It was raining when I arrived in Kunming around mid August of this year. I immediately checked myself in a cheap backpacker’s hostel together with an Israeli couple that I met on the bus. The hostel was great, the staff were all English speaking and there’s a lot of useful travel books and brochures that you can borrow regarding traveling in Yunnan and Sichuan province.
Kunming is an average size city. I spent a couple of days walking around the city, hopping from one bus to another while deciding if I would go to Lijiang or to Shangri-La. Yes, you heard it right, Shangri-La. It used to be just a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton. But now China has adapted the name, maybe for tourism purposes.
Some facts about Shangri-La from Wikipedia
“Shangri-La County is primarily Tibetan county in northwestern Yunnan Province in southwest China and the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomus Prefecture. The town was formerly known as Zhongdian County.”
After a couple of days of lounging around the laidback city of Kunming, I had decided that Shangri-La would be my next stop. I’ve always wanted to go to Tibet but since I wouldn’t be able to afford it, I might as well go to other Tibetan villages which wouldn’t require the highly sought after Tibetan permit.
I took an overnight bus from Kunming to Shangri-La. I couldn’t remember how much I paid though but I’m sure it wouldn’t break your bank. There are several ways to go to Shangri-La. You can either fly directly or take a bus from Kunming, Lijiang, Dali or Deqin.
I met two other tourists from Switzerland inside the bus. Both of them already had a reserved hostel in Shangri-La which made me worried a bit. I didn’t have a place to stay yet. But what the heck! I thought I would just figure it out when I arrive there.
As soon as we arrived, we immediately went out and were surprised with how cold it is. I really don’t like cold places but it didn’t stop me from being excited in experiencing Shangri-La.
We shared a wagon like vehicle which brought us to the old town. The old town is primarily inhabited by Tibetans and it’s also the backpackers’ area in that town. It seemed like Shangri-La is divided into two areas, one is inhabited by Han Chinese and the other by Tibetans.
The county center seems to be gearing towards modern development. You’ll see a lot of new buildings, modern shops like laptop and mobile phone stores and some other stuff. The interesting thing was, you would see Tibetans dressed in their local clothes using modern technology like mobile phones.
I found a very cheap hostel which cost me only 30 Yuan or approximately $4. There were two beds inside the room, and it could have been cheaper if I found someone to share the room with. What a waste right?
The old town is full of souvenir shops. I was shocked to see some stores selling fur. I thought they were prohibited already. There’re cheap food stalls that served barbequed food in the middle of the city center too. I personally like the grilled wild mushrooms, the vendor in her limited English words told me that it came from the mountains. It was awesome!!! I couldn’t describe how it tasted but it’s really delicious and cheap.
There’re some tourist agencies as well offering trips to Lhasa or camping excursion to the Tibetan wilderness. It could have been great if Flip could afford it. But Flip couldn’t.
I stayed up until nightfall in the center of the old town doing what a usual traveler does, people watching. And then they started playing some Tibetan folk songs. They cleared the center from all the vendors, and the locals started dancing.
The act attracted a lot of tourists as well. After a few minutes, the center was filled with people dancing to the Tibetan hymn.
I couldn’t explain the emotion that I felt while watching them dance. Their faces were happy and calm. No trace of worries for the inevitable future. It’s a face of contentment and happiness that we’ve all been dreaming about.
I wanted to join them dance but I was glued on my seat. They danced maybe for an hour or more. As they were enjoying the rhythm of their folk music, I was enjoying observing everything.
And there it was, a perfect moment. For once in my life, I felt I was present. For once in my life, I felt I was not living in my past or future thoughts.
For once in my life, I felt free and alive. And it all happened just by listening to their hymns and watching their movements.
Weird, yeah I think. Surreal, definitely! Though I would give up everything just to feel that calmness and serenity again.
The following day, I took a bus and headed up north to see and experience more Tibetan culture.
