Asia Trip: Day 163 - Danba 丹巴 => Tagong 塔公 (6/25/19)
Daily Highlights:
Woke up at 6:00am to take the early morning bus to Tagong
Listened to the Joe Rogan podcast with CT Fletcher
He had a heart transplant, it was an older woman’s heart and it was wild to hear about his experience.
GOT TO TAGONG
This place feels like the wild west
Went to the local monastery and the big hill
Such an incredible landscape
Went to the local cafe with a lot of Israelis, got amazing craft beer, soup, and good conversation
At night there were about 20 wild horses and one small dog that wandered into the town square and were chilling with a Yak. They were all eating grass and rooting around the garbage together.
I absolutely LOVE THIS PLACE! It feels so unique, foreign, genuine, and real. It feels like the wild west here. Everyone has cowboy hats on, rides horses, there are big grasslands and it really feels like you’re living life on the fringes.
This place has a certain ineffable quality to it, that people can’t quite figure out. It feels like an old western way station town with monasteries, filled with so much Buddhist culture. The people here are gruff but unusually friendly, more wild and very rough. Everyone you talk to is usually Buddhist and are dressed in either normal clothes or traditional robes.
Maybe it’s the mountains, maybe it’s the ever present Buddhist culture, but this place feels different. It feels truly wild. It feels genuine and authentic. And more than anything else is it feels holy. There are wild horses, yaks and dogs wandering throughout the town.
Wandering around the monastery right next to our hostel.
Chatting with some of the monks before they go to prayer.
Asia Trip: Day 164 - Tagong 塔公 (6/26/19)
Daily Highlights:
Woke up, had eggs with peanut butter for brekkie
Went to the nunnery
It was cool, but v cold and started to rain
We hitchhiked back to the hostel
Read and chilled for the afternoon
Had carrot soup with ginger and hot water for lunch
That soup tastes how this place feels - refreshing and holy
Worked out, felt good, but felt the altitude
Jump rope, burpees and hammies
Had sapale for dinner - Tibetan pot pie - SO STUFFED
Went next door with Shay and Shoa for tea
Had great talks with them and Finnish guys about traveling
I really liked the Japanese guy- he has western sense of humor and it was refreshing
Shay thought I’d been traveling forever, such a compliment.The Scottish guy, who was nice but v weird, said I was like life embodied, just pure life. THAT’S HIGH PRAISE.
Happy as can be following my bliss soaked in the cold, pouring rain.
Asia Trip: Day 165 - Tagong 塔公 => Kanding 康定 (6/27/19)
Daily Highlights:
Woke up early and caught the 8:30am bus
Listened to the CT Fletcher and Henri Rollins podcast
Walked up a HUGE hill to Zhilam hostel
They’re fully booked :(
Looked for other hostels close by - no dice
Walked two miles with my backpack to new hostel - LOVE IT
Reminds me of a big log cabin and a home in the Swiss Alps
Watched Children of Men
TOOK A SHOWER - felt so nice
Worked out at play ground (5x10 pullups, 5x12 dips)
Went to a temple - OFFICIALLY TEMPLED OUT
Got an apple and lychee for dinner
Talked with mom and dad
Watched a doc about Michael Bisping
I am starting to listen to my body more and NEED to properly stretch and recover, while doing more yoga. It just makes my body sing.
Asia Trip: Day 166 - Kanding 康定 (6/28/19)
Daily Highlights:
Had a hard time sleeping because of stomach pains
Woke up at 5:15am and chundered (must have been the fruits)
Chilled at the hostel the whole day
Had a brekkie of snickers, tea and YouTube videos
Bought my ticket back to Chengdu
Watched 300 Rise of an Empire and stretched
Wrote some of the Motorcycle Meditations
FELT SO GOOD TO WRITE
Also realizing how much I’ve learned and grown in the past years
GROWTH IS THE ESSENCE OF LIFE
Got Kung Pao Chicken for dinner and entertained myself with a whole group of Chinese people
Watched Rabbit Proof Fence - INCREDIBLE MOVIE
I also loved the tactile, visceral quality of the blankets in Western Sichuan. Pure wool, it’s amazing. SO warm, thick and heavy. It makes me think of the type of blankets that would be in a cabin in Alaska. It really evokes a primal memory or warmth and survival. Blankets that are not for style or fashion, but for utility and making sure you don’t freeze to death.That quality of raw survival is apparent everywhere here. Survival for the family, surviving the weather, and surviving against the government.
Asia Trip: Day 167 - Kanding 康定 => Chengdu 成都 (6/29/19)
Daily Highlights:
Woke up at 6:15am and made my way to the bus station
Listened to Laird Hamilton and Anthony Jeselnik podcast
Got a train ticket to Xi’an
Had to go to the train station because the woman at the local kiosk was v annoyed with me
GOT A HAMBURGER FOR LUNCH
Took a nap, played pool, got 番茄炒蛋 for dinner
Went to a cultural exchange event at the hostel
Had a few drinks and had this Chinese guy show me magic - magic while tipsy is always better, but still kind of weird
SOME GUY SERIOUSLY PLAYED WONDERWALL ON GUITAR and I tried to contain my laughter haha
Had great talks with the Chinese kids who lived in the US
We talked about Trump, politics, how China has changed in the past decade, strange occurrences in China, dating in China, the Western influence and much more