Anna and Dennis' Most Excellent Journey

Trip Start Feb 23, 2006
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Trip End Jun 24, 2009


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Sunday, August 26, 2007

After another 12+ hour bus ride up some more dodgy Chinese roads, I finally arrived in Jiuzhaigou. I left before 8am and didn't arrive until well after 8pm. Anna and Dennis left Hong Kong after I left Chengdu and arrived hours before me. I guess there's something to be said about 5 star travel and flying instead of taking the bus. They had a nice hotel withing walking distance from the park gates and I was about 5Km away in a 15Y dorm room. But regardless of whether you are paying 15Y or 650Y for your room, you still have to shell out the 220Y for the park entrance fee. We had heard that you can avoid the 90Y bus ticket by walking up half way. What we didn't know was that it took 3 hours to walk to the point where they stop checking for tickets. Between the 1st and 2nd village, we got on a bus with 1 bus ticket between the 3 of us and managed to Jedi Mind Trick our way past the ticket checker. "You don't need to see my ticket". It is possible to walk up to the 2nd village in about 2 hours, if you didn't have a camera or didn't want to stop and smell the roses
Pearl Shoal's Waterfall
Pearl Shoal's Waterfall
. I really enjoyed the walk along the streams and all the mini waterfalls along the way. My recommendation, skip the bus ticket on the first day, but buy it on the 2nd so you don't have to waste time walking the same path both days. Even better yet, although your guide book and anyone you ask will tell you it's not possible to stay in the park anymore, I have it on good authority that you can stay in the first village after the fork in the road on the left if you want, 30Y. That way you can skip the bus ticket for both days and enjoy the park before anyone else gets there in the early morning and late at night after all the tourists leave. Oh well, wish I knew that before.

Jiuzhaigou is an incredibly beautiful place. It has everything that I love about nature treks: babbling brooks, raging streams, waterfalls galore, crystal clear lakes, snow capped mountains, forests... The only problem is that it's extremely accessible to the common man which means loads of tour buses drop off loads of people that otherwise would not be able to visit such a place. The trails have all been replaced with wooden planks covered with mesh metal grates. At first, I really hated the planks, but after awhile I started to like them. Instead of having to look down all the time while hiking through the forest, you can just stroll along and keep your eyes peeled on what you came there to see without worrying about falling on your face. Unfortunately, all the wildlife also know where you scary humans are and keep their distance. It was rare to see even a bird or squirrel after walking through the nature park for 2 days, but it didn't matter when you saw all the beautiful scenery around you. It's all about sustainable mass tourism. The University of California and Washington have been consulted in how to minimize the impact of such large numbers of tourists visiting the park each year. It's estimated that there is enough accommodations around the park for up to 20,000 visitors a day. If you are trying to decide whether to go or not, go and go now. It's worth the trip. Just try to think outside the box so you can avoid the hordes of tourists running in packs all over the park.
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