Tibetan writings, somewhere along my way to kangding

The ride from Luding to Kangding, hmmm i underestimated this ride too much. I thought it gonna be easy, only 52km away, and I thought, Kangding is only 2100m altitude. I was sitting at 1380m altitude in Luding, so i calculated, that 52km, i only need to climb 700m vertically. Piece of cake. The first 20km was easy, flat road, lalala… i took my own sweet time, took an unnecessary rest. Right after i passed a small village, there was a steep climb. Ah well, only 700 meters vertically… i climbed climbed climbed and climbed… I checked and it was already 2040m altitude… and the road.. is still going uphill… steep! Eh, then i started to think, how high is Kangding? Oh man… that last 30km was tough! I wasnt prepared, and i read wrongly. I then stop for lunch, took the map, oh gosh… Kangding is 2620m altitude! I then rode slowly, and I reached Kangding at around 6! It was already drizzling that time. I then told myself, “Gila punya gunung!” Right after i found a cheap guesthouse, it rained heavily. Pheww.. lucky me. The room i got was very nice, comfortable, and nearby a muslim restaurant! Time to feast some beef and rice!!!

Kangding mmm….

View of Kangding from Paoma Shan

Kangding, a sexy town sitting at 2620m of altitude, also surrounded by mountains, but bcoz of the high altitude, the temperature is below 15c. I could see more tibetan than chinese here, I could hear more “tashi delek” than “ni hao”, and more “thoo jaychai” than “xie xie”. I realized that Tibetans are rough, unlike the chinese. Their skin is darker, look a bit like malay, but not as sexy :) On my first day, I felt so lazy, didnt even take my bike, i just walked, wandering around this town. I then discovered theres a mountain, Paoma Shan nearby, and theres 2 way to go to top. U can either hike or take the cable car. annddd… i took the cable car lol. Coz i felt so lazy, and my legs still hurt from yesterday’s ride.

should i ask her wether shes riding to russia too? :)

On the second day, it was raining. Goood… time to feed my laziness!! Its so good to be in foreign country where nobody understands u. Everytime i passed by young pretty girls, i can simply say “Hello my love”, and they just smiled without knowing what i was saying haha. Its Friday now, and today i visited the mosque for Friday prayers. Hmmm theres not much, probably around 20-25 chinese muslims here in Kangding that performed the Friday prayers. I was fascinated to hear the kuthbah in chinese language, and to hear them reading the Quran. When i entered the mosque, everybody looking at me. Again i attract attentions. Honestly i dont see many chinese muslims, as its hard to find chinese muslims back in Malaysia. But there are many chinese muslims here in China, especially in Qinghai and Xinjiang (Im heading there soon). Hearing them reading the Al-Fatihah during the prayer, a bit with the chinese dialect, I was amazed, a new experience to me. After the prayer, they invited me for lunch and as usual, i speak in English and they replied back in Mandarin, and we understood each other perfectly what we were trying to say. Magical! Its raining the whole day today and I dont have any plan to go out today, as i need to save up energy for tomorrow’s ride! Ill be riding to Litang tomorrow, through remote areas in China, and wont be having internet connection for days until i reach Litang! So this might be my last entry for the month. Zai jian!

Tibetan prayer flags everywhere here...