Kangding (7-12)

After spending the night at the hostel near the bus station, I boarded the 9:00 bus to Kangding, the first stop of my brief tour in Western Sichuan. This bus was recommended by the Kangding hostel owner as the best one, and he was right. The seats were well padded and comfortable with lots of leg room, and they reclined. Well worth the extra $5.

After traveling on the highway toll road for a few hours, the route changed to a road that went through the mountains and wound along a river. As the journey progressed, there were good views of the green mountains. 

As we neared Kangding, the high mountains were also visible in the background.

The bus arrived in Kangding at 6:00, and I hired a driver to deliver me to the hostel. The hostel is partway up a mountain; so there are lovely views of the mountains opposite and of the end of the valley and of the city below. 

After settling in, it was time for a short walk before dinner. I took a path to the left, the opposite way we had driven in, as it looked interesting. The path is a walking path along the side of the mountain with great views of the city and the mountains in three directions. It is a popular walking path for local people. One section has exercise equipment. 

There are a number of Tibetan Buddhist altars. I did well walking, considering the altitude (8,400 feet), slowing down only when it went uphill a little. I continued until the path went downhill on the other end.

When I took my bag off the bus, the bottom was wet. When I removed wet clothes to dry them out, I noticed that they smelled fishy. I was glad my room was on the upper level with a nice balcony so I could dry and air out my bag and clothes.

For dinner I ordered Tibetan potato momos, which turned out to be baozi, steamed buns with seasoned mashed potatoes inside. When I ordered the standard order of a dozen, I didn’t know what they were and thought they were small potato balls. So I had plenty left for breakfast.

Sunday I stayed in Kangding to see the sites and to get acclimatized to the altitude. Although I continued to be slow going uphill, which I am even in lower altitudes, I did well. I left the hostel at 10:00 for the first stop—Nanwu Temple, which is just down the road from the hostel. When I reached it, I was at the back side and the gate was closed. But I could hear the monks doing the Tibetan debating, which I remember from being in the Tibetan area of Sichuan on my previous trip. By the time I reached the inside of the monastery, the activity had finished. Finding an entrance was a bit of a challenge. (I met a woman later who wasn’t successful finding it.)After finding the direct route closed, I headed downhill. When I saw a small street to the right, I walked that way out of curiosity. It turned out to lead to the temple entrance. 

The temple complex is huge with several temple areas and living quarters for the monks. At noon, the Tibetan horn was blown and the monks rushed out. I wondered where they were going. When I saw some monks returning fifteen minutes later, I realized that that was the lunch call.

Next I headed to Jing Goa Temple, finding the entrance to which was also a challenge. It, too, was down a side street. When I saw an arrow with writing in it, I thought it might be pointing to the temple. What I thought was the temple entrance looked like the entrance to a construction site, but when I peeked around the corner, there was a sign saying in English that this is a cultural site. And it was under construction. 

The temple is 400 years old and is not in use at this time. It is in the process of being reconstructed.

Next on the agenda was going to Paoma Mountain, the mountain across from the hostel. I planned to take the cable car up and walk down. Finding the cable car entrance was the next challenge of the day. It wasn’t where it looked like it should be on the map. But I did find a restaurant and decided to eat and rest for a while. The server gave me a tablet with large photos of their dishes. I chose noodle soup with potatoes and a very few greens. Potatoes must be a staple here, as the restaurant had four dishes featuring them. After eating, I continued down the road looking for an intersection, but there were none. So I ended out walking to the end and then walking back on a different street. When I got near where I thought the cable car should be, I pointed to my map and asked. The man pointed me around the corner. At the next intersection, I used my phone to ask a man where the cable car is. It was across the street. The ticket office is one door of three in the building, and the cable car entrance is not visible from that street. The woman asked my age, and, when I showed her my passport copy, gave me the over 55 discount, which was nice. Then she pointed me to the museum.

At the museum, I was surprised to find an English-speaking guide. He was finishing a tour with other foreigners, and I was taken to join them. When they left, he showed me the rest of the collection. The museum is a typical Tibetan-style building but is larger than a house, as it was designed to be the museum. 

It has a good collection of thangkas. There are also saddles—including some from the U.S.

—and items related to farming, herbal medicine, and mani stones. When we were in the room with the mani stones, he told me that Chinese people are very disrespectful and sit on the holy stones for photos. I explained that they do that at special Chinese places, too.

After the tour, I took the cable car to the top of Paoma Mountain, a fifteen-minute trip. There are good views of the town and the temples. 

At the top, the park area has a small temple near the top of the cable car, a chedi, 

a huge standing Buddha statue, 

and another temple high on the mountain that is the main temple/monastery. It is in the process of being reconstructed. 

The paths between the sites are lined with prayer flags. 

The last challenge of the day was finding the walking path down. It wasn’t where I thought it was according to the map on the ticket. What I thought looked like a path down had a closed gate across it. So I went to the cable car ticket office and told the woman I wanted to walk. She came out and took me around the corner of the building where the stairs were. I enjoyed walking down through the forest.

Back in town, I went to the square to see the Tibetan dancing that two of the hostel staff had recommended. I had asked if it is like Chinese people dancing in the parks and squares and was told that it is Tibetan dancing but sometimes Chinese people join in. It was like the Chinese partner dancing but the music was Tibetan when I arrived. When I went past the square later, the music was Western. Perhaps they do a traditional Tibetan dance at 7:00 when the dancing starts, but I didn’t arrive until 7:30. In another small square, women were doing the popular aerobic dancing.

The walk up the mountain to the hostel seemed long, as I was tired by that time and it seemed like a long way up. A young boy said “hello” when he and his mother were near me. When we got to the top, I was happy to see the hostel’s sign, and the boy pointed for me to turn up the angled path. He was sweet. I arrived back at 8:30; so it was a long day. I was tired but not more than would be expected after walking around, up, and down all day.

Sunday night it rained heavily most of the night. So Monday morning was chillier and cloudy. But, if it’s going to rain—and it’s the rainy season; so it will rain—night is a good time. My plan was to walk up Julian Mountain behind the hostel to the pasture, but I was tired and considered rethinking my plan. However, after lying down for half an hour after breakfast, I felt OK, and off I went. I had been told that the trip up would take three or four hours. First it wound around a graveyard that goes up the mountain. Most of the graves are stone shelters above ground. Some are cement and some have a brick front. Those in the forest itself have plants growing on top and blend in well. The next section of the path goes through an area with lots of prayer flags strung between the trees. One section has Spanish moss hanging from the trees. The cloudy day made it seem mystical. Lots of moss-covered bumps are in another section. I really enjoyed walking through this forest. As the path nears the top, there are good views of the valley and city below.

From this side, the layout of Kangding seemed clearer than it had on Sunday from the other side. It is a long, narrow city in the narrow valley between the two mountains. Also, from the higher elevation, I could see how far the city extends. I also enjoyed seeing the temples on Paoma Mountain as I went higher and was directly across from them and as they became visible through the rolling clouds.

After three hours, I was ready to be at the top. I did OK walking uphill in the altitude. Although I was stopping more frequently, I was near enough to the pasture that I was determined to get there. And I did—after three and a half hours. By this time the clouds were rolling in and the surrounding mountains were covered by the clouds. (The German and Chinese couple I’d met on the bus had been there on Sunday and said that they saw the snow-capped mountains, which would have been lovely.) There were several horses grazing near the herders’ hut. I sat on another partial wall and relaxed and enjoyed being in the pastoral area. Then it was time to head down, which took two hours. I was tired when I reached the hostel and took a nap before dinner.

I do like watching clouds roll in and out, and there was plenty of opportunity to do that throughout the day. A mountain top would not be visible and later it would. Small patches of mountain peeked through the moving clouds. The cloudy day gave the experience a different feel than it would have had on a sunny day.