0800h: checked out of the hotel. i had been told the night before at the bus station where i had bought the bus ticket that i would have to take the bus to Bingzhongluo from the new bus station: Lushui Zhan (泸水站) which was supposedly 5mins cab ride away(5RMB). It was my fault for being so confident that i would be able to catch a cab easily from outside the hotel. So i checked out of the hotel at 8a.m, waited for a good 6-7mins without succeeding in getting an empty cab. i started to panick as the time of departure drew near and decided to walk to the station instead. Asked for directions only to be met by puzzled looks, the people i approached didn't seem to know where was Lushui Station. The one who finally seemed to know directed me to the same old bus station where i had bought my ticket. With time running short, i ran towards the ticket counter to see if there was any chance to return the ticket and as i was running, a staff saw my frantic look and asked where i was going, i told her and she immediately ran after a bus that was moving out of the station and asked the driver to give me a lift to the new station. Apparently, the Lushui station was better known as 'Jiangxi' zhan (江西站). The bus i got on was a town bus that ferried people around town and took really a good 5-6mins, crossing a bridge over a river before arriving at the Jiangxi station and the driver didn't ask me for any fare!! It was a distance that would have taken at least 20mins for me if i were to have walked and i would certainly have missed the bus to Bingzhongluo then. So i was really grateful for the lift and on top of that, another passenger personally got down the bus and directed me to walk down a slope to the bus bays, he didn't return to the bus till he saw me walking towards the right path. It was a very small station with a few buses in their respective marked bays and the station was rather empty. It looked like the buses were parked somewhere else and would only move into this station half an hour before departure time so each bus bay was used in rotation by a few buses that departs at different timings, some 10mins apart. It also means that buses have to depart punctually in order not to hold up subsequent buses moving in. i actually made it to the bus with still one more minute to spare. Thank God for the kind souls he sent!
The bus travelled along the beautiful deep emerald green River Nu towards Fugong, Gongshan and finally ending at Bingzhongluo. The river was at times calm like a mirror and at times a little turbulent with gushing white streams. i've seen pictures of the river at other times and it seemed the emerald green would only last from winter to spring and thereafter the river would turn a dirty mud brown. The canyon was beautiful with pockets of village settlements hanging on both sides but massive works seeemd to be carrying out along the initial stretch of the journey (possibly construction of the much postponed hydroelectricity stations and dams)and these somehow marred the otherwise scenic journey. The road conditions were good, at least better than the journey from Dali to Liuku. We stopped for lunch at Fugong (福贡). At a small shop opposite the bus station, i had one of the most delicious and freshest hand-made yellow noodles i've ever tasted in all my years of travel in China. It came with minced meat, chopped veg, carrot strips and of course the usual chilli and chopped spring onions for 4RMB. The texture of the noodles was just right, nice, springy and thin , very different from the usual thicker and rubbery Chinese noodles but still not as good as the Hong Kong wanton mee kind. They also had dumplings but i really don't like the typical made -in-China dumpling where the skin is thick, and chives are used as part of the stuffing. As i was waiting for my noodles to be served, the wild looking chap who was seated behind me in the bus walked in and i realised then he's a Jap when he used his limited Chinese and 'pointing language' to order his food. From within my heart, i salute him. I was already having problems understanding the local accented Mandarin, what more he? Yet, he managed to get to the right bus station in the morning before me !! 失败！(me)
After lunch, we passed by the famous viewing point for the Stone Moon (石月亮)- so called because of a huge hole naturally formed in one of the rocky mountain top that resembled a full moon hanging in the sky. The bus however didn't stop as there weren't anyone alighting or boarding. The weather was wonderful with beautiful blue skies so the Stone Moon was clearly visible and looked really great against the blue backdrop, pity i couldn't capture the picture, again 'cos i was seated on the wrong side. Once more, i made up my mind to take a picture of it on my return journey. The scenery from Fugong onwards was even better as the snow capped mountains peeped out a little by little from the ends of the river and formed a perfect picture with the emerald green river and the clear blue skies. i was looking out for the 'flying cable' (溜索) riders-there were supposed to be many along the Fugong stretch but throughout the journey i only saw the cables, without the riders. i did, however, see villagers crossing the many bridges that have been built along the river.
~1500h : arrived at Gongshan where the bus stopped for about 20mins and the driver uploaded a lot of the cargo (including a puppy) he was asked to deliver to the people in Bingzhongluo, as usual earning extra income from such deliveries. Gongshan town is a big town, equipped with all sorts of shops and facilities like clinics and a hospital. This i realised later, would probably be the last best point to stock up amenities needed on a long trip into the mountains along this route. i was so paranoid of dogs that i read the sign on the Gonghshan detention centre '贡山拘留所' as '贡山狗留所' (dog retention center) : )
The bus moved onto to Shuangla (双拉) where i couldn't escape paying the 50RMB entrance fees for entering Bingzhongluo-the last Shangrila (or so touted). Despite taking off my NF jacket and looking as local as i could, the sharp eyes of the ticketing staff didn't miss me, maybe because the wild looking and ostentiously dressed Jap sitting behind me caught their attention, for they actually thought we were travelling companions...... don't know if the entry fees was worth the trip into Bing, anyway..
Shuangla was a beautiful village and i heard that the views from above the village were really great but i also heard that the dogs there were the most ferocious so i decided to give it a miss. The Jap however looked quite interested and almost got off there but when told there's no hotel or guest house facilities, he changed his mind.
1645h: arrived at Bingzhongluo. Just before arriving at the town,i caught sight of the First Bend of River Nu, so called because of the omega shaped bend formed by the river as it flows down rapidly from the mountains in Tibet and gets blocked consecutively by the slopes of the canyon, causing it to make three consecutive sharp turns, thus forming an omega shaped bend. The village on the 'island' after the bend is called Peach Blossom Island (桃花岛), supposedly filled with beautiful peach blossoms in late spring when they would hold a Fairies Festival but i didn't see any blooms 'cos it was still early spring :(
My first impression of Bingzhongluo town as it loomed into view was a little disappointment. Maybe it's the time of the day, when the sun was about to set or maybe it's the ugly Chinese buildings on the street that looked rather messy with a lot of dogs rummaging through rubbish and things left around.
The bus stopped at Yudong Bingguan (玉洞宾馆)-the accommodation most recommended by internet bloggers and by Laohu. The boss was a nice friendly young chap, apparently from Sichuan. The published board rate for a standard room with bath was 180RMB which was way beyond my budget but then most of all these board rates were actually published for the peak travel seasons. i've been told the rate should be about 80-100RMB at this guest house, so, when the smiley boss quoted me 60RMB, i was pleasantly surprised and delighted, though not for long. He told me the whole of Gongshan county had been suffering from electrical outage due to the snow storm for a month and so there had been no electrical supply at his guest house nor anywhere in town. i was like..'Oh @#$%'! i've completely forgotten about it as the weather had been so wonderful the past two days and i was enjoying the scenery so much. i had intended to wash my long messy hair that day and also take another good hot bath as i had planned to stay in the village of Qiunatong the next 2 to 3 days where i'm most unlikey gonna have any showers or baths. i had also used my digi camera quite liberally on the bus, thinking i would be recharging it at night. Now i've got to use it with care 'cos the 3 batteries i've brought got to last me for at least the next 3-4days! :(
But..... God is GOOD! (as always!) for despite there being no electricity, i was still able to have my warm bath and wash my hair as the guest house had heaters that run on solar energy and the sun had been shining all day !
Took my bath quickly and went out for a bowl of rice with fried eggs and tomatoes (8RMB). Saw the Jap again, apparently he's gone to stay at the Tea Horse Guest House (茶马客栈) oppposite Yudong, which was also recommended and possibly cheaper. He didn't seemed to want to talk much so i left it as it was. While taking a look around the rather ugly street, i was followed by a few dogs, quite persistently but not ferociously so i ignored them. Many of the cable posts on the street had collapsed due to the storm i guess and workers were trying to set them up again and many stores were also closed. The choice of food provisions, medication and daily amenities were limited and i could understand why the bus driver had so much to deliver from Gongshan town for the people here who are about 1 and a half hours bus ride away. Asked the boss of the Yudong guest house if there were many tourists or travellers around at this time and he said even on normal days, not many tourists visit, it's almost nil now with the recent snow storm and the electrical outage. Asked why he chose to set up a guest house in this remote spot where he himself said not many tourists visit and he said he did not have the means to set up a guest house at the more touristed parts of Sichuan or Yunnan, so he's quite contented with settling down at Bingzhongluo, guess he was hoping that the tourism industry would pick up.
After the sun had set, it was chilly and even with the windows tightly closed and with my jacket on in the room, i was feeling the damp seeping into my bones. The last time i had encountered a blackout at home was when i was a kid and i had enjoyed it then. Well, certainly not as much this time. Before i left for this trip, i had seen on the news on TV how the poor locals who were affected by the electrical outage caused by the snow storm were struggling to carry out their activities at night, like studying in the candlelight. i had a good taste of that when i took my bath, read and wrote and groped about the room in the flickering candlelight that night. i even tried to dry my hair over the candle flame, yeah, it was a stupid thing to do, guess my brain also suffered blackout for a while :P, and some of my hair were burnt !!! Thank God for electricity ! How i miss it!
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