This series of posts will chronicle my 13-day backpacking trip in Sichuan and Yunnan. Hopefully it will help others who are planning to backpack China, but it’s mostly my musings and thoughts on this trip, sometimes short anecdotes about the people and the places, and just to be clear, there will be a lot of thoughts, since this trip has really made my heart go up and down, in and out of my stomach and at some points, made me believe that I was going to die.
Well, enjoy!
The plan was laid out. It was to be a 13 day free-and-easy budget trip across Sichuan and Yunnan for 6 people, where comfort and luxury would take second place, and highlights of the trip would be all about nature. The itinerary read: Jiuzhaigou Natural Reserve, Lugu Lake, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangri-La. We wanted to spend RMB5000 (around S$1300) for the whole trip, everything included. To make it an affordable trip, we booked cheap dorm rooms in youth hostels throughout our stay.
We prepared for the trip by carbo-loading, and doing a lot of research on the places, as well as on altitude sickness. It was overwhelming. We also booked cheap air tickets using my CCB (China Construction Bank) bank account. I remarked, without my CCB, we cannot fly anywhere. Felicia and Joyce were tempted to swipe it. It was a powerful card.
Then, we waited for Chee Harn, Cathy and Keon to join us. On Thursday, 23rd July 2009, we set off to Chengdu via a Sichuan Airlines flight. It was probably an indication of things to come when the small little Sichuan Airlines plane shook a tremendous amount throughout the flight. One poor lady sitting across the aisle puked, and lucky me caught a glimpse of the action. However, it was to our immense surprise that food and drinks was served on the flight. Take that, Jetstar!
The rest of the day in Chengdu was spent buying bus tickets to Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟),eating authentic Sichuan cuisine 麻辣火锅, at this famous restaurant called 孔亮 ,stocking up food and water for the next few days and we spent a bit of time making eyes at the bitch who served us at the youth hostel. We stayed at Chengdu Traffic Inn, which charges RMB25 per night per bed (that’s S$4 a night!). It was just next to the bus station, which makes it very convenient. While we enjoyed the hot and spicy Sichuan food, we certainly didn’t enjoy the spitfire attitude of the girl who oriented us in the hostel. She was demeaning, and looked at us as if we were cheapskates. Well, what do you expect, we are cheapskates! We have to be, in order to stick to the budget. That’s why we’re here in a youth hostel, instead of the Sheraton or Hilton. Duh. When I asked another person if the airport bus was free, she gave off a shrill, short laughter, and spat, ”free?”, continued by another shrill, short laughter. Cue cursing neurons firing in my own brain. Before this episode, there was another, where I asked her if she could check whether there were rooms available for a certain date. She was standing at the lobby desk, frantic over nothing, and when I asked, she snapped. “I am and have been busy standing here. Can’t you see that I do not have a laptop to check for you? Can’t you wait till later?”
Alright. Fine, I can wait, but just stop your fishball eye glare. They’re gonna pop out real soon.
Now, if you think that the amount of money paid is equivalent to quality of service, then you’re wrong. In youth hostels, the better ones need not be more expensive, but they give very good advice and services. I have been to cheap hostels with friendly staff, such as Gaming Boy from Qingdao’s Brother Bear Guesthouse, and the people at Sanlitun Youth Hostel in Beijing. Thus, I feel that it’s only basic to be able to serve with a smile. At least be willing about it, and it will make a difference to our stay. Anyway I gave a bad review at hostelbookers.com for her fantastic service when it was time for reviewing, so lets leave it at that.
Chengdu is a city, with city sights, therefore there was nothing much to see there, especially when one has lived in Shanghai, the epitome of a Chinese city for 6 months. To add, Sichuan spitfire bitch wasn’t a good start to the trip, but thankfully Chengdu was only a stopover. The night in our dorms, we met Samuel, Eugene, Ban Wee and Wai Hou in the wee hours. They were in the same programme as me- NTU interns in Shanghai, and they had just returned from Jiuzhaigou. They warned us about a landslide along the bus route to Jiuzhaigou, and they themselves were stuck for 4 hours in their bus on the way down. They also pre-empted us about the sights that we’re about to see on the way to Jiuzhaigou. These sights were not of lovely mountains or winding rivers, but of the massive destruction and devastation caused by last year’s Sichuan earthquake.
Thus, that night, we all went to sleep with a vauge inkling of what is to be expected the next day. But then, when the next day came, our expectations were only a tip of the iceberg.
End of Part 1
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