Sept 7

I'm just on the tail-end of the most exhilarating bus ride of my life (beating the landslide and flat tire one in Nepal -- hands down). We're traveling from Songpan, at the border of Sichuan and Gansu, to Sichuan's capital, ChengDu, a drive that usually takes 7 hrs but post the earthquake last year takes anything from 10-18 hrs depending on the number of traffic jams you hit.. we're on track for 11 hrs. The road nestles its way down through gorgeous mountains alongside an amazing river, but it is, due to the huge number of landslides, mainly one lane. Negotiating the roads (thank god we don't have the crazy driver we had yesterday) is done not through the great invention of traffic lights but through the honking of very loud and obnoxious horns, chicken-races where biggest "normally" wins -- resulting in regular complete and utter stalemates with drivers staring each other down until someone gets too bored and backs away. The stalemates are not too bad though cause it means one can enjoy the scenery and check out the various non-drivers we're sharing the roads with, herds of goats, yakcows, farmers-turned-construction workers (that seem to mainly just hang around and smoke). Going through one of the small villages, a half skinned cow was being cut up on the main street... enough to make me consider sticking to the vegetarian diet I've been enjoying over the past few days. Other than that, it's a reiteration or reinforcement of the impressions and experiences I've had traveling, mainly by public bus, through the largely Tibetan areas of Gansu over the past few days, from Xiahe to Langmusi to Songpan... The Chinese spit and throw trash out the windows, they smoke onboard the buses, they relieve (sp?) themselves at places I quickly wish to forget, but they smile and wave and take my picture, the temples, some of the food and the landscape is unbeatable. After nearly two weeks in this country I'm tossed between loving it, being bemused by it, pitying it and being disgusted by it... all in a time span of 5 mins.

Next step is Giant Panda breeding centre in ChengDu and some other bits and pieces (I have now arrived) in this VERY polluted city and humid city (you can look straight at the sun and it looks like a weak sibling of the full moon). Then we're off to Xian and the Terracotta Army.