South West China and Luang Prabang(followed by a cruise from Shanghai to Japan). Another trip within a trip.

[woodyren]

Another TR from a short (unplanned when we originally left) side trip while travelling away this year from April to August.

We left home in April and travelled by cruise ship from Brisbane to Vancouver. Then flew to Taiwan and Korea (China Airlines J reward flights) and eventually to Shenyang Nth China where we have an apartment. Once we were settled in it was time to start planning some local travel.

The initial plan was to travel to Kunming to experience the new China Laos train line and visit Luang Prabang. My wife's best friend who had decided to accompany us suggested that if we are travelling to South China we should visit Chengdu and also some of the surrounding areas. She then found and extremely inexpensive 5 day tour from Chengdu to Jiuzaigou, Leishan and Mt Emei. Sounded great to me.

From there I then booked our flights to Chengdu, train Chendu-Kunming, Kunming hotels, train Kunming-Luand Prabang and Luang Prabang hotel.

At the same time I found a decent deal on RCL Spectrum of the Seas for a cruise from Shanghai to Japan so we tacked that on to the end of the trip.



Our flight from Shenyang to Chengdu. Economy on Chengdu Airlines.



Mrs Woodyren's nephew works at Shenyang Airport in the VIP area so he often arranges some lounge access for us.













The noodle section was the highlight of the lounge.








We had a private room within the lounge.

 

[woodyren]

We were picked up later that night and transferred to our Chendu Hotel. We then had to be up and ready to be picked up at 0600 the following morning for an all day bus ride from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou national park.

Some photos from early in the bus trip.











































Awaiting our tour bus.

 

[woodyren]

The road for most of the way followed a river as we climbed higher into the mountains.

 

[woodyren]

Further into the mountains. Stops for our included tour meals along the way.





Some amazing engineering to manage difficult geotechnical issues on the newly completed high speed rail line from Chengdu into this popular tourist region.





Included meals were basic but adequate. Served in what I can best describe as industrial tourist restaurants.

 

[woodyren]

After an overnight stay in a small hotel outside the park area we arrived after an hour long bus ride at our first destination. Huanglong Scenic area.

As I stated earlier this tour was very inexpensive. It included 5 nights hotel accommodation (3 star clean local hotels), bus travel, many meals, admission to attractions for everything except cable cars and private transfers from Chendu airport and to Chendu station on the last morning. Total cost for both of us was less than $500 AUD. The tour guide basically just dropped us off at the entrances to each attraction, provided us with tickets and a pre-arranged time and location to meet the bus later that day. This was just the way we liked it as it allowed us to look around at out own pace. The downside was we had to put u with a little "shopping" and the associated BS about products that go hand in hand with most local tours. All in all it was a great way to quickly see what we saw in the small amount of time available.




The walking trail wound down to the valley floor you can see bellow. I was struggling a little and had to take many breaks.


The top of the cable car was at an altitude of almost 3,500 mts and from there it was an undulating but generally downhill walk back to the park entrance. After the first half hour or so along the trail at the top where heights reached almost 3,600 mts Mrs Woodyren became somewhat distressed with shortness of breath and nausea. She returned to the cable car with her friend and then I continued on the walk to the pools and eventually back to the entrance.








The crowd at Huanglong cable car entrance.


The entrance to the park.




The bus ride to the entrance to the scenic area.

 

[woodyren]

Map showing the walking path, elevations and park highlights.





As i reached the first pools I received a Wechat message from Mrs Woodyren that she was back at the entrance and feeling much better.






























About 3/4 of the way through I started to feel a little more unwell but there was no option but to keep plugging away to reach the exit. I became that nauseous that I vomited a few times near the end but it was a wonderful walk in some magnificent wilderness.



The mountains at the head of the valley were spectacular.

 

[woodyren]

Overnight in a local hotel outside the park and then a drive through some wetlands and forest to the entrance to Jiuzhaigou National Park. Huge amounts of visitors arrive in this park every day but the park is huge and they are reasonably spread out so once we were inside we didn't feel crowded in most places.






The park entrance. From here a constant fleet of buses transport you to many different areas. We decided to go to the furthest of the lakes and walk back as far as we could manage.

 

[woodyren]

Many of the original pools and much of the infrastructure in Jiuzhaigou Valley was destroyed in an earthquake in 2017. The park was closed while restoration work was carried out. Limestone from landslides during the earthquake was used to rebuild natural barriers that had collapsed and allowed many of the lakes to drain, trees were replanted and the visitor infrastructure was substantially improved.

The park partially reopened in 2019 and fully reopened in 2012.



The paths are well constructed and take you to all the lakes and through the cascades that run throughout the park.




A little rainy during the early part of the day so the lakes weren't showing their deep blue ghues at that stage.

 

[woodyren]

The clouds were starting to clear as we walked further along the walking paths. The colours starting to emerge.

 

[woodyren]

The park was spotlessly clean. An army of workers sweeping and cleaning. Like many parks in China now the whole park was non smoking and people from what I could see obeyed those rules. (Maybe the social credit system gives them an incentive to do so but that's a discussion for another day).



















Crystal clear water and stunning colours.

 

[woodyren]

A little more sun poking through enhancing the blue.

 

[woodyren]

We basically followed the path on the right of this diagram. Unfortunately we only had about 10 hours in the park. They say it takes 3 days to walk it all but we managed to see a good portion in out time there.












The paths take you very close without detracting much from the beauty of the place IMO.


Rockfalls are still ever-present in the area.





This area was extensively damaged in the 2017 earthquake. They rebuilt much of this cascade.

 

[woodyren]

At this time we were at around the middle section of the park. We were running a little short of time and after a big day in Huanglong yesterday we were also a little tired. We caught the park buss between a few of the stops.


























Yak jerky. Tried a sample and bought some of the chilli flavour one. Very good.

 

[woodyren]

A few bus hops and more walking took us back to the park entrance. All in all we spent about 8-9 hours walking through the park. Another memorable day.





Just outside the park entrance.

 

[woodyren]

Dinner tonight was in a local town that was obviously set up for the tourist trade. Multiple buses arriving and funneled into the various eateries. Nonetheless it was decent food and entertainment.











Spicy hotpot.

 

[woodyren]

Overnight in a local hotel. A few photos to show the standard of accommodation which was realy good considering the price of the tour was so inexpensive.


Typical Chinese breakfast.


I usually just ate boiled eggs and some bread or cake.















At this stage I still hadn't seen a Western person anywhere we have visited.

 

[woodyren]

Day three and we were heading back to Chengdu albeit with a few obligatory shopping stops. The local tour guides earn most of their salary through commission from these places. Locals seem to spend up big and fall for the fake (IMO) sales pitches and valuations.

The markup from manufacture to sale must be substantial to cover the cost of the site, huge staff numbers, commissions etc.


















My type of shopping.











Apparently this village had a huge proportion of people over 100 because they always drank and ate out of their special silver utensils.















How many staff.





Vultures awaiting to swoop on the next busload. Understandable that they want to make a living but the over the top BS and sales pressure just turns me off. I hide until we leave.



Tour guide selling over priced local snacks which we purchased knowing it made him and the driver some extra cash.

 

[woodyren]

A few more photos of the bus ride back to Chengdu. Many of the towns along the way were devastated by the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.




The road passed through many cherry and other fruit growing areas.


















Our Chengdu hotel for the night. Many of these local hotels are very inexpensive between $60-80 per night. They were part of the package but we checked prices for future reference. Good, roomy, clean with a basic breakfast.

 

[woodyren]

We had time to walk around the local area in Chengdu that night. We went in search of some local food and were not disappointed. We found a night market and sampled a lot of the fare.

I really enjoy the vibrancy, smells and tastes of an Asian street food market.
















Oyster and egg treats. Very good.











Pork stew.


Yum.





















There are always many areas in Chinese cities where people congregate to dance of an evening.

 

[woodyren]

Overnight in our Chengdu hotel and then another very early start as we travelled to Mt Emei.



Arrived at Mt Emei late morning and then lunch within the park area.

















Mt Emei entrance. Then you are transported by park buses for the approx 1 hour trip to the area of the cable car that takes you to the summit.










The road was lined with tea plantations.





An interesting hotel in Chengdu seen from our bus.