Another amazing journey – Thuchen to Dzamthang – as we headed approximately westerly, deeper in the TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region).
The road was incredible. Paved generally, but subjected to extremes of weather and broken up in sections. Vivid in my memory are the overhanging rock faces, towering across the road and sheer drops on other side, hair pin turns, random construction vehicles left in convoy by the road, unfinished repairs and rockfalls!!! Add to this the wandering cows and yaks, farmers’ carts, bike riders and long vehicles needing both sides of the road to negotiate the tight bends. That anyone navigates it safely is amazing, that they manage it at the speed they do, incredible!!
Roadside workers undergo hazardous work, there is no speed reduction, drivers travel at the same speed as usual with their hand planted on the horn. Rocks are placed to cordon off new work, so unannounced one can round a bend and need to travel on the opposite side of the road to avoid rocks!
All mean that traffic both ways belts down the middle of the road. Lots of beeping and swerving!!!!!!! Skilful scary driving!! Miraculously speeds up to 80km per hour are achieved – it is an act of faith that on coming drivers are alert!
We later learned that cutting into the rock faces to make the road safe was a major challenge, because each interruption to the natural landscape opened up the probability of dangerous rock slides. Leaving rock faces untouched (and overhanging the road) was safer than cutting into them.
Spectacular scenery again – amazing alpine trees, huge mountains, massive rivers in each valley, clusters of villages – some poorer, most similar to Thuchen.
We crossed a spectacular ridge (from one valley road to another) on the usual high altitude concrete road. We saw yak farmers (in canvas tents), yaks herds grazing and green mountain tops (trees thinned out completely at the top).
Wow! Wow! Wow! This monastery sat at the top of a huge mountain and was splendid! Stunning views (all the way up!!), beautiful colours … speechless!!
Sitting on the mountain top, 1800m above the town (already at 4,500m altitude). Needless to say it was a spectacular drive up!! We zigzagged up through incredible hairpin turns, keeping our eyes closed against the thought that someone might be coming down as we climbed. Couldn’t worry about the down traffic too much, or one would miss the glorious view – thin white ribbons of road below, dense foliage, and the town slowly becoming more miniature with each twist.
We saw yaks grazing in sunny pastures and Tibetans farming and living on steep slopes.
Near the glorious monastery were incredible homes, perched on the hillside. They must have simply stunning views!!! The Chinese have ordered the occupants out – saying there were ‘too many people’.
This million dollar real estate was vacated by Tibetans on demand. Wonder who is moving in?
Thuchen, Guanyin in Chinese, is spectacular!!!!! We stayed in a lovely guest house; delicious spicy meals and great beds!! There was only cold water in our ‘private’ bathroom, but it was only for one night (and was in fact luxury compared to what was ahead!)
Some of us went an hour and a half by car and then swapped to the back of motor bikes to travel high up into the mountains to see the planned RIME meditation retreat site. Simply stunning – the drive up and the valley itself … The bike ride was pretty full on (understatement!) but amazing!!
We found that we were easily puffed with any exertion at that altitude. 4,500-5,500 m up – was a challenge!
That evening we strolled out, cameras in hand to explore the town. To our amusement, we were the tourist attraction and entertainment for the night! The photos we took of people caused huge gales of laughter and in some cases, hysteria! They were certainly beautiful, friendly people and absolutely fascinated by us. So much so that we had to give up any sense of personal space as some curious souls came right in close for an extended stare!
One topic of conversation between the locals in the restaurant was how to manage the fly population. Being Buddhist, they had no intentions of killing the flies. Would love to be able to send them some traps to collect and then release the unwanted critters outside. Pest strips on the doors would be a good idea too!
We explored Barkam for a few hours and headed up the mountains to Thuchen. The drive was spectacular as evidenced by these shots out of the van window. Prayer flags, amazing mountains, clear skies – just beautiful!!!!
We travelled the Diwen Expressway to Barkam. Known as the ‘Tunnel region’, there were 27 tunnels under mountains. Not all tunnels were labelled with their length, but we estimate that there was about 60km of tunnel. Amazing engineering feat! Between the tunnels were bridges over lakes, raging rivers and hydroelectric power generation. 2km bridge between tunnels 5 and 6 there was a 2 km long bridge. From each power station, there were dozens of power lines out over the mountains.
Really enjoyed the English signage – West Sichuan expressway ‘Have a pleased journey’ and warnings to ‘Don’t overtired and drive.’
Once we reached Barkam, there was a challenge getting rooms. The issue seemed to be that the Police are worried about monks protesting the Chinese presence by setting themselves alight. They didn’t want us to see it or for monks to decide to do it because we were there. Given the sensitivity of the situation, we did a frantic photo shoot – capturing as much as possible!
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