We got up at dawn to get to the bus station for the 0730 bus to Songpan, but when we got to the station it was sold out and we took the 0830 bus (which we were not sure existed.) We couldn't figure out how to let ourselves out the apartment so H woke up and walked us to the bus station.
The bus ride was a lot less bad than expected. We got the barf seats in the very back, and the lady across the aisle from me got some bags to barf in halfway through the 8-hour trip. There were two stops for toilets, which were pretty awful, and at the second one we bought hot water for half the price of our cup of noodles, to make cup of noodles. Other than that, the bus was fine: clean and with sufficient legroom, and some sort of horrible Chinese soap-opera / kung fu tragicomedy playing through the whole trip.
We weren't sure when to disembark, so we called the guesthouse owner, and she determined that it was indeed the last stop, and ran out to meet us and guide us to her guesthouse... through an active construction site. The whole street was full of construction equipment and deadly concrete dust that gave Leia a bad throat ache. It was even worse than my slum in Petach Tikva. In the whole block there was no power or hot water until the construction stops in the evening. Unlike in Israel, they actually do something with the construction, so one moment there may be a huge drill blocking the way, and when you come back there will be a bulldozer and a pile of rubble to climb through.
Our room was cold and the bathroom stank of sewage. When we mentioned it to the hotelier's sister, she tried to plunge the toilet and spray some odorant (air freshener) as a temporary fix. We found this is a trait of the whole guesthouse, as well as bad water pressure. They don't have heating here even at night, but the blankets are heavy enough.
After we arrived we went to sign up for a horse trek, the only thing there is to do in Songpan (besides admire dried yak meat and organs in every storefront.) The tour company manager is named Fis Took (pistachio) and he assured us we'd get heavy Tibetan coats and needed to bring only our small bags and two bottles of water each. The price was quite high so we were hesitant to pay it all in advance with Leia's throat feeling sick. Fis Took took us to a "good Chinese doctor" in a suit for some throat medicine, and since neither of them spoke English, Leia asked the doctor bluntly if he was a real doctor. He presented us some pills and said to take four of each a day, but we couldn't read any of the leaflets or packaging to figure out what they were, and passed on it. Anyway Leia's throat felt much better as soon as we got her out of the construction pollution.
The bus ride was a lot less bad than expected. We got the barf seats in the very back, and the lady across the aisle from me got some bags to barf in halfway through the 8-hour trip. There were two stops for toilets, which were pretty awful, and at the second one we bought hot water for half the price of our cup of noodles, to make cup of noodles. Other than that, the bus was fine: clean and with sufficient legroom, and some sort of horrible Chinese soap-opera / kung fu tragicomedy playing through the whole trip.
We weren't sure when to disembark, so we called the guesthouse owner, and she determined that it was indeed the last stop, and ran out to meet us and guide us to her guesthouse... through an active construction site. The whole street was full of construction equipment and deadly concrete dust that gave Leia a bad throat ache. It was even worse than my slum in Petach Tikva. In the whole block there was no power or hot water until the construction stops in the evening. Unlike in Israel, they actually do something with the construction, so one moment there may be a huge drill blocking the way, and when you come back there will be a bulldozer and a pile of rubble to climb through.
Our room was cold and the bathroom stank of sewage. When we mentioned it to the hotelier's sister, she tried to plunge the toilet and spray some odorant (air freshener) as a temporary fix. We found this is a trait of the whole guesthouse, as well as bad water pressure. They don't have heating here even at night, but the blankets are heavy enough.
After we arrived we went to sign up for a horse trek, the only thing there is to do in Songpan (besides admire dried yak meat and organs in every storefront.) The tour company manager is named Fis Took (pistachio) and he assured us we'd get heavy Tibetan coats and needed to bring only our small bags and two bottles of water each. The price was quite high so we were hesitant to pay it all in advance with Leia's throat feeling sick. Fis Took took us to a "good Chinese doctor" in a suit for some throat medicine, and since neither of them spoke English, Leia asked the doctor bluntly if he was a real doctor. He presented us some pills and said to take four of each a day, but we couldn't read any of the leaflets or packaging to figure out what they were, and passed on it. Anyway Leia's throat felt much better as soon as we got her out of the construction pollution.
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