Chengdu to Lhasa, Tibet

Sunrise on the train to Tibet.

Frozen shore of a lake in Tibet, didn't catch the name and can't find it on the map.

From a Colorado middle school, bought in Mongolia and read on the train to Tibet. But is it better than the movie?

Just in case.... the last 12hrs of the train is all above 10,000ft

In our awesome hotel room, post train, pre showers. 

We made it to Lhasa, Tibet this afternoon after a 44hr train from Chengdu. The train was the cleanest train we had been on in China, apparently doesn't even dump their sewage onto the tracks! (most of trains so far have, so, don't walk on the train tracks in Russia or China, just fyi).

The Chinese are obviously pretty proud of the Lhasa train, there were a series of special announcements about it made on board. They told us about going through the highest railroad pass at 5072m (16,640 ft), about how they can keep the permafrost from turning boggy in the summer, and about their environmental preservation. There are a lot of announcements on Chinese trains (from early morning until bedtime, hours of announcements, what are they saying?!?) but this was the first time anything has been in English.

After bedtime, but before lights out, a woman came in to my compartment to ask if I was a doctor (2 foreigners on the train, it was worth a shot I guess). I said I was a nurse and she said "lady sick". I got dressed and followed her down the car. The woman had some trouble breathing, but no nausea or pain at all. We had just recently crossed above 3000m so it was likely the altitude. The train medic arrived,  and after a quick assessment came to the same conclusion. He gave her some tiny little grains from a tiny little bottle (if you've ever taking traditional Chinese medicines you know the kind I'm talking about). It is still hard for me to think of traditional Chinese medications as rescue or emergency meds. I realize that is an arrogant western medical view.

I was worried about altitude sickness here. I had shortness of breath, headaches and nausea in La Paz, Bolivia last August, while taking a variety of western meds (and despite many cups of coca tea). In Chengdu, we couldn't find Diamox in Chinese pharmacies, and instead are taking Hong jing tian (rhodiola). So far we are feeling good.

Tonight we were told to take it easy, to speed acclimatization and avoid altitude sickness. I did have noodles with yak meat though. It was chewy.

- Bree

Chengdu, China, part 3: Pandas!

Post-breakfast nap.

Peacocks like watching pandas too.

Baby pandas! 

Red pandas are super friggin' awesome too!

No explanation needed. They're PANDAS!

- Matt and Bree

Chengdu, part 2 + Leshan Buddha

Green Ram Daoist Temple in Chengdu.

1 of 2 Green Ram statues at the Green Ram Temple.

Dharma Initiative.

Sums up most Chinese cities. Ancient sites surrounded by rapid growth.

After a frenetic Sunday at Chengdu's main shopping district (where I foolishly tried to buy pants in a country where even H&M maxes out at size 4) alongside a million other shoppers, we were seeking serenity. We found it at the aptly named Culture park, across the road from Chengdu's provincial hospital, and the university of traditional chinese medicine. Unlike people's park, here the line dancers' music was soothing, their moves graceful. We wandered the paths, then visited the Qing Yang (or Green Ram) Daoist Temple. There were subtle differences compared to the Buddhist temples we have seen. Most remarkable was the general sense of calm. The monks and nuns seemed joyful and the tourists more reverent. Even though it was in the middle of the city there were quiet corners surrounded by nature.

A poetic notice in the bathrooms at the Leshan giant Buddha.

Bree and Buddha.

 

The cliff walk down to the feet of the Buddha.

The statue's fingernails were larger than Bree's head.

Matt poses in front of the giant Buddha.

We got a bus out to Leshan to see the Giant Buddha Statue. The bus turned out to be a minivan with only 4 other passengers, and we sat in the back seat. As we got outside of Chengdu we noticed the squeaking sound of styrofoam coming from behind us. At first we didn't think anything of it. The sound continued, and started getting more deliberate. We realized that in the space between our seat and the back door was a large styrofoam container with something trying to escape from inside. Though the top was securely taped, the creature within sounded like it was making some headway at clawing, pecking, biting or scraping its way out. The sound continued as we took turns guessing at what animal was contained inside, and was most likely going to be someone's dinner.  Since the Chinese are, shall we say, more adventurous eaters, it could have been anything. Even our local Ren Ren Le grocery store has live frogs, turtles, eels and goldfish, and a cabinet of dried seahorses and some animal's penis. We were rooting for the little guy, while hoping it wasn't something that would jump out and bite the nearest enemy (us). So, what doesn't squeak or whimper or cluck or quack, but can take a good chunk out of styrofoam and push a taped down lid so it creaks? What a great new road trip game!

We got to Leshan, and even though we were ticketed through to the Giant Buddha (and had paid 7Rmb extra. The driver dropped us at a bus station. I pointed to the ticket that clearly stated our destination (in characters) and he uninterestedly waved at the taxis and buses around us. I have noticed a pattern. If there are not enough people, or those people can't complain effectively enough, the buses just might not make it to the final destination.

The Giant Buddha looks out on what was once treacherous water, at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. A monk named Haitong started the construction in 713, hoping that Buddha would calm the waters. Construction was completed in 803 (70 years after Haitong's death) and the river was indeed calmed and provided safe passage for shipping vessels. Pragmatists might argue that it was not Buddha, but all the rocks tossed into the river during the carving of Buddha that altered currents. To each his own I say.

- Matt & Bree

Chengdu, China, part 1

People's Park in Chengdu, on a typical Tuesday afternoon.

One of several men writing in water on the paving stones and then letting the words dry away to nothing. 

Some of the fun rides in the kid's area.

Bree subjects herself to the tuning fork portion of the ear cleaning procedure.

Main temple at the Ai Dao Nunnery.

Entrance to Wenshu Monastery. 

Statue in Wenshu Monastery. 

Any dish in Sichuan that is red means that it will be spicy. And non-red dishes tend to be spicy as well. Basically everything is spicy, but delicious.

Coco, our new buddy at the hostel. Bree learned that he responds to Mandarin commands. 

We took the first couple of days in Chengdu to just explore the city. The cool kids call it either CD or the Du.  We walked to People's Park, a beautifully laid out park. There is a canal with row boats gliding through it. Foliage well maintained but not overly so. All the things you'd expect in a big city park anywhere in the world. It was like central park, in that it is a park, but that is where the similarities ended. There were several troupes of older performers singing and dancing, rivaling for your attention by having the loudest sound system. There was a large line-dancing group where random people would approach and just join in, all knowing the dance. There were old men writing poetry in water on the stone pathways. All of this was strange to me, but what really stood out was one particular moment. 

We entered an outdoor tea house where people sat enjoying tea... while men carrying a collection of long metal tools went about cleaning the patrons' ears. Bree had no sooner sat down when a man dug in, scraping away. What really made the moment surreal was when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed (yet another) group of Chinese teenagers approaching, asking to take a picture with me. I'm in a park surrounded by dozens of people with their heads tilted while ear cleaners scrape away waxy buildup, and I'm the thing that you want to take a picture of?!

Don't get me wrong, I love it. This sums up a big part of the excitement of travel to me. Things that are seemingly mundane and normal here are bizarre, exciting and foreign to us. And our presence is bizarre, exciting and foreign to those here.

Later that night we found a restaurant that was recommended as both being vegetarian and typical Sichuan food. Sichuan food has a reputation for being spicy. It did not disappoint! The food was great and the burn faded from our lips not too much later.

The next day we headed to Wenshu Monastery and Ai Dao Nunnery. Again eating a very spicy lunch at a vegetarian restaurant in the monastery. We later cooled the fire in our mouths at the hostel with a few of the <1$ but 3.3% alcohol 40s of Snow beer (China's answer to Budweiser).

- Matt