Yading : Disappearing horizon on the rainy day
by: Pu Mekpipat
“P.S. Touring alone is quite easy. China is so beautiful then. Have a fun”
The above inbox message is to encourage me after I have asked suggestion from one young lady traveler through Facebook. She “went alone” to visit Yading.. the land in a deep valley of China.
Even some 3 years ago I did visit Yunnan alone, traveling along Dali, Lijiang, and Zhongdian as a backpacker, this trip is totally different. I actually feel like singing back to this young lady-traveler that: “Hey, it’s not what we have talked about..”
For this trip which I can only speak wǒ ài nǐ in Chinese my plan is to visit the famous park of Jiuzhaigou in the fall season at the end of October. I already booked the flying ticket to the city of Chongqing in Sichuan before hearing that Jiuzhaigou was temporarily closed due to the earthquake at the beginning of August 2017. I then instantly changed my plan amidst the less remaining time while happened to see the picture of a young lady back-packed tourist in the unknown land for me named “Yading”. It’s beautiful scenery (..not the young lady tourist’s beauty) abruptly altered my touring plan almost at that very second.
I traveled by myself in the land where English is almost unknown. So far, my experiences can be concluded as followings:
I traveled for 8 days and 7 nights with a total expenditure of 18,000 baht more or less (not including air tickets from and back to Thailand). If you have a friend with you, maybe you’d spend less.