the LONG DRIVE to JIUZHAIKO ...10 hrs bus ride

 our loNG bus journey

from Chengdu city at Oakwood Residence we started our 10 hr bus journey to Jiuzhaiko. But we will break the trip with a stopover for one night in a little village along the way and the next morning to continue to Jiuzhaiko.

And as usual the team leader , Opera, his name equipped the bus with tons of beer and water. Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou is about 460km, passing thru 5 counties and beautiful scenery of the Minjiang River Valley.  We were very fortunate indeed that the highway has been repaired and opened in December 2012 since the earthquake last year. This highway passes through Chuanzhusi from Songpan to Huanglong.  

Vibes of the last earthquake disaster still lingers on as the bus quickly pass through the many tunnels and winding highways. Due to the experience of the landslides and misfortune of the local residents along this highway,nowadays the Chinese residents takes a different approach to life - they now " live for today" and because of this new lifestyle, the local banks has to close shop !

Jonathan our Hotel suite mate

Iced bus window

defrosting ice

one of the many designed tunnel entrances

scenes along the way.... 

men skinning the yak

 scenes from our bus windows are we passes villages

we had a very good driver , young chinese resident. He's super cautious especially along the slippery icy roads and challenging winding mountain roads. 

We stopped at a "souvenier" shop. The products are all made from Yak bones and Yak horns. I dont think any of us bought anything except we found a very interesting women's TOILET in the building. See below for pictures of the "open concept" toilet...with auto flush !

The Songpan County is an ancient Tibetan town. Unfortunately our Chinese guide is not very keen for us to walk around the village nor the ancient town, which actually looked very very interesting . But some of us manage to walk in and have a real quick 10 min walkabout before we had to board our bus to Jiuzhaigou for the night.

chit chat

the entrance to the ancient village

wall surrounding the village

we only manage to walk in 50meters before our chinese guide insists we have to go  hotel check in

The Dujiangyan Irrigation system begun in the 2nd century BC, is a major landmark in the development of water management and technology. It illustrates the immense advances in science and technology achieved in ancient China. The temples of Mount Qingcheng are closely associated with the foundation of Taoism, one of the influential religions of S.E.A.
There are 11 temples on Mount Qingcheng of special significance in the field of Taoist architecture. They are the traditional architecture of western Sichuan. The ERWANG TEMPLE west of Dujiangyan City was substantially reconstructed in the 17th Century. he carvings inside record the history and achievements of water control.

the streets -  modern touch of architecture, quiet though

 and our dinner in one of the streets stalls.. we cant quite make urselves understood, so we are not sure what we had for dinner.but later on the next day we realised we had YAK meat . not too bad.

lots of yak meat..dried in many styles

and roasted rats

OF COURSE ...TOILET BREAKS ! oh wow.... this toilet became our "breathtaking view" and many photos were taken before, during and after wee weeing.... oops and amazing it has AUTOMATIC FLUSH SYSTEM ...the water flushes right from the end at the first "toilet" and drains down through all the rest !!! meaning the choice lot is right at the end (the first one) !!!