People had shown me photos of Jiuzhaigou(try pronounce that one) and the stunning colour's of the crystal clear waters, all of them looking like some seriousPphotoshop work had been done. Since Chen was heading up there for his next stop from Chengdu, Allen and I decided to find out for ourselves. The 9 hour drive wound it way around the mountains on some very bumpy roads, mainly due to the damage suffered from continuous rockfall damage. We passed towns that had been totally destroyed in the 2008 earthquake where over 60,000 people were killed, the damage still very evident 5 years on.
On the way up we dropped in at small lonely looking restaurant that served up probably the best meal I have had in China so far, not that it was anything special, it just wasn't drowned in oil. The altitude bounced very quickly between 600m and 3,400m on our drive, causing my bag of crisps to explode at one point, our winding path was a supposedly quicker road than the main highway you would take on the bus. Once at the hostel I was keen to grab an early night and get over my lingering cold, something that seems rather common in China at the moment. Allen had invited a bunch of girls he met in Chengdu to stay in our dorm, so with them wanting to practise English and the late night giggles, it didn't look like the evenings rest was likely.
At the gates for opening at 8am, they accepted my Student Edge discount card as proof I was a student and offered me half price entry, about enough to cover to overpriced buffet crap they serve for lunch at the eatery in the park. We were in a hurry to get in before the winds built up as there's some amazing photo opportunities at the Mirror lake. Days like this I wish I was one of the Chinese walking around with a flash over sized camera as my little waterproof Nikon did not do this place justice.
The water was every bit as stunning that the pictures I had seen previously depicted, due to the fact you could see straight through the turquoise coloured water, fallen trees making for fantastic photos opportunities. It was a great idea to get in early before too many tourists arrive, I read somewhere that this park expects over 7,000 visitors every day!. When buying the park ticket there is an option to buy a bus ticket as well because the first pools and waterfalls are located around 14 km from the entrance. From there you can walk or a combination of bussing and walking between the various locations including the Primevil Forest, laakes, Tibetan villages and waterfalls. The park is also a habitat for giant Pandas although they are rarely seen.
Being one of the only foreigners at this place I felt like Micky Mouse in Disney land with girls, families and children all wanting to have their photo with me. Its a bizarre obsession, one I could understand if I was famous, but these are the sort of things you must get used to as an outsider in a relatively closed country like china (where everyone runs around with a camera bigger than the last guy).
For the next 8 hours I wandered around mesmerised by the multicolour lakes which have been formed originally by glacial activity and solidified by carbonate deposition. The high composition of calcium carbonate makes the water the clear and by far the most stunning colours I have ever seen. There are huge waterfalls that offer a great opportunity to cool down in their spray while trying to explore this magical park within the limits of one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment