Chengdu (成都)
17 June 2019.
Scenery along the way. 0853 hr.
Maoxian County. 1101 hr.
Wenchuan. 1215 hr.
The 7 hour ride ended when we reached Chengdu at 2pm. My next destination was Kangding and I went by metro to the designated bus station (新南门) to purchase a ticket for the next day’s departure. There are many Bus Stations within Chengdu itself thus it is important to check on CTrip the exact Bus Station you will need to depart from.
Arrival at Chengdu. 1414 hr. All metro stations have security points one has to pass through.
My ultimate destination for southwestern China was Litang. There is also a 10 hour bus direct to Litang from Chengdu but I quickly decided to make a stop at Kangding to acclimatise, also because I wanted to see Kangding again after having been there two years ago with school mates to film documentaries. One can also stop for the night at Yajiang instead of Kangding along the way to Litang, but there isn’t public transport from Yajiang to Litang, one will probably have to rent a driver to Litang for 500 Yuan unless there are others willing to split the cost.
This time, I chose to stay at a hostel I had found on CTrip with countless positive reviews from domestic tourists. Such hostels tend to be cheaper, a bed in Chengdu downtown area cost me 38 yuan per night. I got the last bed available in the 6 bed female dormitory. The atmosphere at these Chinese dormitories was rather different though. At 1500 when I checked in, half of the ladies in the room were either sleeping or on their phones.
Hostel.
I spent my evening at nearby Jinli Ancient Street, overindulging in tasteful snacks. Jinli is incomparably crowded with domestic tourists and foreigners alike, trying out activities like ear waxing, everyone seemed to have something edible in hand as they strolled and some were even dressed in the traditional 汉服 for impromptu photoshoots. Back at the hostel, a Chinese lady asked if I was heading to Sertar, a restricted monastic area only Chinese Nationals are able to access. She had booked a three day tour around the area for a mere 588 yuan and was wondering what to prepare. Besides myself, she seemed to be the only tourist in our dormitory for the night. The other ladies casually asked if we were travelling and when we asked the same question back, they replied with an arupbt no without further elaboration. Where we both washed and turned in early, the other ladies laid back in their beds watching dramas on their mobile devices, eventually sleeping in the dress and makeup they had gone out with hours ago. Later, I woke up at 3am to use the bathroom, one of my roommates was sick at the basin, having just returned to the hostel. My idea of backpacker hostels somewhat changed, on the one hand this hostel was a simple stopover for some of us whilst for others it seemed like home for a variety of reasons. Nothing’s better than a real home though, perhalps they simply needed a temporary roof over their heads as they worked in these Chinese cities.
Jinli Ancient Street in the evening. Returned to the hostel just as the skies darkened at about 1942 hr for an early night.