Kunming To Weixi

I arrived in Kunming on the evening of 3rd Feb. It was
a warm 20 deg C and things were looking good for a
successful expedition. That evening, I took a sleeper
bus to Lijiang and from Lijiang bus station, I hopped
on a bus bound for Weixi. This back-to-back
long-distance road travel took its toll. Halfway to
Weixi, I was suffering from hunger, dehydration and
lack of sleep. I was shivering and had a headache to
boot. However, after a good lunch of Sichuan mapo tofu
and plenty of green tea at a roadside stall, I was
somewhat better.

But the journey wasn’t smooth at all. When we reached
Tacheng in (still in Lijiang county), we received
news from the locals that 2km down the road, a car had
overturned and blocked the road completely. The driver
backtracked to Judian and there, we crossed the
Jinshan Jiang by motorised rafts! From the opposite
bank, travelled all the way up to Qizong (past the
blocked section, where a bridge across the Jinsha
Jiang brought us back on track. It’s really amazing
that when there’s a will, there’s a way.

Qizong seems like a very interesting place. It’s at
the crossroads between Weixi and Shangrila. From here,
you can head up to Highway 214 after Zhongdian. This
is also a very Tibetan place, with a Damo Hotel which
is very Tibetan in architecture. At first, I was
wondering what the founder of Shaolin Temple had to do
with the Tibetans. Then I realised that further up in
the Tacheng of Weixi county, there’s a cave where Damo
once meditated. Tibetans have enshrined the cave as a
pilgrimage spot. I was tempted to visit, but the bus
didn’t stop here. This part of Weixi resembles lower
Khumbu in Nepal. Coniferous forests, Stupas, mani
stones and Tibetan stone fences and houses. As we
moved into the interior of Weixi County and bade the
Jinsha Jiang farewell, the Tibetan atmostphere thinned
down. This region has plenty of uninhabited forests.
The construction of some log houses was just
beginning.

I arrived in Weixi at about 1600 yesterday afternoon.
Weixi was rather unimpressive at first. It was colder
than Lijiang and a lot poorer and dirtier. However,
there are internet “bars” like this one and many
modern amenities are available – the nightclubs and
karaoke bars no less.

Only this morning did I explore Weixi. The marketplace
was really colourful and there is a shizi lu here
which is a mini version of sifang jie in Lijiang. I
headed towards the Biluo Range, across which is the
upper course of the Salween River. In the north, I
could see a small tip of the mountains in Tibet. I
made it almost to the snowline, but decided not to
take risks and turned back as I didn’t bring any gear
food or water with me. The scenery here reminds me of
Mae Hong Son, especially when I looked down at Weixi
town from the mountains. It resembled what Mae Hong
Son looked like on the Old Elephant Trail.

Back in town, I made enquiries at the bus station and
found out that the chances of getting to Deqin from
here are actually quite high. The Mekong River Walley
Road is at 1000m at most places while the
Zhongdian-Deqin route goes over several 5000m passes .
However, this route will take 2 days. I must take a
bus to Yanmen (Swallow Gate) first and then hop on a
bus to Deqin the next day to cover the last 80km.
Finally, my dreams of reaching Deqin in winter are
coming true. Wish me luck. I’ll let everyone know the
outcome soon.

Gong xi fa cai everyone. Chinese (and Tibetan) New
Year are seriously happening in these parts. More
when I return.

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