Danba

[Tiếng Việt ở dưới]

I only spent two and a half days in Danba, but this small and beautiful land left me with many memories. Danba has everything: towns and countryside, mountains and rivers, trees and grass, sunny and rainy days, moonlit and starry nights, Han and Tibetan people, meat and vegetables.

In particular, the mountain trails sparkle with a golden hue when the sun shines on them. This scene can only be enjoyed with the naked eye, as cameras cannot capture it. Although the path up the mountain is not easy, if you take your time and let your soul wander among the trees, flowers, and fruits along the way, or gaze at the distant mountains covered in white clouds, or listen to the gurgling streams, you won’t want to leave Danba.

Although English is not widely spoken in Danba, the people are very friendly. Han and Tibetan people gather to dance cheerfully in the streets in the evening. In the Tibetan villages, they grow everything from grains and vegetables to fruits. In the city center, various goods and supplies are traded.

Danba has a river flowing through the city. Walking along the riverbanks during the day and standing on the bridges at night to admire the moon and stars is truly wonderful.

I really crave the ice cream in Danba!

Danba, a paradise on earth!

Haiz, makes me wonder where I buried all the dreams I had.
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Chỉ ở Danba có 2 ngày rưỡi, nhưng vùng đất nhỏ xinh này để lại cho mình nhiều kỷ niệm. Danba có tất cả mọi thứ: thị trấn và nông thôn, núi và sông, cây và cỏ, ngày có nắng có mưa, đêm có trăng có sao, có người Hán người Tạng, thức ăn có thịt có rau.

Đặc biệt, các con đường mòn lên núi lấp lánh ánh kim khi mặt trời chiếu vào. Cảnh tượng này chỉ có thể thưởng thức bằng mắt thường, vì máy ảnh không thể lưu lại được. Con đường lên núi tuy không dễ dàng, nhưng nếu vừa thong thả đi vừa thả hồn với cây cỏ, hoa trái ven đường, hoặc ngắm nhìn những dãy núi xa xa mây trắng phủ đầy, hay nghe tiếng suối nước róc rách chảy thì bạn chẳng muốn rời xa Danba nữa.

Mặc dù ở Danba người ta không nói tiếng Anh nhiều, nhưng con người rất thân thiện. Người Hán người Tạng tụ họp nhảy múa lúc chiều tà ở phố trên rất vui vẻ. Ở làng dân tộc Tạng người ta trồng đủ thứ, từ lương thực, rau màu đến hoa quả. Ở khu trung tâm, người ta buôn bán đủ loại hàng hóa vật dụng.

Danba có một dòng sông chảy dọc thành phố. Ban ngày đi dạo các con đường ven sông, buổi đêm đứng ở những cây cầu bắt ngang thị trấn để ngắm trăng ngắm sao thì thật tuyệt.

Giờ thèm cà rem ở Danba ghê nha!

Danba, thiên đường trên mặt đất!

Haiz, makes me wonder where I buried all the dreams I had.

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 15: Chengdu To Hanoi, Transit In Guangzhou

Chengdu panda

I didn’t have a good night sleep so I felt a lil bit tired after waking up. Alex said that he didn’t wanna miss breakfast. Alex looked forward to a Western breakfast, but they served a Chinese one. Ha ha! But I liked this kind of a light breakfast.

We rent a bike next door, at Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel, to cycle around the block. It was great to ride in Chengdu because there was no rain nor shine. I realized that the Chinese girl style of riding bicycles and e-bikes was a lot different from the Vietnamese ones. They rode bikes like guys did. No exception! It was raining a lil bit after our 3 hours of cycling.

Checked out of Angelica Hotel 5 mins before 12 noon. I liked the advertising panel near the hotel that says, ‘Red is the new attitude.’ At last, I bought some cookies as a gift for our colleagues. We had a simple lunch in a near-by store with vegetables only.

Because we still had a lot of time, Alex wanted to try a real coffee. In a building, we found a coffee shop which looked normal from outside but was of high class inside. The expensive Italian coffee here cost a lot more than what I ever tried in Vietnam.

Again, we got on the wrong bus 300 to the North Bus Station instead of the airport. At last, the bus made it to the airport soon enough for us to board the plane. We had a lil bit of trouble because Alex used his name to book my ticket, so we needed help from the China Southern Airlines for some changes.

There was no delay, but we still ran at Guangzhou Baiyunport again because I wanted to be sure we could be on time for the next international plane to Hanoi. I had a fever and was afraid of the health check and customs clearances at Guangzhou and Noi Bai airports. But turned out everything was okay. We arrived at Noi Bai airport at 10:30 PM.

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 14: Danba To Chengdu

We got up very early, packed up very fast. We shared a cab with an Asian guy, costing 3 yuans each. We were early for the bus so I had a light breakfast. The drive to Chengdu got us stuck in 2 traffic jams, one of which was caused by our bus driver. He hit a car and quarreled with them for about 1 hour. The we got stuck in another traffic jam spot somewhere near Ya’an where we had been stuck on the way to Kangding on day 3 (???).

We returned to Chengdu around 7 PM. Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel was all booked. Because we had no advance reservation, we went to the hotel next door called Angelica Hotel (安祺高酒店). The price here was cheaper, and I thought this was the best accommodation we had stayed in China so far.

We went to eat noodles and wonton dinner at the place Alex picked the last time because he liked the noodles here a lot. The weather was kinda hot so I didn’t enjoy my wonton much.

We counted money. Except for the camera, I only spent very little here. That was a surprise to me! But then think again, we ate little and I must have dropped some weights after this trip.

We’ll have breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant the next morning. Yahoo!

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 13: Danba Hiking

Last night I had the longest sleep ever. I didn’t wanna go out, but then to please Alex’s desire to walk more, we got out of the hotel at 9 AM and walked along the road out of town until we found a track. We met a Tibetan woman, later she gave Alex two oranges. And he gave me one. It must be the best orange in my life.

But unluckily, at noon, we couldn’t keep going forward anymore because the way was blocked by a lot of grass bushes. After trying in vain for another way to come up to the mountain, we gave up and gotta go back, also because of Alex’s allergy to pollens. We stopped under a big tree to rest and wait for the sun to go down a bit. But we only sat there for 1 hour or so because the clouds seemed to be afraid of the sun, too. While sitting on a rock, I was thinking I wouldn’t wanna leave Danba, and Danba was the most beautiful place on earth.

While walking back to the hotel, there was a guy in a car signaled if I wanted a ride, but I rejected. We reached the hotel at around 3:15 PM. Then I took my shower while Alex was searching for peanuts. I liked the shower I had today. I feared the coldness no more.

I was waiting for the round moon, but it hid behind the mountain. I could only saw it a bit on the way back to the hotel.

I so loved life here. Danba had everything: mountains and rivers, trees and grass, downtown and countryside, sunny and rainy days, cloudy and starry nights, lovely and friendly Chinese Han and Tibetan people, the food, the dancing on the road in the evenings, stores of all kinds, and especially, the roads that glitter every step I take.

I shed few teardrops when I thought tomorrow I would have to leave these beautiful sights. The only thing that Danba didn’t have was Facebook.

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 12: Garzê To Danba

I hardly slept so I got up early. I rushed Alex to pack things up because we had to walk to the bus station.

The bus looked like a truck with so many things on the floor, blocking the isle. The music on the bus was too loud. Also, the driver used too much of the horn. Anyway, I didn’t feel like I would get a fever again. Hope my tonsils won’t hurt me again, either.

At the bus station, we realized that there would be no bus back to Chengdu tomorrow. Thanks to another Chinese girl who spoke English, we could book the bus ticket for the 6:30 AM bus the day after tomorrow. We decided that we’d go about Danba tomorrow because we only could come back to Chengdu the day after.

On the way to have dinner and back, I bought a pair of earrings looking like the one of Aussie woman for 30 yuans and gifts for my siblings (a folding fan for my sis and a prayer wheel for my lil bro). We had another beer but Alex didn’t like the black beer much.

Tonight the sky had a few stars. I saw the round moon. It must be day 14 or 15 of the lunar month. These were the first stars I’ve seen since I came to China. I had expected more than that.

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