Kangding (康定)
18 June 2019.
Kangding is the capital of the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, an area at the westernmost edge of Chinese Sichuan that was historically part of Tibet. Kangding has always been regarded as the entrance to Tibet from mainland China and this will be my second time to the area where I stopped over for a night for acclimatization purposes as well as to stock up on some clothing in anticipation of the cold at higher altitudes.
Took the metro to reach Chengdu Tourist Bus Center (成都旅游集散中心) at 0721 hr for my morning departure to Kangding.
Chengdu – Kangding is a well-established and frequently travelled route indeed, in my few experiences in China, it was the first time the bus route came with in built entertainment for it’s First Class seat. The bus was also full of passengers.
At around 1200, the bus pulled to a stop at a security post in Luding and everyone alighted to swipe their identity cards. The police simply recorded my details into a logbook and we were good to go.
Future railway connection into Kham Tibet.
Arriving in Kangding, 1320 hr.
My bus from Chengdu pulled into Kangding at 1400 and I immediately bought a 0730 bus ticket to Litang for 102 yuan for the next day as foreigners are not allowed to buy bus tickets online. There were two daily buses to Litang, 0730 and 0930 and it is advisable to buy one’s ticket as soon as possible as seats to Litang fill up fast. Kangding may not be as idyllic as other Tibetan cities but it is easily one of my favourites with a good mix of vibrant city life and surrounding natural beauty. I took a public bus and alighted in the center of town, walking along the raging waters of the Zheduo River banks in search for my hostel.
Public Bus from the Bus Station into the City of Kangding. Unlike in Xiahe City, Gansu Province, the Bus Station in Kangding is not centrally located but instead, about 10 minutes away from the city centre.
My search on foot proved futile after half an hour and I held my hand out for a cab. The cab driver took one look at the address on my phone and shook his head.
“No cab will be willing to go there.”
“Why so?”
“It’s too far in. We usually have to return with an empty car.”
The cab driver eventually drove me to the supposed destination 10 yuan. Driving up some narrow alleyways, he dropped me off along a row of houses, claiming that his vehicle could go no further and that the hostel was nearby, I will be able to find it on foot. Finding a hostel that was hidden amongst buildings perched along the hillside wasn’t how I intended to spend my time. What made it worse was that the numbers of the buildings did not seem to run in order, I was looking for a 75 and the numbers of neighbouring buildings seemed to jump from 56 to 62. Once, I approached a building to look for its number and was greeted by a series of thundering barks from a Tibetan Mastiff. Before I could turn away, the Giant Mastiff sprinted towards me and I screamed a little too loudly. The owner dashed out of his unnumbered house. His Tibetan Mastiff went to him, his chase cut short by the length of his leash.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, I was just looking for a hostel.”
“You’re touring around here then?”
“Yes.”
“The place you’re looking for isn’t here.”
“Can I know your house number then? So that I know how close I am to the hostel.”
“My house doesn’t have a number. I rear pigs here.” he smiled with an eye twinkle.
I couldn’t help but to return his smile. No one seemed to know where the hostel was so I backtracked to where the cab had dropped me off and tried the opposite route. This time, I found the hostel easily and to my surprise, the popular Zhilam Backpacker Hostel was beside my current accommodation. That meant that my hostel was actually easy to reach on foot and I must have taken necessary steps. No one was in the hostel when I reached, I had to search for the hostel’s landline number on booking.com and got through to the lady boss who later arrived, stating that she wasn’t aware of my booking. Half-heartedly, I wanted a change of hostel to somewhere that was nearer to the city but soon relented when I thought of spending another hour walking the streets in search for another suitable hostel. The lady boss claimed that her hostel was very near Kangding City and brought me to their balcony, where I could see Kangding’s cityscape and the famed Mt Paoma. Her hostel was near Kangding City alright, however it was a steep climb up some narrow alleyways. She gave a helpful advice though. “Don’t waste your money going to Mt Paoma, there’s nothing there.” the she warned. Indeed, I could almost see the summit of Mt Paoma from their balcony and there seemed to be nothing much other than two shrines.
After dragging my backpack and myself up steep slopes, my Hostel for the night. 1432 hr. Most if not all travellers who stay here have their own means of transportation.
For the rest of the afternoon, I heeded off to Namo Monastery as recommended by lady boss. The monastery grounds was quiet and interestingly, the few monks I saw wore yellow sleeved robes. They shuffled about from room to room across the front yard, busy with their chores. A Tibetan man was leaving the monastery as I arrived, with his son and daughter in hand. I casually asked if he knew where the washroom was, he shook his head and continued on. I was most surprised when he called out to me a while later. He had asked a monk about the location of the washroom and was calling for me to turn back for the washrooms were located outside the monastery. Thanking him profusely, I hurried to the washrooms in relief. Later, after looking around each individual shrine within the monastery, I came to a mini stupa garden where two Tibetan women ushered me into circumambulation when they saw me staring cluelessly at the white stupas. Deeply engaged in prayer, they spoke nothing whilst making gestures with their hands. I took it that I needed to circumambulate the stupas three times. After making the rounds, I shuffled beside them, pointed to my camera and pointed to the outside. One of the women tapped on my shoulder and pointed out a narrow staircase which I later found to be the exit. That was a highly efficient speechless encounter.
My evening was spent shopping for warm clothing at the Love Song Square. I loved my leisurely walks around the stone lanes of Kangding, listening to music streaming from the bars, watching the droves of locals dance into the cooling night. There were also plenty of ICBC branches around the City to withdraw cash from.
Potatoes as snack whilst walking around the City. The iconic Zheduo River raging through the centre of the City. 1750 hr.
Feel free to join in the freestyle dance on the Square every night (广场舞). 1923 hr.
Potato Strip Dinner Takeaway. 2054 hr. Decided to takeaway so that I would not have to navigate around the narrow alleyways back to my hostel too late. Ate my dinner at about 2200 hr.
My only worry was the uphill climb back to my hostel, where I might encounter another Tibetan Mastiff along its narrow alleyways. At around 9PM, I dragged water and food back up to the hostel and was thankful that nothing undesirable happened.
19 June 2019.
The next morning, I woke up at 0500 to catch a cab to the local bus station. Halfway through my cab ride, the Tibetan driver turned to me, informing that there will be another couple joining me in the ride to the bus station. He reached out and turned on the meter for the couple. Cabs in Kangding start each journey at 5 yuan and operates like GrabHitch where up to four strangers can share a ride. Interestingly, the driver earned 12 yuan, 6 from myself and 6 from the couple who joined the ride later. My fare must have been a high 6 whilst theirs, a low one.
Descending the narrow alleyway from my hostel to the City. 0620 hr.
One can easily get breakfast at the bus station. Shops are already open by 7AM and I hurriedly stuffed my empty stomach with paus. The bus to Litang would be the first time I sat on a full bus in China. All seats were occupied by a mix of Chinese, Tibetans, a few foreigners and most interestingly, a large group of young officers from the Chinese Army. We stared in bewilderment as they loaded the bus aisle with large rustic green army field packs. The luggage compartment of the bus was already full and the bus driver looked dazed as he figured out how he should fit everyone’s luggage onto the bus. It wasn’t everyday we’d see army officers boarding public buses and I understood why from their countless baggage. Those who later boarded the bus had to climb over piles of luggage and hoist themselves to their seats. The bus was full of smiles though, everyone was telling each other to be careful and directing the army officers to pockets of space around the bus where they could stuff their field packs into.
Fieldpacks are passengers too. 0653 hr.
“Where in Litang are you going to train at?” a lady at the back row of seats asked the young army officer sitting beside her.
“I don’t know, I’m just following them.” the young officer replied.
That was a cautious reply, I suppose they weren’t supposed to talk about themselves. A safety officer later boarded the bus around departure time, took one look at the overflowing aisle and informed that there was no way the bus could depart with so many luggages on board. The officers would have to leave some of their bags at the station which will later follow them to Litang on the later 0930 bus.
Accomodation
Kangding Guozhuang Nan Wu Hao Boutique Inn
75 Bai Tu Kan, Lucheng Zhen, Kangding , 626000 Kangding, China
My stay was not too bad but I’ll personally find somewhere closer to town in future
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