The Journey to Daocheng (Danba 丹巴, Xinduqiao 新都桥 and Daocheng 稻城)
Day 1: 13 Oct 2019
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Our car started from Chengdu and head towards Siguniang Mountain (四姑娘山，4 pretty ladies mountain). We will not enter the national park, but will only see the mountain from viewing platform. The weather has been a bit drizzly from time to time. MK was having some motion sickness issue with the car ride, winding roads, she looked pale and vomited.
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After viewing the mountain, we went for our lunch and continue to head to Danba County. On the way down hill, there were some road repair works resulting in lane closure. The road was pretty narrow and one lane closure means the trucks from the other direction had a hard time squeezing through. We even saw a truck wheels fell into the drain while slowly navigating through the narrow lane, avoiding the bus in the opposite direction. we held our breaths and prayed that it could made it through, elese traffic from both sides will be stranded.
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We reached Danba (丹巴) in late afternoon, weather was chilly. Our hotel was a bit out of the town centre, so we took a cab to the town centre for dinner. Steamboat dinner was good. After dinner, we went to have a walk near the pedestrian mall. MK went to get her motion sickness pill, she didnt fare too well for the mountainous road car ride. I bought some very sweet grapes and pastries for supper.
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Day 2: 14 Oct 2019
The next day, we drove up to see the nearby Jiaju Tibetan Village (甲居藏寨). Upon reaching the ticket purchasing hall, one lady approached us and told us need not queue, just get tickets from her, and we can drove up instead of taking the shuttle bus. Later on, we finally understand why she could do so. Apparently her family has a hotel inside the village area. All guests of hotel inside the area can drive in, no need to queue for shuttle bus. The admission tickets without the shuttle bus ride is cheaper, she gets to pocket the difference, and we got to drive in using our own car. It sounded like a win-win for us.
We stopped to take picture at the first shuttle bus stop, then we continue to drive up to the 4th stop. After that we chanced upon a farm stay cum hotel, that has a lavender field. The lavender smell is so fragrant omg. I could just stand in the edge of the field and soak in the fragrance. From the lavender field, we drove inside the hotel. The receptionist was very helpful and walked us around. They have very modern front-glass-walled rooms around a pond, that allow reflection of the mountains to be formed on the shallow pool for photo taking. There are fish inside the pond too. At night time, one could just admire the night sky from the comfort of ones room as front wall is made of glass. The receptionist even showed us a picture of the milky way the guests took. Too bad we are not staying here tonight. The farm land has roses and apple trees planted, and many flowers. So pretty.
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V1: Video of the farmland.
We went on to visit the hotel that the lady who sold us the tickets actually worked in and took photos there.
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After the visit, we went for a quick lunch, pumped the car with petrol, before driving to Xinduqiao today. The car was full of petrol fumes throughout the journey once the gas tank was pumped full. It was drizzling and misty in some parts. We reached Tagong Grassland in late afternoon. The view from the viewing platform was amazing. Once can see Yala snow mountain (亚拉雪山) range from the platform, and there is tibetan monastery below the mountain range. weather was good. One guy who invite tourists to ride his horse near the entrance chatted with us. Apparently a group of students from UK will be engaging him and his team to bring them for mountain trekking days later. He spoke good english.
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V2: Video taken at Tagong grassland:
We drove on to Xinduqiao (新都桥), not far away from Tagong Grassland, to spend the night. We checked into the hotel and felt that the weather was chilly. The wall and the door of the toilets were translucent. KM's room was especially cold. The aircond can be operated as heater, we learnt from KM later. We also went to the hotel restaurant to ask for mineral water bottles. You dont ask, you dont get.
We went for shopping at the grocery store nearby and had dinner at a nearby restaurant. Yunos couldnt join us for dinner as he is taking halal food. So he went to get a drink from the grocery store and sat with us. The boss of the restaurant thought he took the drink from the mini store that he owns. Yunos already went back to hotel by the time the boss included the drink in the bill. We kept explaining to him but to no avail. In the end one of the restaurant staff followed us back to hotel, and check with Yunos, and we became the interpreter for Yunos. In the end all was resolved.
ML was amused that the wifi password for most hotels we have been to is a easy password to use, either 12345678, if not 88888888.
Day 3: 15 Oct 2019
We woke up early today, journey is 359km in length. We will be passing a few mountain passes.
Breakfast was not buffet style. Once all the guests arrived at the table, they will serve plates of dishes to go with mantous or porridge. A problem for us, as Low and Yunos woke up early, while ML and I took turn to use the bathroom and hence our breakfast time will be different. In the end i have to join other strangers to have my breakfast.
The view opposite the hotel was very romantic in the morning, I took some pictures.
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Not far from the hotel, after passing through a few long tunnels, KM already spotted scenic point to stop the car and took pictures of clouds surrounding hills.
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After about one hour, we reached the legendary 18 curves up the sky road （天路18弯，也叫剪子弯）. The elevation here is 3990m. There was a resting station up the mountain, where once can appreciate the winding roads up the mountain pass. There were ice lining the wooden planks on the viewing platform, slippery. There were stalls selling tit bits, fruits, and baked sweet potatoes. As usual, our group will buy the sweet potatoes.
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We continued on to the next photo stop, at Xiongzongka Resting Station, elevation 4000+m. （熊宗卡）The snow mountain ranges here is all around us. The yellow autumn foliage added colours to the snow mountain in the background. Yunos was excited to play in the snowfield for the first time in his life.
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V3: Xiongzongka.
We reached Litang (理塘) around noon time. This important midway town sits at the mid point on the way to Daocheng, our destination today. If we dont turn left, going straight will lead us to Yunnan and Tibet, so it is an important mid-way town. The town was very beautiful, with snow mountains as backdrop. It looked like the snow on the mountain was fresh snow, maybe only days ago. Yunos managed to find halal food here, while we had our lunch at a restaurant nearby to his. ML managed to find her favorite yoghurt from a supermarket next door. After lunch, we drove on to take pictures of autumn foliages near a hill on our way to Daocheng (稻城).
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We reached another picture spot just outside Daocheng at around 330pm, called the red grass land. The grass here was red in colour. I was more interested in the autumn foliage here, crisp golden. I walked around the village and greeted a tibetan man Zhaxidele (Good day). He replied my greeting. He was busy cutting the raddish into slices, for feeding the swines in winter.
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We carried on to our boutique hotel My Beloved Zhaizhai (my beloved house) near the town. A friendly house dog greeted us on our arrival. The hotel has its own apple tree, and i tasted the apple. They even have oxygen piped into the room for us in the evening, as the elevation here is quite high, one might catch mountain sickness if not careful. The owner told us there was a snow back in Sep 2019, and there were inches of snow in the compound covering the floor. They piped the hot spring water from upstream for our bathing use, so we dont need water heater.
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We walked to town to have dinner and stock up on groceries needed for our one-night stay inside the Yading Village National Park. On our way, we saw a car promoting animal circus around the city, and a tiger was in the caged touring with the car, loudspeaker blaring advertising slogan. We were totally disgusted by the way they treat the animals.
Yunos found muslim restaurant so Low and Yunos had dinner together. The rest of us had dinner at a tibetan restaurant, i loved their garlic fried pork, and the yak cheese pizza. We were nearly disappointed when they told us they ran out of yak-cheese pizza, luckily the kitchen willing to make the last piece for us. Yummy.
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