Can't sleep!
It's 6 am (UTC+8) and I'm already awake. I can't sleep. It's probably a combination of jet lag and of the excitement of being back here. I have to go to the bank and to do some shopping before my bus leaves at 1 pm but nothing opens before 9 am. So I have some time to relax in my room and to take full advantage of the bathroom here. I'm not sure of when I'll be able to get a hot shower after leaving Chengdu. There are some public showers fed by hot springs in Kandze but I'm not sure that I'll have the time to stop there.
In Rigul, I'll have to wash at one of the small streams running trough the village. It's going to be so cold...
As you may have guessed, the living conditions in Rigul are basic at the most. No electricity, no water pipe, no toilets, ... When I say no electricity, it's not totally true. A couple of people have generators and quite few have small solar panels. A solar unit comprises a small panel, a battery and one or two bulbs. You can buy them in Kandze. Prices start at 1,000 RMB (100 euros).
Today's drive to Kanding should be very smooth. Two hours of highway, then a two hours climb to the tunnel below the Khakha Buddha La pass followed by another couple of hours to Kangding.
Carine Theys, a friendly colleague of mine was kind enough to lend me a small GPS receiver that also features an altimeter. It has many features but the HMI is not that good and I should spend some more time on the user manual. If the satellite coverage is good enough, I will at least try to provide coordinates for the place I pass trough. I suggest you to paste them into Google Earth to give you an idea of my position on the globe and of my progression. Of course the photos for China are not that detailed. Have a look at Chengdu for example! (Type in "Chengdu, China".)
Googling the names of the places I go trough should also provide you with many details and other traveler's reports. The only difficulty is that most places usually have one name in Tibetan and one in Chinese and there are sometimes variations in the phonetic transliteration. For example, Kandze is Garze in Chinese and Kangding is Dartsedo for Tibetans.
Anyway, I'll leave you here, it's shower time and I'm going to enjoy it!
PS: First GPS Reading
Traffic Hotel
N 30°38.862'
E 104°04.224'
Satellite Altitude 477 metres
In Rigul, I'll have to wash at one of the small streams running trough the village. It's going to be so cold...
As you may have guessed, the living conditions in Rigul are basic at the most. No electricity, no water pipe, no toilets, ... When I say no electricity, it's not totally true. A couple of people have generators and quite few have small solar panels. A solar unit comprises a small panel, a battery and one or two bulbs. You can buy them in Kandze. Prices start at 1,000 RMB (100 euros).
Today's drive to Kanding should be very smooth. Two hours of highway, then a two hours climb to the tunnel below the Khakha Buddha La pass followed by another couple of hours to Kangding.
Carine Theys, a friendly colleague of mine was kind enough to lend me a small GPS receiver that also features an altimeter. It has many features but the HMI is not that good and I should spend some more time on the user manual. If the satellite coverage is good enough, I will at least try to provide coordinates for the place I pass trough. I suggest you to paste them into Google Earth to give you an idea of my position on the globe and of my progression. Of course the photos for China are not that detailed. Have a look at Chengdu for example! (Type in "Chengdu, China".)
Googling the names of the places I go trough should also provide you with many details and other traveler's reports. The only difficulty is that most places usually have one name in Tibetan and one in Chinese and there are sometimes variations in the phonetic transliteration. For example, Kandze is Garze in Chinese and Kangding is Dartsedo for Tibetans.
Anyway, I'll leave you here, it's shower time and I'm going to enjoy it!
PS: First GPS Reading
Traffic Hotel
N 30°38.862'
E 104°04.224'
Satellite Altitude 477 metres
posted by francois at 3:30 AM
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