Mother Nature's techni-colour dream coat : Day 1

I was struck dumb by the beauty of Mother Nature in Jiuzhaigou. (This was apparently not the case for the mainland tourists who were loud enough to scare away any wildlife within a 10KM radius) . The entire valley was coated in autumn hues of red, yellow, green and even blue. It was truly breathtaking. Pictures can be viewed at:

Day 1: Arriving and visiting Huang Long Travertine Pools
Flying into Jiuzhai Huanglong airport, the first thing you'll notice are the snow capped mountains partially hidden by low clouds. Next, you'll notice how hard it is to breathe! That's because the airport is situated 3400 metres above sea level (ASL). The air is very thin and a few small skips ( I skip when happy) and I could hear the roar of my pounding heart! From the airport, we went straight to Huang Long. Our guide from Ctrip was great - very knowledgeable on local customs and gave good time estimates for the sights at Huang Long. She also warned us not to fall asleep immediately because of the high altitude. We needed time to acclimatize. On our way to Huang Long, we stopped at the highest point reachable by public roads for a quick photo. This was at a height of 4077m above sea level. Again, those 10 steps from bus to scenic spot felt like a thousand miles...

The highest of the Huang Long travertine banks are located 4066m ASL. The entrace to the park is 2000+ metres ASL. The thought of climbing was NOT appealing. Thank goodness the guide recommended we take the cable car to 3000+ metres and hike the remaining distance. The walkways were under reno but there were plankways which we followed. It was a short walk but oh so tiring. There were plenty of rest stations with oxygen tanks along the trail in case of emergencies. These banks are pretty similar to the ones found in Turkey. Only difference ( I think) is that this is NOT a hotspring. The waters are icy cold and very untouched. The Tibetan tribes that live in the area believe the place sacred and don't touch the water.

There weren't as many tourists as I expected so we could walk leisurely on the narrow paths and view the pools unhindered. Little food kiosks were found midway down so Daniel & I tried the yak meat meatballs and a red bean pastry. Both were scrumptious! Especially since we were climbing in the blistering cold on empty stomachs.

After the pools, we drove down to Songpan village for dinner. It was evident that the Sichuan earthquake hit these folks bad. 90% of the shops, eateries and hotels were closed. The region survives on tourism but the tourists weren't coming. Of course, many of them kept yaks and sheep but that's all they had. Rice, fresh vegetables & fruit were exorbitant as they were imported from Chengdu (which is about 5-6 hrs drive away) via a single road. The other roads have been closed/ collapsed since the earthquake. These are the same roads that used to deliver more 200,000 tourists into the region in the peak Autumn period. Now, a meagre 5,000 visitors have arrived. From the looks of things, It's been a hard year for the tribes in Songpan and Jiuzhaigou and it looks to be a hard winter with food being so expensive.

We arrived at the Sheraton Jiuzhaigou after a 2hr mountain drive. The hotel is conveniently located 1.5km from the entrance of Jiuzhaigou's nature reserve. Before the tourist slump this would have been a great place to stay with plenty of eateries, cafes, bars and shops located nearby in Bian Bian Street. But the Street is now a ghost town. I think we saw only 5 shops open along the 1.5km route! Nonetheless, the hotel was great. Service was impeccable.