity due to having had three clots in my left lung. What a walking disaster. But I got to the end of that 7+ km walk with a smile as big as the Cheshire Cat because I did it.

 

[bPeteb]

The walk

 

[bPeteb]

very few walked the full distance

 

[bPeteb]

A beautiful blue pool was our turn around point




The facilities were a little rudimentary





the largest grapefruit (well I think that's what it is) we'd ever seen!

 

[bPeteb]

In the carpark of the visitor centre where the bus dropped us back.

No, this is not a Porsche Macan



It's another blatant copy, this time from Zotye Auto. Even the font is copied from Porsche

 

[bPeteb]

Sadly the bbq was pre-booked by someone else



but dinner was delicious, if a tad spicy

 

[bPeteb]

Day two in the mountains was even better. Way better even. The scenery even more spectacular. A bus ride 14km up the Shuangqiao Valley then what ended up being about 7km of walking with bus rides breaking up the walks back down the valley.

We started here and just wow

 

[bPeteb]

then we started walking down the valley

 

[bPeteb]

and it just got more and more spectacular.

Partner was very chuffed to get some photos of a dragonfly. Well, dragonflies, caught in a compromising position

 

[bPeteb]

and now for some reflections...




and some other stuff



It was a magical couple of days and for me the unexpected highlight of our holiday

 

[bPeteb]

Rilong town traffic jam and our hotel (blue one) sitting above the valley



we had a very funny lunch at the restaurant that had missed the beer two nights before. It was on the table even before we'd sat down

this is yak





I wanted a picture of the couple who owned the restaurant. Instead I ended up with...

 

[bPeteb]

We emerged from the tunnel at the top of the pass into a pea-souper like I haven't seen since I was a kid. The majority of drivers drove slowly, with hazard lights on, but way too many Prados and Landcruisers were just 'full steam ahead'


My partner had asked Sophia if there was any chance we could have hotpot for dinner so on the drive back to Chengdu that's just what she and Mr Liu organised. It was all done online and then after we were dropped off at the hotel (same Holiday Inn Express) Mr Liu went around the corner to the restaurant and sat in line!

It was fantastic. The dragon bowl was split with local and non-local bowls. It mattered little. We ate from both with no after effects the following morning


some garlic. This is just for me!



'See You Tommorrow' mushrooms because apparently they often come out whole the next day!

 

[bPeteb]

These were delicious. Kind of like donuts. Covered in sugar. The only sweet thing we ever ate in a restaurant I think