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Manigango-Dege-Baiyu-Ganzi-Kangding

Posted on 12. Nov, 2009 by yoyo in Sichuan

Manigango is two streets, that’s all. spending the night we caught a morning minivan for Dege. generally the drivers ask 50RMB, we said the bus was 40, so we went for 40. regular leaving time is around 10:00AM. the ride to Dege is beautiful, and very different from other rides we had. previous rides had very beautiful open grasslands landscapes, along this road are high mountains and thick woods sorrounding a wide running river. the people of Dege didn’t miss this fact, and most buildings (traditional buildings, that is) are made of wood. anywhere around town you see locals working with wood. the old Tibetan part of town, just above the printing lameseray is very nice and worth a couple of hours walking around. we were invited for some strange alcoholic drink on a monks’ balcony that had a great view of the village. there is also a school for monks, in which yard we found 2 deer tied to poles. they were very happy to see us.
We also found a restaurant serving a Tibetan plate we didn’t have yet. Samba. thinking it was a nice noodle dish we ordered the large 10RMB worth bowl, even though the cook suggested we take the small dish. she was right. Samba is Yak butter squashed with some spices that give it the smell, appearance and texture of rich top-soil. it tasted like cooky dough, with no chocolate, or sugar. in short it’s pretty bad. you squeeze yourself a handful (using your fingers) into a ball, and dip it in viniger-soy-pepper. Don’t try this at home.

From Dege we took a minivan (50RMB) to Daiyu, leaves from the main intersection, around 7:00AM more or less. the ride to Baiyu was pretty monotonous, following the Golden-Sand river all the way. we passed some strange looking towers, which seemed a little out of place. Baiyu, which we thought was a village even smaller than Dege, is actually pretty big with a wide asphalt street and tall buildings around it. we found a bed for 15RMB and went up to the monastery. the view of the valley is especially impressive from the big temple. the Baiyu monastery also has a large printing industry, but it wasn’t working when we visited.
Having no bus tickets to go to Kangding we took a minivan to Ganzi 100RMB (transport leaves town from around the bus station between 6AM to 8AM, the bus to Ganzi is 78RMB, buy tickets a day ahead at least). the ride to Ganzi was quite long. when we got there, me and Bart split up. him going North to Song-Pan, me going East to Kangding. As there were no seats on the bus to Kangding (the same bus from Baiyu, it makes a stop in Ganzi), I started looking for a place to stay.
“are you looking for a guest house?” asked me a young Tibetan guy, walking along side me in the street.
“yes. how much is it?” I asked.
“30RMB he answered”. you can guess my answer.
“you are looking for a guest house?” asked the same guy after ten minutes.
“yes”.
“24RMB” he said.
“15″
“24″
“15″
“ok”.
This is how I ended up in what is probably Ganzi’s most welcoming guest house. it isn’t very clean, and has no showers (of course) but what do you expect for 15RMB? (guest house details). the monastery here was very nice, and although the Lonely Planet said they would, nobody checked admission. the temples on the lower floor are being renovated, so I had a chance to see how it’s done. this guy was painting tiny eyes on more than a hundred hands. the Tibetan neighborhood under the monastery is very nice, and the people are, as always, smiling. after a short walk in and around the monastery and buying some souvenirs (Tibetan prayer flags, 5RMB, Tibetan winter hat 15RMB) I went to a local internet cafe. where, to my surprise, I met Bart again, who couldn’t find transport to the North.

6AM again, a bus to Kangding (111RMB) was suppose to tke 8-10 hours. we arrived at 22:00 because of road fixing. finished the day by making my way to Zhilam hostel, and a long awaited hot-shower.

Tags: blogsherpa, China, Sichuan