FW: Xiahe to Longmusi

Vultures, Tibetan monestry town & oh so cold....

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Our permits to enter the autonomous rgio of Tibet had been cancelled due to landslides,  but today we travelled through an area that is basically Tibet, though not officially in the region.

Getting there provided a great ride on some fantsastic roads and a further climb of about 1500 feet, to the monestary town of Langmusi at 3500m.

High altitude affects people in different eays and to varying degrees, the only effect I notice whilst riding is a slight floaty feeling un my stomach once we pass 3000m, quite possibly due to the rapid ascent that occurs ona bike on spirited roads! Once at the hotel and carrying my bags up the stairs to the room, the other effect comes into play - having to climb slower than normal to avoid becoming breathless.

The journey from Xiahe to Langmusi, was relatively short, only taking a few hours but took in some lovely scenery and stunning roads...

The air was cold (heated grips and jacket required unless you stayed below 60kmph) but the sky was clear for the most part and rain just about held off until after we arrived.

So some great fun was had by all on the straights, sweeping bends and hairpins as we travelled through the peaks.

Every so often there would be a small settlement in amongst the hills. And often these would have the ornate wooden exterior doors characteristic of the region.

Examples of Bhuddist Stupa also became more prominent.

And herds of Yak were a common site, often wandering acrss the road.

The occasional sighting of prayer flags, fluttering wildly in the strong cold winds, gave a mystic feeling to the harsh surroundings.

I had seen a lot of eagles as I rode, but mever managed to get a picture of one as they are normally soaring way overhead. But I did manage to get a snap of a couple vultures, picking on whay I assume was a young yak. These birds were large, about 3 feet tall.

The streets of Langmusi were paved amd rather quaint in appearance.

Our hotel looked pretty grand, but had no heating at all, only had hot water in the mornings and was otherwise quite run down. It was a very cold and uncomfortable night, it seemed that the rooms were colder than outside for some reason.

Outside, the locals seemed to know how to wrap up warm...

Still there were some nice views from the windows, so I went for a stroll before the rain clouds I could see in the distance made an appearance.

There was quite lot of construction work going on, as there always seems to be wherever you go in China, but amongst the rubble, dust & dirt there were some lovely buildings.

I saw this shop selling goat skulls & wondered if I should get one for the front of the bike, better not eh!

 

Anothjer shop was selling various mushrooms - not sure if these were magic or medicinal?

 

The streets were colourfull, added to by the rich maroon robes worn by the Tibetan monks from the monastery.

More street scenes ...

... we finally found a proper little coffee shop and so had a decent cappuccinos for the second day running .....

....and then of course walked back to the hotel & promptly fell asleep again....doh!