Sep 18 23:30 Zhu Ka local inn
We waited for almost 2 hours but still didnt get to see the legendary sunrise on Mt. Kawadgabo 卡瓦格博山 （梅里雪山）- well, it is very difficult in this season anyway since there are too many clouds. We are already extremely lucky to be able to see all 13 mountains and especially the main summit the day before – one tourist told us that he had been here for 6 times but had never seen those.
Then we were stopped by the road block for 2.5 hours right outside of town. We didnt get to leave until 11am. After 2-hour drive, we found that we had a flat tyre – what a day! Luckily Gao had brought all tools so it took us one hour to switch to the standard spare tyre – my first experience of switching type by ourselves!
We met a couple from Shenzhen that also were driving to Lhasa – they were extremely nice and we decided to go together as partners. The husband has also been to Tibet many times – he loves tibet so much that his cybername is in Tibetan:) – and he is also a member of the Outdoor SUV e Community 越野e族 – a online community for all the SUV outdoor fans in China. Gao is also a member. This community is already all over China. Members are all the SUV owners who love travel and outdoor activities. They have sub-communities in each province and organize trips, contests, events and they provide information for each other. Its very helpful. We could go to their online community and find out lots of road information (which is difficult to get in China) and all kinds of travel information, even to find hosts or contacts when you decide to go somewhere new. I am amazed to see how developed internet is in China. The couple got a very cute dog whose name is Baocheng that was also very excited about the beautiful scenery.
Because of this 3.5 hour delay, it would be impossible for us to reach Zuogong 左贡 as we planned before. We had to change to stay overnight in Zhu Ka 竹卡, a very small village by the lanchang River since there will be another two biggest mountains to climb from Zhuka to Zuogong.
Half of the roads were absolutely perfect – obviously they were just paved, but the other half were just rough and bumpy, very challenging for the car and also for us.
In the afternoon, we reached Yanjing 盐井which means officially we were in Tibet – how exciting! My first time to Tibet!
We passed by many beautiful and peaceful Tibetan villages – the living standard is clearly extremely high: almost each family has a 2-3 story newly built house, which is very hard to get in China. Some people are really nice: they wave back at us when we wave at them, but there was also negative experience: Tibetan kids on highway is already quite infamous: they are mostly naked, quite dirty, and stand in the middle of the highway to stop the car. Normally they climb on the car to beg, if you row down the window to give them anything, then you would be in big trouble – many cars and travelers were robbed. We had four kids stopped us and it took us forever to be able to move on. This is really disappointing. Gao told us that for the past 15 years, Tibetan people have changed so much that he cannot recognize them anymore. They used to be very nice and honest, but now a lot of them completely changed because of the government policy and because of the temptation of the modern world. People have to be so cautious and careful while in Tibet and crime rate is really high now. I am just so sad to hear that, but I still prefer trusting that most people are good.
After Mangkang 芒康- an important town connecting Sichuan-Tibetan highway and Yunnan-Tibetan Highway, the road became really rough. It took us quite a while to get to Zhuka – where we will stay overnight.
Honestly this trip is quite a challenge for me since the living condition is very tough: I am not talking about comfort or luxury, but just basic hygiene. Its getting harder and harder to meet my bottom line as we getting into Tibet because of the local culture. Gao told me that just several years ago you could even see all Tibetans go to the bathroom right in front of the government building in the town center, which is hard for me to imagine, not even talking about shower or bath. So once we start going into Ali, we wont be able to shower for at least for one week – this will be quite challenging for me. The inn we stay at tonight is a so-called resort which costs about 15 Euro per night (there is nothing better available) but the room is full of bugs and flies. I feel somehow uncomfortable, but also believe this is good for me: if I really want to become a missionary or a investigative journalist, I need to be able to survive, no, not only survive, but also enjoy, wherever I am, even when the toilet is extremely disgusting – this will be my biggest challenge on this trip…