en.infoglobe.cz » China: From Xia-he to Che-cuo: A Journey Full of (Un)pleasant Surprises

China: From Xia-he to Che-cuo: A Journey Full of (Un)pleasant Surprises

Published: 29.9.2013
After our visit of Labrang monastery we were falling asleep, in rain, and in rain we were waking up. We were also quite glad that we had abandoned our initial goal to sleep on steppe under sky.

Still, there was plenty water around us, you would see it if you only walk on dusty roads within the monastery’s compound. Many taxicab drivers merrily ride to every puddle we stood by. We continued in our walk with mud on us, our eyes were looking down until we encountered familiar laowai (by laowai Chinese call foreigners, not in a flattering way). Who would expect to meet the head of Slovakian department of sinology in a town with one street? He was as surprised as we were…

Che-cuo

Rain continued and we were about to continue in our journey. We bought tickets to Che-cuo at a weirdly looking bus station (many puddles and a lot of mud), the town was our transfer station. However, bus was going there very slowly because the driver (well, his assistant) was calling other passengers to get in so the ride would be profitable. Eventually, it gained more speed and carried towards Che-cuo

Che-cuo

Che-cuo really wasn’t among of the most beautiful places we have ever seen, just as somebody told us. Perhaps it was due to instant rain and annoyed faces of locals. Perhaps it was due to greyness of Che-cuo. However, we found extraordinarily cheap accommodation, 6 dollars for two a night. Well, accommodation with a wooden toilet looked as a greenhouse and we didn’t have a shower. But the owner said that it is close. Other people told us it is about a half-an-hour ride by bus. After two young men totally fouled both wooden toilets, they apparently didn’t know how much alcohol they can digest (they drank something you could clean oil pipelines), I went. I most almost eaten by a dog hidden behind a excavator. The excavator I intended to hide behind. Well, I gratefully held my morning bus ticket to Langhmusi. It is a wonderful village on the borderline of the Gansu and Sichuan provinces.

Che-cuo

On this day we fell asleep hoping we wouldn’t be surprised by a huge spider in the corner of our room, and that our next accommodation would have a shower with cold water at least. And, also that we wouldn’t several bus transfers to get into such a shower.

The following day we said good bye to rainy Che-cuo and looked forward to seeing. We hadn’t been in 3300 meters above the sea level yet…

Che-cuo

Text/photo: Hana Bašová



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