Last week I was on a week long trip to the Sichuan Province to China. At
one point the staff member leading the trip used the perfect adjective
to describe the trip: Arduous. Our trip became with an extremely
turbulent plane ride, and then continued with a rainy bus ride and
arrival at our first destination. We visited the famous Buddhist Dazu
Grottos, which are gorgeous Buddhist images carved into a natural rock
formation. I walked along the beautiful rocks surrounded by lush green
bamboo and feeling the rain hit the hood of my jacket. Even though the
conditions weren’t ideal it was easy to see why monks decided to live in
this beautifully peaceful place.
Our trip continued the next day by driving in the pouring rain to our
next destination where we didn’t get to hike up the World’s Largest
Buddha or visit the monastery behind the Buddha. It was the beginning of
what turned out to be an excruciatingly disappointing trip. I had been
looking forward to hiking to see the Buddha and the monastery but
instead our group was forced to take a Maid-of-the-Mist style boat ride
where I barely got to see the Buddha. After the boat ride we got back on
the bus and later arrived in a small town with nothing to do, nowhere to
go, and nothing to see. It was also freezing! Literally, it was snowing
during the night. We stayed the night in a guesthouse with no heating. I
was sharing a room with my friend Katrina and both of us feeling
miserable and tired we climbed into our freezing beds wearing as much
clothing as possible at 7:30 pm. When we realized what time it was we
felt super lame and decided to stay up and play 20 questions. So, after
an hour we called it a night and went to bed in a room that was the
same temperature as outside, which was freezing!
The next day began the arduous trek to the Tibetan cultural region of
the Sichuan province. We drove over, around, and through mountains
through a blizzard. We drove all day and into the night and finally
arrived at in the snowy darkness at what our guide claimed was “the most
beautiful village in all of China”. I was extremely skeptical, as I had
to stumble up a rock path in the dark to get our homemade village
dinner. Once dinner was over we walked outside (where it was snowing!)
to see the villagers perform traditional dances for us. There was fresh
goat meat roasting on a spit over the fire and hot tea for everyone to
enjoy. Even though I was cold and tired it was really a great experience
to see the villagers dance. It was an even greater experience when the
villagers asked us to dance with them, then turned on some village
techno, turned off the lights, put on a strobe light, and turned the
night into a village rave. It was strangely beautiful to see the snow
falling and people dancing with the flashing strobe light. After the
party we went back to the village houses we stayed in and again slept in
all our clothes since there was no heat.
The next morning I woke up and looked out the window and realized why we
had been told it was “the most beautiful village in all of China”. The
view was breathtakingly beautiful. I was looking at the snowcapped
Himalaya Mountains over a roof flying Tibetan prayer flags. My friends
and I decided to take a hike before we had to meet for lunch, and as I
walked past the trees covered in blossoms and snow I couldn’t believe
how beautiful the village was. Every single moment I looked at the
mountains I was hit by the majesty and beauty. There wasn’t a second
when I wasn’t overwhelmed by the breathtaking beauty of the landscape.
We found a goat path and followed it around the side of the mountain to
soak in more of the gorgeous views. Along the way we saw colorful prayer
flags flying against the brilliant white rocks and snow. For a while I
just sat on a rock and stared at the majestic mountains. It was amazing
to be so close to Tibet standing on a mountain The rest of the trip mostly consisted of driving on the bus, stopping to put snow chains on the tires, driving more, stopping to get food, driving more, stopping in a town to sleep for the night and doing it again. There was so much time spent on the bus that we spent more time on the bus than doing anything else. There was one night we were in the
town on the border of Tibet and ate dinner there and then drove away
because of yet another blizzard. It was absolutely heartbreaking for me
to be so close to Tibet and not be able to see anything or stay there
for more than the hour we had to eat. The whole trip left me feeling
worn down, disappointed, and heartbroken. I’m glad that I got to hike in
the most beautiful village in China but I am saddened that this trip has
left a lingering sadness in my heart. It is my hope that one day I can
return to that region of China and experience all the things I wish I
could have done on this trip. At least I can remember the smell of clean
mountain air and in my mind see Tibetan prayer flags fluttering against
the backdrop of the Himalayas.
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