I woke up around 4AM and checked out of the hostel. The ticket booth didn’t sell us any ticket the day before and asked us to buy it that morning. It was really cold and dark. I walked straight to the small house of the ticket seller with my backpack. It wasn’t open yet. All the other backpackers that were on the same bus were also waiting there, as well as some Chinese locals.
It opened after almost an hour and to our surprised, they started selling it out to local people first, regardless if we’re the first one on queue. A lot of travelers were aggravated by the act, but what could you do right? There were no other ticket sellers in Xiangcheng and there would probably be just one or two buses going to Kangding.
After waiting for almost half an hour, I got my ticket and headed down to where the bus was parked. It was already full except for one window seat at the back. I went up quietly and settled down at the back together with some old Chinese guys. Two other tourists went up and they were asked to go down the bus, they were also boarding Chinese people first. Good thing I look like Chinese.
After noticing it, I didn’t bother to speak at all. I didn’t know if there were any other buses going to Kangding that day and I took my chance to stay on the bus even if I was the only tourist.
The bus left after a few minutes and we started the worst bus experience I’ve ever had.
The windows were closed to shield the passengers from the cold winds. The old guys that I’m sitting with decided to smoke inside the bus. Uugggh! I do smoke myself but not in a small, cramped space like a bus. They also spit from time to time on the floor. Sometimes they open the window to spit, and some spit particles go to my face.
Good thing I was wearing a hoodie. It was meant to protect me from the chilly winds but I figured that it could also protect me from some spit particles flying in the air. They took turns in spitting and I was literally stepping on a floor full of green, slimy spit from different people.
The road was bumpy as well and I was sitting on the worst part of the bus. Every time we encounter a big bump, it was like we’re flying off our chairs. I couldn’t count how many times I bumped my head on the overhead thingy of the bus.
It was halfway when I thought that I wanted to get off the bus. I just couldn’t take it anymore. However, I didn’t want to waste the money that I paid and at the same time, there’s a big chance that there would be no bus.
I’ve read in some internet articles that it’s dangerous to just wander off in the mountains and grasslands in that area because of the presence of some wild animals. I’m really not sure if that’s true but I didn’t take my chance. I stayed inside the bus for almost ten hours.
The only thing that kept me sane during the whole trip was the view. It was utterly incredible. As I’ve mention in my previous post, seeing Southwestern China is like watching National Geographic live.
I’ve seen rolling green grasslands, huge mountains of rocks, huge boulders, hundreds or thousands of yaks, some Tibetan kids running playfully on jagged slopes of the mountain. I’ve also seen small Tibetan villages and a couple of Tibetan monasteries.
It was a scene that I could only imagine before.
We arrived in Kangding at night time and I couldn’t believe that after a trip through the wild side of China, I would see a cluster of what seemed to be a very developed and commercialized city.
Kangding has hotels, clubs, shops and of course some local Tibetan stores. Kangding is the capital of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous prefecture in the province of Sichuan. It seems to be the gateway to Tibetan tourism if you’re coming from Chengdu.
I checked myself in a cheap hostel and bought some instant noodles for dinner.
As I was relieving myself from hunger, I couldn’t help but smile as my mind wanders off through the magnificent landscape that I saw and the adventure that I’ve had on my “Kunming to Chengdu Backdoor Overland” plan.
I would definitely go back again to Southwestern China and spend more time in the Tibetan Villages.
[...] almost had a freak accident two days ago in the mountains of Sichuan . I was riding this bus from Xiangcheng to Kanding, up and down the mountain slopes and then we came across another truck. It’s a little misty and [...]