Jiaju (7-18)

Friday’s trip to Jiaju was long. Tashi drove me to Tagong, stopping to photograph some of the mani stones along the way, 

and stayed with me to make sure I got a place in a shared van that went to another town and then to on to Danba. Waiting and driving took an hour. Then we stopped in that town for almost three hours. Since I was still low in energy, I slept most of that time. Finally, the van took off. I think it was waiting for the driver’s lunch time. The trip to Danba took another three hours down from the high grasslands and up over other mountains. I slept most of the time.

In Danba, the driver correctly guessed that I was going to Jiaju, a tourist destination village, and delivered me to another driver. When we got to the ticket-purchasing stop, he pulled the shades on the back seat so he could drive though without my paying for a ticket; he kept the money for himself. (I learned later that he also charged me too much for the ticket.) I had selected the guesthouse based on its location near the bridge, which seemed like a good place to be. However, I didn’t realize that everything is downhill from there and nothing is near. I also hadn’t realized that it is up a mountain and had thought I was going to a lower altitude. But it turned out to be a good place to be.

The guesthouse is a typical Tibetan house. I enjoyed the painted common area 

and the decorations in my room. They made it a pleasant place to hang out and relax for a day.

When I went to eat dinner, I was seated with a man who was also traveling alone. We were served a total of twelve dishes. It must have been a set meal, as there was a large group in the back room. I can’t imagine that he ordered all that food. The food was good—not too oily like Chegdu food—but I couldn’t eat much. Since he spoke a bit of English, we were able to chat a little. He was driving for a month to see western Sichuan.

When I woke up at 10:00 Saturday morning, I knew that my penchant for slow travel had taken a new twist. I went down for breakfast, which did nothing for me—cold mantou/steamed bread with no butter or jam, spicy fungus, and hard boiled eggs. I didn’t even like the tea, which is unusual. One of the hotel women chatted with me—in Chinese with gestures, of course—about how I didn’t look good. When I said I wanted a driver, using my dictionary, she said something. Later, when she saw me, she said the same thing and pointed with walking gestures down the road.

So, since I wanted to see something other than my hotel room, off I went. I could see the village beneath but knew that wouldn’t be on the agenda. I was surprised to see corn growing on the mountains. 










This area is famous for 2000-year-old watch towers, and Jiaju is one of the places to see them. So I was happy to see a couple on the mountaintop 

and below in the village. 

On the way down the road, I saw a small building I liked and wondered if someone lived there, as it was quite small. On the way back up, the door was open; so I looked in and saw that it’s a shop. I was very happy to see that the woman had one of the bottled iced teas I like. When I left, she gave me two walnuts.

Back at the guesthouse an hour later, I decided to sit in the common room and read on my phone. That way I could enjoy the ambiance of the room and the view of the mountains. A group of five Tibetans was eating lunch. I noticed that they had something that looked like—and turned out to be—green beans and ordered some. The amount was astounding. One of the woman came to offer me fried fat with a very little meat—bacon. I said I don’t eat meat. A while later she gave me some pan-fried bread that was good. Before they left, we chatted a bit in minimal Chinese with a few words of English. Two of them are teachers. Then it was photo time. I took a cup of beans to my room to nibble on throughout the rest of the day.

After relaxing in my room for a couple hours, I decided to take a short walk the other direction. It was evening and the evening light on the mountains and village were lovely. 

There’s a viewpoint where cars can stop so people can view the village. I relaxed there for a while. I had noticed that a couple women had bags of apples and really wanted some. So I bought a couple. A high school boy was with them, and he gave me a plum. I don’t usually like plums, but this one was sweet and delicious. While I stood by the wall enjoying the view, he came to chat a little. He goes to high school in Chengdu, which he prefers to his village. A common story.

Although I was feeling a little stronger, I still had no energy or appetite. After sitting for a couple hours, I felt pretty good and ready to do something—until I stood up. Walking was slow with frequent stops. I thought about my friend who has permanent breathing problems and have a new sense of what that is like for her. Walking up stairs, I felt like an old woman—really old like my grandmother when she was 90.

There really isn’t much in Jiaju, but it’s a lovely place to spend a day outside the cities. People came here for lunch or dinner. And it was a lovely place to relax since I couldn’t do much else anyway. It would have been interesting to walk around the village itself, but, of course, I didn’t make it there.

Sunday morning I slept till 10:00 again and was coughing a lot. One of the women came to the door and gave me medicine, which was sweet. I have to say, it did decrease the coughing quickly.

When I left, another woman gave me milk and two boiled eggs, the latter of which I turned down and the former of which I gave to a girl later. Then she took me to hitch a ride to Danba. The drive was lovely. I was so tired on Friday that I hadn’t really noticed.