I desperately needed a break from work because I haven't taken any leave this year and this holiday came just right on time. I had one of the most beautiful and amazing trip in Si Gu Niang Mountain and Jiu Zhai Gou in the western part of China. Panda city they call it.
First day was spent exploring Chengdu and their famous panda center and baby pandas were so CUTE!
I had to buy some groceries and food to support myself for the 10hr bus ride the next day to Siguniang Mountain.
I had to buy some groceries and food to support myself for the 10hr bus ride the next day to Siguniang Mountain.
A 10hr bus ride sounds long but in fact we had a short break every 2.5 hours so it seems a little better. We had to pay for the worst washrooms ever. We had to take a mini-van to our hotel/hostel in the evening and had dinner. The accommodation was quite average, just that their toilets do not have seats and they use bed heaters instead of air conditioning.
The entire place was almost at an altitude of 4km, so I had a little bit of altitude sickness whenever I moved too much and a constant headache and sometimes out of breath.
3 full days of 8 hour hikes, 10 + 5 hours one way of bus rides and a lot of snow capped mountains.
Eagle peaks at Shuang Qiao valley
looks like New Zealand
Yak skeleton
Chang Ping Valley
Note to self: Never travel with a social media whore because he will just ignore what's in front of him and just edit his pictures in instagram/facebook/tweet just to show off or get attention. Just like when you are dehydrated and want a sip of water from his waterbottle in his bag right beside him, he will ask you to wait while he edits his picture or whatsapp his friends or instagram/facebook/tweet.
We hiked instead of taking the horse rides and I was surprised that there weren't much people at this beautiful place. The whole place is so wonderful I wanted to sit down and admire the scenery the whole day but then the shuttle bus down the mountain would have ended. There's always a price for beauty. Tranquility was short-lived.
Note to self: Never travel with a social media whore because he will just ignore what's in front of him and just edit his pictures in instagram/facebook/tweet just to show off or get attention. Just like when you are dehydrated and want a sip of water from his waterbottle in his bag right beside him, he will ask you to wait while he edits his picture or whatsapp his friends or instagram/facebook/tweet.
The hostel we stayed at was wonderful. Newly opened, great wifi, great food, clean toilets and rooms, it was much better than the one at Chengdu. It was cold but they have bed heaters. They even helped us booked a 5hr car ride back to Chengdu! Much faster but more rocky roads but the scenery was also very nice.
Back in Chengdu, after grocery shopping and spending a night, 10 hr to Jiuzhaigou again...
The place we stayed were also very nice and this time they had a toilet bowl instead of squatting hole. The whole place is very much commercialized with mountains of people everywhere. We were the first to enter the park in the morning and it was freezing! It was a very nice place nevertheless and now I understand why its a touring place for old folks.
Nuorilang falls at Jiu Zhai Valley
Multi-coloured pond
Spending my holidays in Autumn is definitely worth it, especially when the colours of nature are dancing in the background while the climate is suitable for a fashion parade. An escape from the city life and living closer to nature, breathing in fresh air with a hint of pine scent, it felt like Yosemite National Park. I'm looking forward to more nature places to visit during fall.
Presenting.... Four Sisters Mountain
I love travelling in autumn!