Kangding - the beginning of Tibet (November 30 - December 2)

From Chengdu we caught a bus westward to the city of Kangding. On the ride there we met Peter, a Tibetan from the town of Batang who had only a few years prior started an NGO with some friends of his from university. His NGO was involved with poverty reduction and the betterment of lives for Tibetans living just outside of Tibet. Many of his projects had been funded by western countries, including two projects funded by the government of Canada.

Sight from the side of the road on the way to Kangding

Kangding was an absolutely stunning city. Built within a deep valley and surrounded by jagged mountains and with a rather large river running through the middle, if it wasn't in China then I would have thought that it was a little slice of the Swiss alps.


Kangding's Central River

The City of Kangding

During our stay in Kangding we went and visited one of the only Tibetan schools outside of Tibet in China on the suggestion of Peter. The walk to the school, about 3km outside of the town was beautiful. As we walked by the little farms along the river we were joined by a large number of school children who had just finished school for the day. Kids all over China are always amazed and intrigued to see a caucasian face, especially in these more remote towns. But as children all over the world are, they easily befriended us and all waved goodbye to us one by one as the went to their respective homes.

Mark walking with the kids

At the school we visited Derek, another one of the guys who started the NGO with Peter and spent a lovely afternoon chatting about the trials and tribulations of running an NGO in China.

After leaving the school we walked back to town and climbed a holy mountain to the east of the town. It was a beautiful walk up the prayer flag covered mountain and we made it to one of the lower peaks just in time to watch the sunset.


At the base of the flag covered mountain

Near the top!

Later that evening, after strolling around the lovely little town we met Anne (Ireland), Bobby (England) and Ofir (Isreal) who (little did we know) would soon become our posse for about a week through the Tibetan plateau. We all hit it off very quickly and enjoyed a few beers and games of cards before hitting the sack in preparation for what would be our most trying portion of the trip to date...