Got picked up at our hostel at 5:25am to catch a van that would bring us to our 3 day tour bus to Jiuzhaigou (九寨溝) and Huanglong (yellow dragon,黃龍), national parks. Arriving at a small street we got let out of the transfer van and joined about 1000+ Chinese tourists on the street waiting for buses with only a license plate # to identify our tour bus. Each time a bus pulled up, a mob of people rushed towards it and 90% turned away disappointed after checking the plates. The other 10% started jockeying for position trying to estimate where the bus would come to a complete spot so they could be the first to board and get the best seats. While this was occurring, we bought 2 of those u-shaped neck pillows for 50 cents each to sleep on the bus with. As soon as our bus appeared, Charlotte ran knocking people over and jumped on the bus getting the prime front seats with extra leg room.
As soon as the bus left ~6am, we passed out. We were awakened by the full size bus hydroplaning and later again when it fishtailed coming out of a turn. This was not a great bus driver.
Our tour guide
Our tour guide on the bus had an ability to talk for hours (all in Chinese as I was the only foreigner) over a microphone without a pause, which made sleeping hard. When we finally did get to sleep after her speech was over, we were woken up by her screaming at other passengers. Not knowing what was going on she finally got to us and woke Charlotte up telling her we needed to pay ~$100 for 2 "shows" near the town, we said no and she moved on, going back and yelling at other passengers that if they didn't buy both they should at least pay the ~$24 a person for at least one of the shows. When people still refused she claimed it was in the contract they signed for the tour. Everyone said that the tour agent said they were optional (which is exactly what they told us), however when they called back the tour agent would tell them they had to buy at least 1 and if they didn't like her attitude they should just get off the bus in the middle of the mountains. During these fights we made a stop for lunch which was pretty horrible as all the meals for 3 days were included in the tour price. Back on the bus she finally got back to us and Charlotte refused to deal with her and so I kept telling her she would have to deal with me, but she spoke no English. Finally she got our tour agent on the phone who, like everyone elses, lied and said she told us we had to buy one show. Finally we caved and payed $24 each to go to a dinner "show" at the town we were staying in.
Chinese impression of the tour guide
Even though everyone got into a screaming match with her, when Charlotte mentioned she didn't like her attitude to other passengers, they would respond, "Really? I thought she was ok." Thats right, having your tour guide screaming at you = an OK attitude in China! We did not know at the time but it turns out the driver and tour guide get no money from our purchase price and only make money if people buy these "shows" or items from stores they bring us to (see Day 26).
Our hotel
Finally arriving at our "hotel" we have dinner, another very very bad meal. Then we get separated into rooms. Charlotte and I get a room together that connects to another room where 3 guys are going to stay in and we all share 1 bathroom. This was probably top 4 or 5 worst hotels I have ever stayed in. The entire hotel smelled of urine and our room had dirty walls, 1 small very dim light, a toilet that only worked maybe every 5th time it was used, a wobbling shower with hot water only after 9pm that barely worked and a spider the size of your palm in the room. Plus we only had a key to our room which was off the main room, so we had to find someone to let us into that room each time.
The Show
Anyway, off to the "show" that night. The show consisted of going to a Tibetan tribal families house for dinner. This tribal family seemed to only consist of fifteen 20 year olds, wearing jeans and tshirts with "traditional clothes" over them. Our suspicions were confirmed when one asked where Charlotte was from and she said Taiwan and they responded that she was Chinese. These were not real tribal people, maybe their ancestors were at one point, but they certainly were not anything like the people we met in Lugu Hu (瀘沽湖) or Shangri La (香格裡拉). We were then fed all you could eat yak, lamb and chicken. We ate a lot, only to be told later by a local that they recycle the meat from earlier shows that people didn't eat. Oh well.
The "family" members then took turns singing. Of course I was the only white person in the audience of like 50 people. They desperately tried to get me to go up and sing, but Charlotte convinced them they would lose all their customers if I did. Not speaking any Chinese also helped me get out of it, but what really helped is they realized I wasn't the only foreigner, there were 2 Asian Canadians that spoke Chinese, so they immediately picked on them. This was our second tribal show and they always love to show pretend marriages which they did with the Canadians. We then had to go back to the hotel where we were in the middle of no where and sit in a dimly lit dirty room until we could sleep.
From 77 Days in China |
They did serve us their traditional alcohol drinks, I don't think there was any alcohol in it though
From 77 Days in China |
Lots of yak
From 77 Days in China |
One of the "tribal girls" singing
From 77 Days in China |
Charlotte outside their "house"
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