Yackety Yak - The Yak Yaks Back

yes all - the non meat eater is now chowing down on Yak. And any other type of meat he can get in China. An actual quote from dinner the other night "I'm sticking to the beef". And in that same meal he petted the fur on a dead mountain goat carcas the owner showed us. We have the chinese characters for rice, beef, and vegetables written down so we can point to them in restaurants. Seems the beef is really just any kind of meat that isn't chicken. but at least we're getting protein and our stomachs only talk back occasionally :)

Have just passed a very interesting week taking the buses down through some very remote countryside. The route is known as the back door to Yunnan (the province we're now in) and as close to Tibetan culture as is possible within China. (We looked into getting to Tibet but wasn't easy and didn't seem we'd be able to get out of Lhasa into the surrounding countryside).

Four very interesting bus rides our sore butts finally made it to the end of the route in Zhongdian:
- The first day was a real tight squeeze as our legs didn't actually fit in the space. We had to sit sideways for 5 hours as we progressed down the windy bumpy road in what seemed more like a tin can than a bus.

- Second day we had that inch more room that let us just tuck our legs in. A 8 hour journey to go 250km was gruelling, breathtaking, and sometimes just outright frightening. Well in to the mountain stages we were making our way up and down the mountains. Sheer drop offs on our right and cliff going straight up on our left. A number of passes over 4000 metres with the highest at 4927 metres. Two small babies on the bus and the parents had pillows of oxygen for them. Another young girl (4 or 5) who was sick a couple of times. And of course the never ending chain smoking. Being so high up it was cold so the windows were shut most of the time. A bit of a crazy scene as we went over the first high pass - the baby attached to oxygen, the young girl being held horizontally out the window with her pigtails flying around her face, and the air in the bus blue with smoke.

- Third day we sat at the very back and it was the bumpiest day yet. Not helped by the 2 beer bottles that had been left on our seats. We tried to secure them but they just kept crashing about and finally rolled to the front where they were ignored. The window beside us kept popping open and just staying upright to walk the 2 steps and close it was an adventure. And finally the 2 seats beside us came right off their post and skidded sideways. Between keeping ourselves from bouncing in the seats, the windows closed, the beer bottles from flying, and holding the seats from going all the way sideways we had our hands full. After the beer bottles went crashing to the front we got the giggles and figured the rest of the passengers would just figure we'd drunk the beer ourselves...I wish!

- Last bus ride was thankfully only half a day and we arrived a little bruised and very dirty (the dust and grimy buses combined with the lack of hot water.)

For all the roughness along the way it was way up there in terms of top notch scenery. The usual snow peaked mountains and green lush valleys. But also the traditional Tibetan people that have made this part of china their home. Lots of colourful stone houses, traditional dress, and local food. And the nomadic tribes with their black tents and herds of Yak that the bus had to slow down for.

We stopped in Litang for a laundry day and found a bizarre old world meets new. The only town for miles it's where farmers come to sell their stuff and outlying folks come to stock up. We thought the number of people (mostly men) hanging around was a little odd...a real vagrant scene. And the number of these people wearing big old school shades from the 70's was also strange. But suddenly it all made so much sense - the drug scene was running rampant. Made very clear when P. Diddy hisself showed up with his posse in the little place where we were eating yak meat dumplings. A strange town but we were out on the next bus in the morning on our way to Zhongdian.

And now we're at Leaping Tiger Gorge or Tiger Leaping Gorge depending on which sign you read. Just finished the best hike we've done in China - and in fact is the highlight of being in China for me (kathryn). Kirk is beside me and is defering his favourite selection until we finish here..."let's not get carried away" he says. Anyway, it was up high in the mountains and then along a ridge with the river running down below. Stayed with a great friendly family in a guesthouse last night and had fun with another 2 travellers we met up with. Spent the evening in the courtyard with the chickens, dog, and cat drinking beer (us not the animals) and yapping about various things.

Catching a bus tomorrow morning to Dali where we'll spend a day or two and then down to Kunding, the capital of Yunnan.

bye for now,
k&k

ps - kirk made a brilliant one night rummy come-back and took the lead. Until i convinced him to play again :) current score - Kirk 1995, Kathryn 2060.