 SICHUAN
(September,2002)
The
first day when we arrived in Chengdu, we didn't have a map of Chengdu. We left the airport
and then saw an airport bus with a brief route nearby. We went to have a look at it and
decided where we would stop. After a while, a disgusting man went by and hit me. I was
bearing a 10.4kg bag so that I lost balance and fell down. He didn't apologize and this is
the first impression that the local people left upon me. Never mind, I was still excited
to land in a new place.
When we found somewhere to live then we went to the nearby travel agency to join the
tourist group to Jiu Zhai Gou and Huang Long. After that, we went to Qing Yang Palace.
There was nothing special there, but there was a famous restaurant nearby. I had to say
even its most famous dish wasn't attractive to me.
Then
we wandered in the street and later we went to a park. I saw something interesting as the
entertainment. It's something like a bike on a track a few meters high. When you ride on
it you see the scenery of the park. I felt sorry to try it because I felt so scared. When
I arrived at the destination, I sweated a lot:) At night we went to Tian Fu Plaza but
unfortunately we couldn't find a famous hot pot restaurant.
The second day we started the trip with other tourists. They are from everywhere. The most
interesting person was from Shenyang. I could not say humorous words in Mandarin like
them, but I enjoyed listening to them instead.
It
was a long route. In fact we spent most of the time in transit. In the afternoon we went
to a temple to have a look. We lived in a hotel at night.
The third day we woke up very early. Basically I woke up either 4:30 or 5 am. In fact in
these days we woke up earlier than a rooster but ate worse than a pig.
Jiu Zhai Gou seems convenient because there were many green buses to take the tourists to
the scenic spots. However, there were still many tourists and I didn't think it was
convenient. The lakes were pretty clear. They were full of plants everywhere. I just
wondered why there were no creatures there. I couldn't hear the birds or even see an ant.
Very strange. Never expected I could see a panda there.
At
noon we had a lunch in the restaurant in Jiu Zhai Gou. Since I ate slowly, the people of
our tour group waited for me even if they finished their meals. I was so sorry for it. It
was very kind of them to do so. Since there were many tourists, if they left, they would
occupy the table and I would hardly finish my lunch:)
In
the afternoon we left the group and we went anywhere we like. We didn't take any bus and
we went on foot. After a long time, there was a red road with many high mountains nearby.
It was beautiful but no tourists went there besides us because it was so exhausted to go
on foot for such a long route. We were just crazy:)
At
night we attended a party. It was the minority traditional show. I can listen to Kenny G's
concert by that price:) They offered a little food including a bowl of tea, a little cup
of their wine and a few pieces of mutton. Their wine was special. It was a little sour and
sweet. It didn't taste very bad. The show was funny at the end.
The fourth day we went to Huang Long. The guide warned us if we felt sick then we should
return or rent an oxygen bag to go there. Huang Long was a plateau. Sometimes it would be
dangerous to have plateau symptoms. I didn't think it's necessary for me. The snow
mountain in Yunnan is much higher. Besides, there were so many plants in Huang Long. It
didn't make a sense it would lack of oxygen.
There was not any transportation in Huang Long. We went to the top of it on foot only. It
was tiring. We went to the hotel very late because of the long route. I was hungry on the
way but later I didn't have an appetite to have dinner so late. I ate a little and went to
sleep.
On
the fifth day afternoon we finally went back to Chengdu. It was time for us to say
good-bye to other tourists in our group. They are very nice people and I like them. Two of
them even reminded me to bring my camera. I am careless. I really appreciated them because
I would be so upset to be without my camera for my trip.
Then
We went to Ximen station to buy the coach tickets to Si Gu Niang Mountain next day.
Unfortunately I slipped and my bag buried me. It was very embarrassing:)
We lived opposite the station so that we would save time to go there early next morning.
Since the hot water is only provided between 8-11 pm we went to buy some food for
breakfast.
On
the way I saw an internet bar and I was so surprised the price was so low there. Besides,
it's ADSL and finally I could try how it was. My mailbox was full and no room at all. I
had to delete so many trash emails. Meanwhile I wanted to download something, so I
inserted my disk to the drive. It was strange and finally I understood what was wrong.
They didn't install the drive at all! In fact I should know it because they wanted to
avoid a computer virus. It was prohibited to bring a disk. If they charged me, I would
behave stupid and said I didn't know anything about computer:)
Anyway,
they didn't charge me and they even opened the computer to get the disk for me:) I
couldn't enjoy the net much and I had to leave since I had no more time.
The sixth day afternoon, we arrived in Ri Long Town. Si Gu Niang Mountain is nearby. We
walked for a little while and there was a local woman who spoke to us. She showed us the
photos of Si Gu Niang Mountain. I thought she was a good person so we decided to live
there. I offered a little bit more money for living there. Her inn wasn't good, but I
wanted to experience it because I wouldn't have
many chances to live in such a place in my whole life.
Later she found two horses for us to go to Hai Zi Gou. She recommended it. She even
recommended to us how we had to travel next day. She spoke to the ostlers in their own
dialect secretly, this made me feel a little uncomfortable. I thought if she arranged it
well, it was no problem.
The
ostlers took the reins and they stopped at a hill. We guessed they had to have a rest, so
we took a few photos nearby. Later we asked to ride the horses to go to the destination.
However, they said we were at the destination. It was not true, I couldn't find a board
for it at all. Besides, there was nothing to see there and it wasn't the destination. We
discussed this for some time. At last they required more money so that they would take us
to the destination. Of course I
said no and we returned. Actually we already gave them much money for it. We felt we were
being cheated.
On
the way to the inn we asked for the staff from a few hotels. We were convinced we were
cheated. We decided not to live in that woman's inn. I hate to be cheated.
When
we were back at the inn and said we would leave. That woman changed her attitude
immediately. It caused us to say to her directly that they cheated us and this was why we
wanted to leave. She explained it wasn't her responsibility. She arranged for us and
promised everything to take us to the scenic spot.
At
first we wanted to leave little money for the bags, but they woman asked for
more. We were angry because she cheated us at first. How we could pay so much especially
if we didn't live in the room at all? That woman wanted to lock the door. I wondered how
this cheap door could ever lock me out. Anyway, I didn't want to solve it by force. We
paid money for this greedy and tricky woman and I regarded it like giving to a beggar.
Never
live in this inn, it's called Xue Lian (Snow Lotus) Restaurant. That woman is Wang Cheng
Pei. Tel: 0837-2791879 or 13699023860.
At that night we moved to Jin Zhu Hotel. It wasn't very expensive and it was much more
comfortable. I felt very cold even if the electric carpet was turned on. That night I
vomited.
The morning of the seventh day I forced myself to eat more for breakfast although the food
was terrible. We rented two horses near La Ma Temple. The ostler was nice. I just felt
more and more uncomfortable on the way. The mountains were full of many special plants. It
was more special than Jiu Zhai Gou.
At noon we stopped in a little wood house. I drank the mutton soup but after a while I
vomited. I felt so sick. I assumed it might be a stomachache. I had never experienced one
so I didn't know exactly if it was. Perhaps my meal time schedule was mixed up during
these days and the food was so bad that I would have stomachache. Anyway, I still had to
go to the the destination.
When
we saw any tourists on the way, we would ask whether they have medicine. I was so
confident of my health that I didn't bring any medicine at all! Finally someone gave me a
headache killer. If it could release the headache,
probably it would help my stomachache. Unfortunately it didn't work.
I only took few photos because I was in no mood when I was sick. I thought it was a
painfully difficult trip. It is a regret. Those photos are very beautiful, everybody said
so, but they never know how much they cost.
In the afternoon we went down the mountain. On the way there was a tourist who rode his
horse so fast that our horse was frightened and also ran fast. I told him not to ride so
fast because it was dangerous on the mountains. Everywhere there were brooks, woods and
stones. He didn't listen to me and still tried to catch our horse, but there was not much
room for his horse to go first. Finally I was
angry enough to tell him not to do this any more because I already felt very
uncomfortable. Every big move would make my stomach feel more painful.
Finally we stopped to take photos so that he could ride his horse and go away. After some
time, we rode our horses again. I felt hope because we would go down from the mountain
soon. Suddenly he was behind us. I asked him not to ride so fast because the road was
rather narrow. I could let him go first when it was broader. No more than a minute, I
heard he rode his horse to catch us. At that time our horses were really frightened. Our
ostler couldn't catch the reins.
My horse was out of control. I tried to hold the rein to stop the horse, but it was in
vain. My horse ran so fast and then I fell down, my friend fell down second. The back of
my head and my back fell on the ground. At that time I thought I really was in big trouble
and I would be injured seriously. Even Superman got paralysis after falling down from a
horse. I didn't move until the ostler came to help me stand up because I was so scared and
worried about what kind of injury to me. Then I checked myself and it was very strange it
seemed I wasn't injured. I believe that I have a guardian angel to protect me:)
Fortunately my friend was only bruised.
I was outraged. I had never been so angry. I yelled at the bad guy. It was extremely
dangerous and he should be responsible for it. I hadn't tried to speak in Mandarin so well
before, I was so angry to speak to him. Finally I said I didn't want to waste time. We had
to go to the hospital or we would go to the police office. On the way he behaved well, so
I didn't blame him any more. I thought it was an accident and he did not intend for it to
happen. Maybe he already felt guilty about it.
At the foot of the mountain, we said this to his guide. No result, but we would go to the
hospital to check whether we were fine at first anyway. Later I saw this bad guy get on
the tourist bus. At that time I thought he wouldn't escape, but the bus started. I
couldn't believe my eyes. He could ran away like that! I believed in a wrong person!
I
asked it to stop but the bus still moved. I realized he really wanted to run away, and I
ran to try to catch the bus. I did run fast for a long distance like the movie
Speed. At that time I really wanted to throw my bottle to the bus and it must stop. I gave
up my this evil thought soon because I was the victim and I should not do anything that
others could sue me back. I come in peace.
I ran
and ran but the bus didn't stop at all and finally I understood he did it on purpose.
Fine, I didn't run any more, I marked down the bus number and called the police.
Finally we found his bus at another hotel. I was sure he must have felt shocked that we
could find him. We discussed the situation and he explained he didn't run away on purpose.
I didn't care, this was a fact. His guide even said we were careless, unlucky... It was
not funny to light my anger.
We didn't think it would be solved, so we left at last. After taking a bath, I felt hot
and I was angry again because I couldn't let it have this ending. I called the police
again.
That night I really made a lot of trouble. The head of the police office and also the boss
of the hotel was involved in this case. However, there were only the
guides to talk to us. They explained the bad guy was too guilty to see us. I didn't
believe it because he could even go to see the show at that night.
We slept late because of the discussion. I didn't give in because they should know how
serious it was. It didn't mean it was OK because we were not seriously injured. Next
morning a guide went to talk to us. He asked me to forget it. I said to him I didn't care
to spend more time and money on this when I went home. It was my business only.
He
also said if it was not solved, we had to stay. I said to him we were the victims, and
they were the defendants. It was impossible that I would have to stay as we had to leave
on time. Of course once I was back to Guangzhou, I would charge them no matter what and at
that time it would not be so easy. Finally he gave in. We won. In fact we won nothing but
the justice.
We
left at about 8:30 am that day. At noon we stopped in a little restaurant to have lunch.
After a while, this bad guy's bus stopped there, too. He came to say hello to us. I wanted
to be generous. I also said hello to him. Later I went to our bus and listened to music.
When I looked up, I was surprised to see he also got on our bus. He said he was sorry for
the accident.
He left his home address and phone number. He was from Chengdu and since we were tourists,
he invited us to his home because the panda research department was near his home. Then it
was my turn to feel embarrassed. If he didn't run away and behave so bad, I wouldn't
insist in catching him and calling the police to solve this problem.
In the afternoon we arrived in Chengdu. The next morning we went to a few tourist places
in Chengdu. At noon I had lunch at McDonald's because I had no appetite to the local food.
I was sick. I felt better by drinking hot chocolate, hamburger and french fires. At least
I could eat there as if I was eating the best food in the world:)
In the afternoon we got on the plane and we arrived in Guangzhou at night. Sorry to say,
it was my first time to be so enger to go home after a trip. At that time I just wanted to
leave as soon as possible. Unfortunately the ticket was booked before, I booked the latest
flight because I wanted to stay there for a longer. I regreted for my decision. |
