17/4/24
Weds: Woke up at 7.20am and had buffet breakfast an hour later. The炸酱米线was a plain bowl of soup
with noodles and we added the other condiments ourselves. It turned out not
bad. *I also love their sweet potatoes everywhere we had it for breakfast
haha.* We had our first taste of酥油茶 too, which tasted like salty milk but I quite
liked it. It’s apparently made of milk from yak.
啊龙then drove us to巴拉格宗大峡谷. We took a few photos at纳帕海lookout point on the way. It
was not a sea but a lake in fact. Arrived巴拉格宗大峡谷at 11am and had the next six and a half hours
to explore the huge canyon valley. *It used to be unknown to the world until
roads were built and you could literally spend three days in there if you want
to visit every stop I think.* Saw the千年菩提树near the entrance.We
hopped onto one of their buses and it took us up the windy roads tour first
stop at巴拉卓玛拉康,
a Tibetan Buddhist temple. *It was at high altitude, so I felt my heart
pumping as we took the steps and I was almost breathless.* Went into the
insides and the young guide was telling us of the Buddhist culture and how to
actually place our palms when we pray to the Buddhas. No photos were allowed in
there. He was talking about our zodiacs, told some of us to wrap around a table
and asked about our families before suggesting to everyone how many福铃they should buy for
blessings. *I almost had to spend RMB 600 to buy 10福铃, which I turned
down politely.*
For
the second stop, we were brought to巴拉村and there was a mini museum.
It was time for lunch and after looking at the few options available in the
area, we decided on burgers and fries (RMB 94) from香巴拉星空驿站café. The奥尔良鸡腿堡was only okay. Alina also ordered a cup of青稞拿铁 (RMB 50) and she quite liked it. *saw an
interesting breed of cat~*So,
the lowest point here was 2000m and the highest we could go to was at 4200m at香巴拉佛塔 (but not the peak of巴拉格宗神山at 5500+m), which we could
for some extra fees, but it was a pity we did not have the time nor right
winter wear I think to go up there this time. Maybe next time.
Came
to回音壁for our third stop. There
was a zipchair but it did not look like it was working. *Alina screamed a
few times here haha.* Apparently, the glass panel we walked on in mid-air was
at 1700m ASL and is 1106m long. *One had to spend about an hour just walking
to and fro at this altitude. Had to take it slower.*
The
wind was chilly but the views were stunning and I saw more glaciers than when I
was in New Zealand lol. *Plucked up courage to “let go” of my feet at one
point haha!*
Alina
decided to rent a pair of shoe wraps for RMB 1 to go onto the glass panel
platform but I could not bring myself to do it. I’d freeze on it haha.
For
our last stop, the bus came down to a much lower altitude in the valley and it
was again non-stop walking but it felt very peaceful. There was a boat ride but
we did not take it since the river’s not blue nor pretty haha.
At
5.30pm or so, 啊龙hurried to send
us over to the place where he made a reservation for us at a seemingly popular藏民家访 (RMB 180 each person). But when we arrived at
7pm, they stopped us from going in because they said the place was fullhouse
already! What the!? After some negotiation, the middleman told啊龙to drive to another one 4.5km
away.
Joined
in for the “dinner party” at 7.15pm with many other locals and tourists I
believe. *I wonder if they have such dinners very often cos the interior was
huge!* We had personal hotpots on a shared table which were overflowing
with food. We tried the yak meat and it was quite chewy. Their藏香猪肉tasted different from Singapore’s
pork though and it was not as tough even when cooked through.Enjoyed
the藏族表演 as we ate dinner and met
two young Chinese couple from浙江whom
shared a table with us. *Their青稞酒 was damn strong!*
After
dinner, everyone danced around the campfire outside. *Alina and啊龙clearly enjoyed
the music and dance lol!* The mood
was joyous and everything ended at 8.45pm. 啊龙then drove us to乐福阁丹精品客栈inside独克宗古城.It
was situated in the corner of an alley and designed to look like someone’s
home. The night was cold but it was good the bed was heated.
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