Shangri-La

After exploring the historic towns of Dali and Lijiang it was time to head for Chengdu (capital of Sichuan province and our staging point for the train to Lhasa) via the mountains of Yunnan and Sichuan provinces (formerly part of Tibet).

The only mode of transport available to us was Chinese public bus. For those yet to enjoy the pleasures of Chinese public buses you need to be prepared for:

A. Spitting on the floor (it doesn't matter whether the floor is carpeted, tiled or vinyl);
B. Virtually all Han Chinese males smoking;
C. The occasional breakdown ...

And;
D. Toilet stops to be either beside the roadside or at toilets comprising a concrete trench to be squatted over which may or may not have some flushing mechanism ...

[While Michaela did take a picture of a particular 'cubicle' she came across which had no flushing mechanism and hadn't been cleaned since the Ming Dynasty we do have some limits as to what we'll show on this blog]

The scenery outside of the bus was simply stunning. This hasn't been lost on the Chinese who have renamed one town Shangri-La (formerly Zhongdian) after the mythical location in James Hilton's 'Lost Horizon'. Shangri-La does have the requisite stunning monastery ...

Although for my money the town of Litang (a few more days travel by bus) is a better candidate as it sits on a plateau at around 4,200 metres surrounded by peaks of up to 7,000 metres and has a wonderful peaceful feel to it (when you're not wheezing due to the altitude).

Arrival in Chengdu meant Panda time at the Giant Panda Research Base and negotiations for our entry into the Tibetan province.

S