K Lee has written to us about the highlight of her alternative holiday to China - the Tagong Grasslands - we can almost close our eyes and be there.
Hi GoldenGapYears, a few friends and I visited China last year, not the usual tourist spots but a true alternative adventure! My favourite place of the whole trip was Tagong and I wanted to share my log entry with you.
"Our final stop before heading back to the Han Chinese people is the Tagong grasslands in far Southwest China - a mere 3700m above sea level. We’ve all been lucky enough not to suffer too much from altitude sickness bar a minor headache and lack of breathe, but some people have been physically sick and have had to leave pretty quickly for lower pastures.
The town in Tagong is neat and compact with a monastery at its focal point, a market square and one long street with various restaurants and clothes shops. The town is surrounded by gently rolling grasslands and epic mountains, including one huge snow capped peak which looks amazing.
We all went out for a day horse trek which was brilliant and a good insight into the local culture. We had a friendly local guide who we couldn’t converse orally with but did just fine using hand signals. The horses were more like ponies and extremely well behaved. For those that weren’t so confident, another guide walked alongside the pony so we could all concentrate on enjoying the sights which were beautiful. Expanses of flower covered grasslands dotted with grazing yaks and squat black yurts (nomadic tents).
During the ride we stopped off at a small prayer-flagged village where old women circled huge prayer wheels and yaks stood grazing slowly. For lunch we spent an hour or so in one of the nomadic tents with our guide and his family which was a real eye opener. The weather turned really bad just as we got there - wet and windy but inside the tent it remained waterproofed and pretty cosy. The only downside was the smoke from the fire really got to your eyes! Lunch was the traditional butter tea plus a more leafy variety plus some hot, hot chillis and pickled radishes.
Back in Tagong there was more to discover. A visit to the local monastery is a must. People must walk anti-clockwise around it. There’s a huge amount of religious imagery painted on the walls and often you’ll hear monks chanting prayers in unison. The temples can also be visited from above with an hour walk up the steep prayer flag covered hill that lies directly behind the town.
Tagong has a lovely laid back lost in time feel about it, mixed in with a strong religious and cultural identity. The locals have been exceptionally nice to us, saying hello as we pass and asking us in for a cup of tea. We’ll be sad to leave."
Would you like to share some of your travel memories or logs with us, we'd love to hear from you. Submit a review, click here.
Home
go back