Yading Nature Reserve (稻城亚丁景区）
The hike up to the Milk Lake and the Five Colours Lake is a one way upward 90KM ascent. The first 77KM will be covered by an internal shuttle bus for 60 Yuan (return trip) which will pass through Yading Village and a viewpoint where tourists are allowed to alight from the bus for photos for five minutes. The internal shuttle ride takes about and hour and terminates at the Shuttle Bus Stop which is only 0.5 KM away from Chonggu Temple. The 6.7km distance from the Shuttle Bus Stop to the LuoRong pastures can be covered either by foot or by tram for an additional 80 Yuan ticket (return trip).
There are numerous rest stops along the path to the pastures. Most tourists will choose to take the tram. If pressed for time, the tram ride will help to save some time as the surrounding scenery during the walk is good but not mind blowing.
There are two routes within the nature reserves, the long route to both Milk Lake and Five Colours Lake and the short route to Pearl Lake. The 266 yuan entry ticket is valid for two consecutive days for tourists to attempt a route per day. The general advice is to attempt the long route only in good weather. If you wish to return to the Nature Reserve the next day, you need not have to pay for the entry ticket but you will have to purchase the internal shuttle ticket again for 60 yuan. After purchasing the entry ticket, tourists are to board an internal shuttle bus into the protected area. The internal shuttle bus journey up to where tourists can start their ascent takes about an hour from the ticketing office.
Once you alight from the shuttle bus, you can choose to walk up to Luo Rong Pastures or take a tram 电拼车 up for an additional 80 Yuan (return trip). Most tourists start their hike at LuoRong Pastures where it is a 5KM uphil climb to the lakes. They rear horses at the Pastures for tourists to ride towards the lake for 300 yuan. The horses will not cover the entire distance though, you will have to disembark when the route gets too rocky for the horses halfway up.
No food is sold at Yading Nature Reserves, only drinks from vending machines at Luo Rong Pastures.
Do bring down your rubbish, the Nature Reserves is mantained by local Tibetans who usually carry sacks of rubbish down from the high altitudes.
23 June 2019.
That day, we left our hostel at 0900 hr. There were locals waiting along the main road scouting for passengers who were looking to go to the entrance of the Nature Reserves. We were later joined by a Korean tourist who was as clueless as us about the long day ahead. He was determined to go as far as he could though, despite not understanding conversations around him. It was around 8 kilometres from our hostel in Shangrila town to the entrance of the Nature Reserve. Our entry tickets had a QR code printed on them which will be scanned at the gantry before we could board the internal shuttle bus. Our Korean companion held his passport underneath his entry ticket which was chanced upon by a nearby attendant who immediately directed him to a nearby table with a logbook on it. A young lady sat behind the table, she was really lively, letting out an Annyeonghasaeyo when she saw his Korean passport. We approached the logbook which contained written records of all foreigners who had visited the reserves. As our Korean companion wrote his details down, I wondered if I should follow suit.
“Do you keep a record of all the foreigners who pass through?” I asked the obvious.
“Yes, all foreigners have to register their details here.” the young lady said.
I glanced at my Hong Kong companion. She subtly shook her head. We both knew this was one of the more than necessary bureaucracy process. If the process was of official importance, they would have asked for everyone passing this way to show either their identity cards or passports. Yet, they pull aside foreigners based on physical features. We three would have easily passed their asian look test.
“He looks chinese, doesn’t he?” I asked the lady.
“Yes he does.”
“How about us, do we look Chinese?” my Hong Kong companion asked. It wasn’t nice of us but we couldn’t help trying to see how far we could get.
“Yes..wait you both are Chinese right?” she raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, of course we are Chinese” my Hong Kong companion laughed. She wasn’t exactly lying.
“Ok..” the lady no longer seemed so sure but we had convinced her with our appearances and ability to speak Chinese.
An hour on the internal shuttle left me rather giddy for we swerved from side to side as the bus navigated winding bends of the road. As we climbed higher, snowy caps came into view. The bus stopped at a viewpoint for five minutes for photo taking before continuing to the Shuttle Bus Stop where we would begin the hike up.
At the viewpoint. 0949 hr. The real climb starts at the icy peaks in the far distance.
The toilets at the Shuttle Bus Stop was the last place where running water existed. There was only one route ahead, we merged into the crowds , climbing 0.5KM upwards towards Chonggu Temple. Here, we parted with our Korean companion who wanted to see the temple whilst my Hong Kong companion and I continued on until we reached a crossroads. There was a ticket booth in the distance and the crowds were heading in this direction. It turned out to be the entrance to a tram ride up to the Luo Rong pastures for an additional 80 yuan.
“Is there another way to get to the pastures?” we asked the lady at the small ticketing booth.
“Well you can walk,” the lady pointed to the other end of the route in the distance.
Left: The walkable route to the Luo Rong Pastures. 1230 hr. Center: Entrance of the Nature Reserves. Right: Scenery along the walking route.
There didn’t seem to be anyone taking that route. We agreed that the 80 yuan could be unnecessary expenditure and decided to walk 6.7KM to the pastures. The footpath that stretched ahead of us was broad and flat, it seemed an easy feat. However, as we were at high altitude, a simple walk could prove strenuous and my travel companion stopped to rest a couple of times. We came to mini avalanches of small stones which seemed to have been washed down by heavy showers and broken sections of metal bridges joined together by wooden planks above the gushing waters. It did made me wonder how it would be like to be here when it rained. It was rather peaceful then as no one else was on the road except for the occasional tourist who passed us by.
The sights along the walkable route towards the Pastures. There was a landslide that we climbed over. 1235 hr.
As we were nearing the pastures, we met one of the tourists who was with us in the minivan from Daocheng to Yading. He was already making his return trip, he had taken the tram up and was walking back to the Shuttle Bus Stop. A single tram ride was 50 yuan, he informed and he left us with two cans of oxygen he had bought as he no longer had any use for them since he had no breathing problems at the top. I took a can and my Hong Kong companion kindly took the other one to ease my load. Whilst the oxygen cans were extremely light and weighed almost nothing but they were tall metal cans which fit awkwardly into my bag. We reached the pastures at 1400 hr and after a quick lunch of our leftover dinner last night and I was going to push on to the lakes whilst she would make a detour.
Reast Area at the Pastures. Left: Those who chose to take the tram up to the Pastures will alight at the grey roofed buildings. Right: Dwellings of local Tibetans who manage the daily operations of the Nature Reserves.
It was another 4KM from the Luo Rong pastures to the lakes. The roads were no longer flat and wide, I was ascending with every step on a stone path paved by the crowds. It wasn’t long before I realized that the people around me were heading in the opposite direction towards the pastures. Slowly, I got nearer to the destination with about 2.6KM left but it wasn’t long before got concerned looks from those descending.
“Are you going up?” a domestic tourist stopped to ask.
“Yes” I replied.
“I advise you to turn back” he kindly warned before continuing on his way.
Soon after, two backpackers gave a friendly smile as they passed by.
“Are you going up?”one of them asked.
“Yes”
He looked at his watch.
“Here, for you,” he held out a gum.
“Thank you”
“Watch the time,” he cautioned. I replied I would.
There were also Tibetan locals descending at this time, each carrying huge yellow-green sacks on their back.
“Are you going up?” one of the locals asked.
“Yes I was going to try,” I replied for the third time.
“Maybe you should try again tomorrow” he commented.
“What are you carrying?” I asked, distracted by the load on his back.
“Rubbish” he replied.
I couldn’t think of a response for a while. They were carrying down the rubbish left by us tourists. “Be careful, come down before it gets dark,” he cautioned, continuing down the steps. On the way up from the Luo Rong Pastures, I had noticed little stone huts with red doors built onto the green slopes. The park was maintained by the local Tibetans who resided within the reserves. I soon met a local Tibetan lady who also carried the large sack on her back.
“Are you going up?” she asked.
“Yes,”
“Oh! Do turn back as soon as possible, you don’t want to be here at dark.” she exclaimed.
“I know,”
“Are you going up there alone?” she looked around. There was no one behind me.
“Yes, will there be anyone up there?” I asked.
“There should no one up there by now.. ” she was genuinely concerned but knew the best she could do was to warn me.
“I’ll turn back on time to catch the last internal shuttle.” I promised.
“Ok, you must.” she stressed.
The last kilometer was physically draining with steep steps to overcome. People were few and between by now, and everyone was rushing to descend. The winds were howling and out of a sudden, rain came. It wasn’t just rain, it was hail. Tiny drops of ice hit hard against my ankles, causing redness. It was painful but I was glad I had my umbrella and raincoat in handy. There was a marking just ahead of me which indicated that I was 800m away from the lake. The stone steps in front of me seemed to go on forever though, and I could not see beyond. Soon, a tourist came rushing down in my direction, he was one of the last few left at high grounds.
“How far away am I, sir?” I asked.
He looked at me, stunned. “You’re halfway there,” he replied, saying no more. I was confused. With only 800m left, how was it that I was only halfway there? Nevertheless, I could tell that he wasn’t joking about the distance ahead from the tone of his voice. It was 1635. I had promised myself and others to keep a close watch on the time, to catch the last internal shuttle bus from the Shuttle Bus Stop to the entrance, I would have to turn back by latest 1645, no matter whether I got to the lakes or not. I had to turn back, despite spending more than two hours in constant ascent. The hail was also enough reason to return to the lower ground, the roads were now slippery and there would be no one up there with that hail. I turned back, at around 9.4 KM into the hike.
The furthest I got to before turning back on the first day. 1626 hr. There are waterfalls in the ice mountains!
Descending was easier but we had to watch our steps. Horse dung which were in previously recognizable piles when I ascended were now mixed into the soft mud, there was almost nothing concrete to step onto at certain sections of the route. I simply stepped onto the footprints of others, hoping to get a firm grip. My foot slipped upteen times, but was able to quickly regain my balance before I fell into the soft mud. There were tourists hurrying down, far and between. Once I lost my foothold and slipped, my shoes squeaking so loudly tourists making their way down in the far distance could hear. They also were trying to avoid slipping whilst going as fast as they could and we simply smiled awkwardly. Occasionally, one of them looked back with a smile, until I lost sight of them amongst the thick trees that plied the winding descent. I soon caught up with a tourist who stopped in his tracks to take photos with his DSLR almost every few steps he took. He looked to be in his fifties and seemed one of those who “aged well” with the grace of a widely read literate. “Careful Sir,” I said. He was concentrating on his camera so much, without realizing that he had stepped on horse dung. It didn’t matter to him though. I carried on, the views were still beautiful despite the heavy fog but it was enough to enjoy the sight of them without clicking on my DSLR. The photograher was definitely not the typical senior citizen, he walked with a light spring in his steps and had better fitness than most youngsters. He soon caught up with me, commenting about the last bus, saying we should both hurry down before disappearing into the distance in front of me. He continued to progress down the route with lightning speed, I couldn’t catch up. Though, I would run into him again further down the road for he would stop to take photos.
“I’m going home with fruitful results,” his eyes shone as he spoke. “I took so many photos!”
“How were the lakes?” I asked.
“Beautiful. Mind blowingly beautiful. I just kept taking photos.” he replied, stepping ahead of me, hurrying to another photo spot. I later saw him again standing at the edge with his camera, and I continued on without stopping to wait for anyone. The hail became rain as I descended, and soon stopped. I was nearing the Luo Rong Pastures where the roads were better and sure enough, fifteen minutes later, he had already caught up with me. Our descent was relatively fast compared to my earlier ascent and it was around 1800 when we reached the Luo Rong Pastures. With the internal Shuttle Bus leaving at 1830, there was already no time to walk the remaining 6.7Km from the Luo Rong Pastures to the Shuttle Bus Stop so I paid 50 Yuan for a single ride tram back to the Shuttle Bus Stop. The park was closing and we were the last group of tourists, I could imagine. Everyone of us was tired and cold. I recognized a few faces whom I passed earlier, we smiled in recognition of one another. We caught the last shuttle bus and the hour long ride down as a sleepy albeit lighthearted one as the voice of one of the passengers in the back seated boomed loud and clear around the bus interior. He was asking the bus driver if we could have warm air instead of air-conditioning. Everyone laughed, we were all indeed cold and drenched.
The bus dropped us off at the entrance. The gates had already closed and we had to exit in another direction. I unexpectedly met the photographer hobbyist again, after seeing him last nearly two hours ago at the Luo Rong Pastures.
“All my SD cards are full now,” he smiled.
“Were the lakes worth a visit?” I asked, thinking about a revisit.
“Totally. I’ve been to almost all the provinces in China and I can tell you the scenery here is worth more than a few Chinese tourist destinations combined.”
“I guess I’ll come back tomorrow then.” I decided.
“You’ll come back tomorrow? To do the short route?” he asked. There was both a long route and short route at the Nature Reserves, the entry ticket would be valid for two days upon purchase for visitors to visit one route per day if they wish. However, most visitors usually only visit the long route.
“No, to climb this route again. I didn’t make it up to the lakes this time.”
He didn’t say anything for a while.
“Take this.” he offered, reaching into a recycle bag he was carrying on his right arm. It was an unsealed instant lunch. I never noticed he had carried so much stuff on him with the speed he navigated the route, he had a medium-sized backpack on his bag, a DSLR slung around his neck and two recycle bags hung around his right arm.
“I packed a lot for today in case I got hungry.” he continued, pointing at his recycle bags. “But I didn’t have time to eat them in the end.”
“Oh no I couldn’t accept it, you can eat this for your dinner!” I suggested.
“Oh no, I’ll eat a good dinner tonight. You’ll need this if you’re climbing tomorrow.” he insisted.
My attention turned to the instant lunch. I had never seen anything like it before. We usually had instant noodles but this was rice.
“How do I eat this? There’s no hot water up there.” I asked.
“There’s water inside. Take it,”
Out of curiosity, I accepted it. The box felt heavy. How did he bring something so heavy up to the top and then down again, without stopping for food? It never occured to me that there would be a senior so passionate about his craft, he was beaming from ear to ear without any complaint about his long day. He shared that I should aim to reach the Reserves tomorrow at 0800 so that I would have enough time to reach the lakes. He offered a ride back to Shangrila Town, which I later only accepted as I learnt that he was trustworthy. He had came to the Reserves with a group of friends who had left the Reserves earlier due to altitude sickness, whilst he decided to continue to the lakes. At the entrance, he called his friend to pick him up. Taxi drivers shouted out their prices for the ride back to Shangrila Town, their seats quickly filled up with tired visitors streaming out from the entrance. I also realized white buses going back to Shangrila Town for 5 yuan which I was tempted to board, but I had already accepted a ride. I was afraid my drenched self would dirty the photographer’s friend vehicle but the photographer wasn’t having any of it.
His friend soon came, another man who have “aged well” with bright eyes. I think I understood what it meant to age well. I got in apologetically and I didn’t have to worry as the two friends chatted with one another in the front seat about what they had done after they parted earlier that afternoon. The photographer hobbyist then mentioned meeting me on the way down. “She reminds me of my younger self.” he laughed. In contrary, they reminded me of what it meant to age gracefully. I had to climb the Nature Reserves again tomorrow, there will be no turning back until I reach the lakes. That night, my Hong Kong companion recommended a place for dinner where I tasted the best cauliflowers and potatoes.
Dinner on the second night in Yading. 2108 hr. Codyceps my roommate bought.
We later went to the mini mart and had a good laugh. The minimart was interesting, it had a map of the Yading Nature Reserves pasted on one of its white walls and the shopkeeper was enthusiastically promoting the items we would need for the hike. They were patient with the questions of all the customers, and soon there was a throng of customers asking for their recommendations. I had a good laugh at their enthusiastic responses and we stayed in the minimart longer than any other customer. Having been at the Reserves in the day, I knew what I wanted to get. Just water and a fruit. I couldn’t get snacks as the shops at Shangrila Town were relatively expensive. They were selling small bottles of water at 3 yuan and bananas at 2 yuan each. Breakfast at any of these shops can easily cost 20 yuan.
“20 yuan for an apple?” I asked, shocked.
“20 yuan for a kilogram of apples miss,” the shopkeeper laughed. “How could we possibly sell an apple for 20 yuan?”
I picked up an apple.
“You’ll need more than one if you’re climbing tomorrow.” he begin.
“I was there today but I didn’t make it to the top.”
“She’s going to climb it again tomorrow.”
“You’re going to climb again tomorrow?” he repeated in disbelief.
“I intend to.”
“Raincoat, umbrella? You must have them.” he replied, tuning into his promoter voice.
“Oh I already have them, it was already raining hail up there today.” I replied.
“See! No one believes it when I told them it will rain hail. I told them to get at least a raincoat but they didn’t listen,” he said, smartly turning to another group of customers who had gathered to hear our conversation. We left him in his corner as he continued promoting products. I suddenly chanced upon the exact instant lunch I got from the photographer hobbyist. It was selling for 15 yuan and I asked another shopkeeper how I could eat it. She replied that there was water inside. “Buy it miss, it will come in handy up there.” she promoted. I still couldn’t imagine what they referred to as water inside, but it was becoming quite clear that all I needed tomorrow was just this red box of instant lunch. We left after buying some bread, water and bananas for my breakfast and we left. We were both going to stay an extra day more than intended, I was going to try my luck at the Reserves again whilst she was going to spend the day resting at the hostel before heading to Chengdu the following day.
24 June 2019.
The next day, I couldn’t get a shared taxi from Shangrila Town to the entrance. I asked around and for some reason, no local driver was looking to drive to the entrance. I was speaking to the a Tibetan lady when a familiar white bus drove past us. “There! There!” the lady pointed whilst I ran to keep up. Fortunately, the bus stopped and I was on my way to the entrance for 5 yuan. The ride to the tourist center was 20 minutes and I wondered if there were designated bus stops for these white buses, though I suppose we could flag them down once we see them. At the entrance, I purchased the internal shuttle ticket for an additional 60 yuan. That hour ride on the internal shuttle got more bearable given my experience with it yesterday. I reached the Shuttle Bus Stop to begin my hike at 0900, instead of 0800. Nevertheless, I was about an hour earlier than yesterday and should be on time if nothing went wrong. I was going to walk the entire way to the lakes and back and I believed I was well prepared, with four packets of Wang Wang crackers, plenty of water and an instant lunch in my bag. I had left the can of oxygen back in the hostel as I didn’t seem to need it yesterday.
Another attempt to get to the top this day. 0725 hr.
My morning breakfast of bananas wasn’t a good idea. I was getting hungry an hour into my walk from the Shuttle Bus Stop to the Luo Rong Pastures. I finished two packets of crackers as I continued walking, bearing in mind to keep my litter with me. I soon realized the piles of stones that had fallen into our path yesterday had already been efficiently cleared up by the locals, the walk was smooth and I reached the Luo Rong pastures by 1100.
The route towards to the Pastures. 0912 hr.
I passed handsome horses being led out of the stables towards the chatter of excited tourists who were deciding if they should ride the horses up for 300 yuan or hike up to the lakes. The horses would not go all the way up to the lakes though, paying tourists would have to dismount and walk up to the lakes themselves when the route got too rocky. Unlike yesterday, the route of today’s ascent was shared with horses. Each horse was led by a local Tibetan, who seemed to walk as fast as those horses and would make a return trip once their customer dismounted. Horse dung was everywhere but it was easy to avoid them. Halfway up, I had to go to the toilets. There were portable yellow toilets along the route but they were without running water. Similar to the locals carrying sacks of rubbish down the mountain from yesterday, I couldn’t bear to imagine how they would have to empty buckets of human excrement at the end of the day, especially when we were all holding our noses entering the toilets.
Making the ascent from the Pastures towards the top. 1112 hr.
By 1200 noon, I reached the area where the route morphed into unfriendly steep steps. The horses stopped here and tourists crowded around the nearby viewing deck which also housed those portable yellow toilets. I continued on, as I still needed to leave sufficient time for my walk from the Luo Rong Pastures to the Shuttle Bus Stop without another spending 50 yuan on another tram ride. Soon enough, I reached the marking where I had turned back yesterday. I was now only 800m to the lake. I was at the bottom of another flight of stairs that seemed to reach to the skies, I couldn’t see beyond the top step. Once I climbed to the top, I was greeted with another flight of stairs. This went on for some time, and I was making slow progress, taking consistent steps with deep breaths.
Keep going! 1241 hr.
It wasn’t long before I reached flat land. Snow peaks rose around on all four sides, every angle at this altitude was picturesque. The lakes weren’t far off now, only that they were still hundreds of steps away. I understood what the tourist meant by I was only halfway there yesterday. We could either take the left fork towards the Milk Lake or go straight upwards a steep incline towards the Five Colour Lake. It was an excruciatingly steep ascent, those climbing the route to the Five Colour Lake were almost like ants from where I was standing. The route to Milk Lake seemed friendlier without too much ascent however recalling the advice of the Beijing lady, I climbed the steps to the Five Colours lake first. I panted with every few steps and for the first time, I sat down to rest and indulged in my third cracker. After ten minutes, I continued, and once I got to the top, I was faced with more stretches of stone steps. The Five Colour Lake was now within sight, and I was almost taken aback to see a few locals with their hands and knees on the ground with a tool in hand, hunting for cordycep sinensis. I was exhausted making my way up and admired how they could still look so alert after making multiple trips along those rough routes.
Locals hunting for Cordyceps.
Finally I reached the Five Colour Lake at 1315. The waters were a dreamy shade of blue and honestly, it wasn’t as amazing as I had imagined it to be but the hike up was extraordinary. I was going to unwrap my instant lunch when the hail uninvitedly rained on us. Everyone instinctively ran to seek shelter in the bushes. At 4700m, the bushes were but a dense network of brittle branches with little leaves. Eating there in the hail didn’t seem plausible. I decided to move on to the Milk Lake, saving my lunch for later. From the Five Colour Lake, it was a hilly descent to the Milk Lake. Tourists who had chosen to go to the Milk Lake first now had to endure the long trudge up to the Five Colour Lake, the sight of us almost skipping down didn’t help. I was able to move rather fast, crunching up my last cracker. They weren’t filling but were perfect for a sweet snack.
Five Colour Lake. 1339 hr.
Proceeding to the Milk Lake from the Five Colours Sea. 1351 hr. On this route, there were people heading from the Milk Lake towards the Five Colour Lake and vice versa. It had begun to rain hail at this time. Right: Milk Lake.
The hail only got heavier at Milk Lake and I left as soon as I got there. The area was so cold that when I bent down to touch the waters of the famed Milk Lake with my bare fingers, the water somehow felt warmer. It was not a place to stop and enjoy a savoury lunch and I left the Milk Lake at 1415, with just enough time for descending the mountain. The route from the Milk Lake to the flat land where we could choose between both lakes stretched on for miles, it wasn’t easy although it was relatively flat compared to the steep ascent to the Five Colour Lake. I heard comments along the way that the hike itself at Yading wasn’t difficult, it was the high altitude that made it challenging.
Stone piles. 1404 hr.
The hail soon stopped. The descent down muddy tracks was better than yesterday’s for the Tibetans had unknowingly placed wooden planks along those almost unwalkable sections of the route. I came upon a group of them as I was nearing the Luo Rong Pastures and I couldn’t help but to stop and observe for a while. It was almost like a scene from a fairytale, they were cutting firewood, entering in and out of the red doors of their stone huts, lifting metal buckets on one hand.
It wasn’t easy to complete a recreational climb, much less work fast so that we will still be able to safely access the route. 1545 hr.
I reached the Pastures at 1630 and was pressed for time to continue on walking as the walk back to the Shuttle Bus Stop would take two hours, just in time for the 1830 internal shuttle bus back to the entrance. However, I was starving and wasn’t so willing to carry the heavy instant lunch down. I decided to stop to eat before continuing my journey since there were nicely installed seats at the Pastures. Once I was full, I would finish the remaining 6.7KM at double speed, I promised myself. That instant lunch box consisted of rice, and three packets of condiments, with one of them being water. There were instructions on the top of the box and I tried to read the small Chinese print.
“Don’t you know how to eat it?” a voice rang from behind me. It was a young local Tibetan, who likely resided in one of the stone huts around the Luo Rong Pastures.
“No,” I replied, unsure of what else to say.
“Let me help,” he said. He set the two water containers he was carrying in his hands on the floor and started tearing open the thin film on the rice. “We usually eat this when we are in the mountains,” he explained.
Apparently, there was a heat sensor at the bottom of the plastic box which would be activated when water is poured into it. I watched as he used the small plastic spoon provided in the box to stir at the white rice for it to “steam up better”. I wouldn’t have done any of that. He poured the water from the packet into the box, fitted the rice on top of it and poured the condiments on top of the rice. “There!” he said, sealing the box with the lid. “Wait around five to eight minutes and it will be ready to eat.”
I was stunned. There was steam emitting from the hole in the cover. My instant lunch box made steaming noises too, I could even hear boiling water. I instantly warmed my hands over the hot steam, much to the envy of tourists passing by. “You can do so too, I won’t mind!” I offered. I opened the lid after five minutes although the box was still churning steam and gobbled down the rice, its steaming heat a relief to my cold stomach.
Reaching the Pastures under grey skies. First self-heat lunch! 1641 hr.
I was back on my feet at 1708, with less than one and a half hours to walk 6.7 KM to the Shuttle Bus Stop. Nevertheless, I was going to try to walk as fast as I could. I had to climb down from the broadwalk at one part with my hands. A section of the broadwalk which linked to the walkway back to the Shuttle Bus Stop was missing and I was walking on the grass to the other side, trying to find somewhere low enough to pull back up on the walkway. No wonder everyone took the tram.
Half an hour into my walk, I realized I wasn’t alone. There was a guy in a red jumper some distance behind me who was soon joined by another guy with black framed spectacles and they soon caught up with me. They were Lanzhou natives and were driving themselves around Qinghai and Tibet with the 12 days of leave they got from work. Soon, we met a girl who seemed to be my age. She was from Shandong and had also graduated from University for a year and was currently working in Beijing. It was also her second day at Yading, only that she had managed to climb the long route on the first day, and had just finished her short route today.
“Did you also walk down yesterday?” I asked.
“Yes. I didn’t want to splurge on the tram fare.” she answered.
“Me too!” I exclaimed. “How long did it take for you to walk back?”
“I’m not sure, I took another route down yesterday?”
“Another route?” I questioned. There was only one visible route back down, which was the walkway we were on.
“The forest.” she replied, pointing to the trees beside us.
“What? Aren’t there no marked paths there?”
“Yup there’s no marked paths.”
“How did you not get yourself lost?”
“I followed a map.” she replied.
She was referring to an app called 二步路线 which users could follow off the beaten track routes marked out by hobbyist explorers. I had never heard of anything like it. The girl beside me was extraordinary, she had walked the entire route for two consecutive days with a fulll frame DSLR on her. Her Canon 6D was fitted with a heavy wide angle lens, making the weight of my 750D insignificant in comparison. I decidedly asked her if she ran marathons. She replied in the positive.
It was just great that I had met the three of them en route. None of us had sat on the tram today, and there was simply no one else on the walkway in the two hours we walked. We weren’t anywhere near the Shuttle Bus Stop by 1830. The girl reassured us that we wouldn’t be locked in the Reserves for the night, citing that she had taken the very last bus yesterday at 1900.An empty Shuttle Bus Stop greeted us when we reached a little over 1900, it was rather chilling. We immediately looked around for a park warden, but there was no one until one of the guys spotted a bus waiting in the distance. Thankfully, we met the very first person we saw in two hours, a Chinese driver at the wheel who informed us that his was the very last internal shuttle. Apparently, the very last shuttle left at 1930. We were the last people left in the Reserves though and the bus later pulled away with us four passengers. I left a message for my Hong Kong companion to have her dinner first as I would return late. She replied that she would buy instant noodles for me.
1829 hr.
Goodbye for now, Yading. 0739 hr. Taken on the last internal shuttle.
An hour later at 2030, we reached the tourist center which was closed by now. The two guys went to get their car whilst I exited the Reserves with the girl who had made the smart choice of booking her accommodation next to the entrance. The last public white bus back to Shangrila Town left at 2000 and unlike yesterday, I couldn’t find a single taxi. The girl had left for her hostel, and I was thinking about my options. it was already dark and I knew I couldn’t walk back to Shangrila Town. I kept walking down the main road, hoping there would be a taxi I could flag down. Somehow I knew it was almost impossible as public transport usually ceased operation by the evening here. The only thing I could do was to call for a Didi (Chinese version of Grab Car) and I was extremely nervous about it as it would be my first experience but I was left with no choice. As I was opening the app, someone shouted at me. It was the guy with black framed spectacles. He was pointing to the boot of a white car in front of him and signalling me to hurry over. They had seen me walking down the main road from their car and had stopped some distance in front to tidy up their clothes in the backseat to make space for me. I was rather apologetic and embarrassed that I had to trouble them but knew that that was my only way back. They were also heading to their accomodation back in Shangrila Town, though I knew nothing more.
Not a single soul when we reached the Tourist Center. 0820 hr.
The ride got increasingly awkward when I searched for the route to my hostel on the Chinese Amap. I turned on the GPS function, intending to quietly see if we were headed in the right direction however I had forgotten to turn down the volume and the directions were announced loud and clear in the car.
“Are you searching for directions to your hotel?” the red jumper guy asked. I immediately felt a pang of guilt, they had offered me a ride and I was doubting their sincerity by tracking the car’s movement on the map.
“Yes, I was afraid I might be inconveniencing you if we aren’t going in the same direction..” I almost stammered.
“This is the only road to Shangrila Town.” the guy with the black framed spectacles replied from his driver’s seat.
It was probably the most awkward experience I’ve encountered. I knew people on this route were genuinely kind and willing to help, yet I had evidently showed my mistrust of them. I couldn’t be more apologetic about my actions, my heart sank when they said they would send me to my hostel first as we neared Shangrila. I was doing nothing in return for their kindness, except showing that I had my guard against them. There were some turns they had to make from the main road in order to reach my hostel so I lied that I was going to visit the shops to buy dinner and got off earlier, hoping that they could reach their hotel faster with them being on the main road. “I managed to make it to the lakes today!” I excitedly announced once I saw my Hong Kong companion. She was conversing with the boss of the hostel at his study which was located on the same level as our room. We talked for a bit before I hurried myself off to our room for a much needed shower.
I was glad I managed to finish what I hoped to do. Life goes on.
Map of Yading Nature Reserves from the Hostel.
稻城日瓦国际青年旅舍 Ri Wa International Youth Hostel
稻城 香格里拉镇洛克小道10号（洛克广场附近）
It is recommended for one to stay in either Shangri-la or Yading Village (景区). Stay near the entrance (游客中心门外) if possible. If one chooses to stay in Shangri-la, one will need to take transport to the entrance of the Nature Reserve.
Transport to other Towns and Cities
There’s a bus from Shangri-la to Chengdu, 0600 from the Bus Station. The ride takes 15-16 hours with a ticket price of 302 yuan.
From here to Shangri-la City (In Yunnan) one can only 拼车
Other Notes: Raincoat, umbrella, coat for the cold, water and food are essentials for the ascent.
25 June 2019 (Daocheng).
My Hong Kong roomate left early for her 0600 bus from Shangrila Town to Chengdu. As I could not find another person to split the cost of a ride to Yunnan’s Shangrila, I would have to share a ride to Daocheng first, spend a night there and catch a bus to Yunnan’s Shangrila City. A Tibetan driver came to the hostel at 0800 and I crammed into the front seat as there would be others boarding later. The driver had a brief exchange with three Tibetan men and went into the hostel to fetch the others, the front doors of his car left open. The three Tibetan men then approached the vehicle, one came to the driver’s seat and shut the door. The other two held open the car door on the side where I was sitting.
“Lets go.” the man at the driver’s seat joked, fumbling around for the engine key and pretending to step on the accelerator pedal. I let out a nervous laugh.
“Where are you going?” the other two Tibetan men standing beside me asked.
“Daocheng.”
“Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you afraid of getting raped?” one of them asked.
“No, it’s safe here.” I could say that only because I could tell they were teasing from their expressions and tone of voice but it was the first time someone had put across the topic so blatantly before.
“How long is it from here to Daocheng?” I asked, changing the topic.
Sharing a car to Daocheng. 0827 hr.
The others who were sharing the ride with me were going to Litang. The driver would drop me off at Daocheng first before driving to Litang. They took an hour to emerge from the hostel. It was a familiar father-daughter pair from the bus I had taken from Litang to Yading a few days before. In the past few days, my Hong Kong room mate had a good laugh over my ignorance over the relationship between the supposed father and daughter. I genuinely thought they were related by blood but apparently, they were caught engaged in unlawful acts on the journey to Yading by my Hong Kong room mate who had a clear view of their actions from her seat on that bus. Ironically, this sugar daddy role was filled in by an athletic man in his fifties who sported a headband and had a kind face. If my Hong Kong room mate was right, then my judgement of character is upsettingly flawed.
The daughter could speak American English as evidenced when I heard her vlogging over the past few days. For an unknown reason, our conversations were in Chinese even though she knew I could speak English. We mainly kept the conversation flowing between the driver and ourselves, learning that Tibetan men were allowed to take many wives. The TIbetan driver also had a strong accent to his Chinese and I nodded instinctively, wondering if the practice still existed as I had only seen nuclear Tibetan families thus far.