Saying goodbye to the comfort of a modern hotel room .....
It was chilly outside and drizzling too. We were picked up at our hotel in a small van to an assembly point, where we boarded our tour bus. Our tour guide was a young man called Xiao Zhang. There were 24 of us in the entourage - 20 Chinese nationals from various parts of China, and 4 of us Malaysians. There were also more men than women - 14 men and 10 women. We would be traveling together for a 3 days and 2 nights tour to Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou.
Once we boarded the bus, we were asked to write down our names and passport numbers on a piece of paper - for insurance purposes. Then a lady started selling us ponchos and overshoes.I had checked the weather forecast before the trip and it indeed was forecasted to rain. I have brought my own poncho so I bought a pair of overshoes from her for RMB15.00. In case it rained, I needed the overshoes to cover my shoes. I could not have my shoes wet as I did not bring any extra footwear with me on this trip.
At 5.30 a.m., we set off. Since it was still so early, I slept through the first part of the journey. 2 hours later, we had our first stop ...
This road side shop sells fruits, tidbits, instant noodles, souvenirs and even winter jackets. The toilets were behind the shop, and we had to pay RMB1.00 to enter. And here, we got a shock as the toilets were merely troughs and were doorless!
What? No doors! It was so public! But there was no choice and we had to use it anyway. Furthermore, at this particular stop, the toilet was so crowded with busloads of tourists, so the stench was really rather unbearable. The irony was that I distinctly remembered our tour guide saying that this was one of the more sanitary toilets ..... so I suppose they were worse toilets around.
2 hours later at 9.30 a.m., we stopped for a meal. This was considered a brunch and it was the only meal we would get till night time. The 4 of us shared a table with a friendly Chinese family - so only the 8 of us to share the 12 dishes served together with rice. These were some of the food items ...
Soup ... I did not try this as it did not look appetising to me ...
Chicken
The chicken tasted alright; but the taste of the chillies were robust, numbing and a little too overpowering for me
Pickled vegetables
Tofu
Black fungus
I liked this tangy and crunchy dish .... but my friend PE thought it tasted rancid
Steamed egg
Phew .... we loved this simple dish ....
Another pickled vegetable
These were crunchier and tasted more refreshing ....
Meatballs in sauce.... not sure what meat is used ...
There were other dishes which pictures I did not capture; our Chinese friends ate so fast, the entire troop finished the meal in 15 minutes. I merely picked at the food as I wasn't hungry at all.
I was fascinated by this animal, which I thought was a mountain goat, but in fact was a yak.
Love the white fur!!
We made a few more toilet stops ... and by the time we reached Huanglong, it was 2.30 p.m. We had actually wanted to ride the cable car up the mountains ... but we were put off by the long queue, which was estimated to be an hour long wait. Instead, we opted to climbed up the mountain by ourself. We had 3 hours to spend here.
Our first stop was to Huanglong World Heritage Natural Site, located at the northwest part of Sichuan. It is famous for its scenery - colourful pools and snowcapped mountains.
We bundled ourselves up in our jackets and ventured up the slopes. It wasn't too cold after we climbed up the steps and burnt some energy, in fact. We enjoyed the lovely weather!
With 3 hours to spare, we only made it to two thirds up the mountain, but the scenery was stunning.
The trail in fact was well maintained, and not too steep .... so I could have a leisuirely climb ...
Azalea Pond
By the time we reached the Azalea Pond, we turned back. It had started to drizzle by this time and it as getting dark as well. Our bus drove through thick fog as we descended the mountain. It looked quite dangerous, but we knew that we were in good hands. Our professional driver made at least 2 trips up these mountains a week!
Since we were in the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture also known as the Aba Prefecture, we were taken to a Tibetan household to experience some Tibetan hospitality.
A very diluted milk tea and rice wine ...
Both were tasteless ....
Boiled baby potatoes, green vegetables, black fungus, and some glass noodles ... and other unidentifiable items.
Roasted lamb
The food did not look appealing to me ... and I wasn't used to the pungent odour of Sichuan peppercorns. The sight and smell of the food churned my stomach, though I did put in some effort to try some of the food. I had the noodles dipped in the strong-flavoured broth, a boiled potato and a tiny piece of grilled lamb. Among these 3 items, the boiled potatoes seemed to be the yummiest.
We thought that we were the only ones not used to the food, but back in the bus, our Chinese tour mates too, complained about the food. They demanded a good meal once we reached the hotel.
We thought that we were the only ones not used to the food, but back in the bus, our Chinese tour mates too, complained about the food. They demanded a good meal once we reached the hotel.
That night, we were staying in Jiuzhaigou, and by the time we reached our hotel, it was already 10.00 p.m. It was raining, wet and cold .... and I was tired and sleepy, and my stomach was queasy. I could not wait to get to the warm comforts of the hotel room.
So I turned down dinner to retire earlier the room. AL and PE decided not to have dinner as well .... the three of us went to our rooms together.
And then came another shock.
So I turned down dinner to retire earlier the room. AL and PE decided not to have dinner as well .... the three of us went to our rooms together.
And then came another shock.
Our room was located at a building at the back, some 100 metres away ... the ground was wet and filled with puddles of water and we had to walk very carefully in the rain. Next we had to climb up 4 storeys with our luggage because there were no lifts. We were all breathless when we reached the top floor where our room was. And once we opened the door to our room, we were utterly disappointed.
The room was small, gloomy and dark. One of our table lamps did not work. We peeked into the bathroom .... it was wet, looking dirty too. It felt damp and we were freezing cold. And the best news was that we were staying for 2 nights. Sigh. There was even a blackout past midnight! What a spooky place to stay in.
I had a quick shower and slept in my jacket and with 2 duvets over my head. Luckily I did manage to get some rest. AL, however, tossed and turned the whole night.
What a terrible hotel and it was rated 4-stars by Jiuzhaigou's standard. Goodness! I would rate it only half a star. We thought we were the only ones unhappy with the hotel ... but our Chinese counterparts too complained big-time. They wanted to stay in five-star hotels and would not tolerate another night, they said. The tour guide had a hard time placating them.
What a terrible hotel and it was rated 4-stars by Jiuzhaigou's standard. Goodness! I would rate it only half a star. We thought we were the only ones unhappy with the hotel ... but our Chinese counterparts too complained big-time. They wanted to stay in five-star hotels and would not tolerate another night, they said. The tour guide had a hard time placating them.
those scenery at the rural part of China is really breathtaking! but I think I would be so lazy to leave my bed at 3:30 in the morning jst for that...
ReplyDeleteHaha .... yeah ... we were thinking that we paid so much money just to suffer. Lol :))
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