After our P day on day 3, we had some more driving to do again today. But we felt rested and refreshed, and we planned our day today meticulously. There were a couple stops that we wanted to make on the way from Kangding (康定), north to Danba (丹巴), and I was also very insistent that we arrive at our final destination well before dark. I definitely didn’t want a repeat of our night driving adventure on day 2.
We woke up on time, had some bread for breakfast and were ready to set off. We had around 4 hours of driving and that left several hours to stop and enjoy the beautiful scenery on the way.
We pulled onto one of only two roads that led out of town. Things were going smoothly for a few minutes, but then we got caught in traffic. Traffic in Western Sichuan was not unusual, and I was very thankful that for most of our trip, we had avoided the horrible traffic jams that people talked about. But we had finally gotten stuck in one. We waited and waited, and the weird thing was that we weren’t moving at all. It wasn’t one of those traffic jams where you are inching forward. Nope, we weren’t moving at all.
After about 20 minutes, we started to feel like the situation was a bit odd. It was raining, which was disappointing because we wanted to enjoy the views on the drive, and we figured that was probably part of the reason for the traffic jam, but not moving at all seemed a bit weird. Also, very few cars were coming by from the other direction.
Timothy got on a map connection app and started looking into what the problem could be. He found a way to chat with other people on our road who were in the same problem that we were in. Lots of people were wondering what was going on and why we weren’t moving. Timothy also checked another road that was a bit longer, but that road was also way backed up. Finally, Timothy found out that there was a traffic accident coming from the other direction. Apparently, someone had tried to pass a slower car and hit someone coming from the opposite direction. Great, that was one of my biggest fears—those people who sped around slower cars regardless of whether or not we were going around turns or through villages with narrow streets. Apparently, accidents did happen. Oops. But I was thankful we were safe for now.
But the question was, what should we do? Should we keep waiting? There was a huge line behind us, and if we gave up our spot now, maybe we would have to wait even longer. But we probably weren’t going to be moving for a while. We could try to go on the other road, but that one was also getting more and more backed up. Or we could give up on our perfectly planned day and find a coffee shop to relax until the traffic cleared. We were trying to decide on the best option when Jessica got a phone call from the hotel we were leaving behind.
“Someone left a purple jacket on the bed,” Jessica said.
Three of us had purple jackets, and I was one of them. Shirley was wearing hers, and I was pretty sure that I had put mine in my bag, but I realized that I could have forgotten it. That made our decision for us, so we turned around and picked up the jacket from the hotel. It wasn’t mine, and I was really thankful. I’m terrified of leaving things behind, and I was hoping that my routine for not forgetting things did not have a flaw.
Shirley directed us to a coffee shop that she wanted to visit, and we drove over. It was still raining, and we picked our way around puddles, trying to keep our shoes dry as we hurried into the café. Several other people had the same idea that we did (avoiding the rain and the traffic), but we found a table and ordered some drinks. Jessica and I ordered a pot of ginger tea that was just perfect for a cool morning. My throat was feeling a tad sore, and I was thankful for this tea that’s just right for cold, rainy, sore throat days. We chatted and played some Monopoly Deal and enjoyed our little café for several hours.
Timothy kept an eye on the traffic, and finally, it did look like it was starting to clear up. We decided to grab some noodles for lunch so we wouldn’t have to try to find a place on the way, and finally, we were ready to set off again. Unfortunately, our carefully planned day was in tatters. Our original plan had us arriving at our destination at around 4:30-5 p.m., so we figured that we could just spend less time at the stops and still get to our next stop before dinner.
The rain had also cleared up, and I was incredibly thankful for that. We could enjoy the views, and they were definitely worth enjoying. I couldn’t take any pictures, but I enjoyed looking at the mountains and the grass all along the road. It was incredible. Timothy took lots of pictures for us, and they are also better than any pictures I could have taken, so I’m thankful for all of his pictures.
The first place that we wanted to stop at was a touristy grassland. I was imagining something random set up similar to what we had seen between Luding and Kangding, but this spot was rather developed. Which meant that there were lots of shops, lots of people, and getting in to see this grassland was not free like I had imagined. I found a place to park (that’s always an adventure with this many people), and we stood in the parking lot trying to decide what to do while precious time slipped away.
“It costs around 30 kuai?” I asked.
“Yep,” Shirley answered.
We looked past the shops and over the gate to see the hill that we would need to climb. “Is it really worth it?” Jaye asked.
Timothy pulled out his phone and showed us some pictures from a random person’s social media feed. “It looks like a very normal place for this area,” he said.
“I really want to see the Black Stone Park, so maybe we should skip this one so that we make sure to have enough time at the next spot,” Jessica pointed out.
“Yeah, and the more time we spend deciding, the more time we waste when we could be enjoying the views.”
We finally agreed to give up on the grassland and keep moving. We drove along even more incredible mountain roads. Since we were pressed for time, though, we didn’t stop anywhere else until we got to the Black Stone Park. We did get stuck in some traffic near a gas station. People trying to pass other cars got stuck on the wrong side of the road, blocking oncoming traffic. My guess is that cars coming out of the gas station were blocking our side from moving forward and cars coming from the other direction couldn’t move because of the cars who had tried and failed to pass because of the traffic jam.
We watched as someone on the other side of the road got out and lectured the people who had tried to pass the others. Eventually, those cars moved off to the side of the road, and everyone was able to move again.
When we pulled into the Black Stone Park (黑石公园, hei shi gongyuan), I checked our time, and realized that to be at our next stop before 7 p.m., we only had about thirty minutes in the park. So we headed toward the gate. As we waited in line, Timothy got tickets for us and we waited for a bus that would take us up into the park.
“Umm, I’m not sure this is going to be as fast as we need it to be,” I said, checking my watch. “We only have about 30 minutes.”
“Yeah, we can be as fast as possible.” We all agreed.
The bus ride was beautiful, and thankfully it was only a few minutes long. We got out of the bus at the beginning of a path that led through a field of beautiful yellow flowers. We walked quickly, and I snapped some pictures as we walked—no time to slow down here! I was even more nervous because someone told us that the trail took about an hour and a half. No way. We didn’t have that much time. Maybe an hour, but that was all we could afford.
Then we reached the black rock formations. They were incredible. It reminded me of the stone forest in Kunming (昆明的石林, Kunming de shilin). The path started off above the rock formations, and when we got to some spots that were good for pictures, Timothy quickly found a good spot, and then we cycled through while he got a few shots of each of us individually and then a couple as a group. I was impressed with our speed. Maybe we could do this and have some pictures to prove we were here as well!
Timothy’s pictures: 👇
But the further into the rock formations we got, the easier it was to be distracted. At one point, a bunch of people were climbing around on the rocks and taking pictures. We followed them, managing to find some places without other people. But unfortunately, these areas were off-limits to tourists, so after we got some pictures, a guard informed us that we needed to leave. But the pictures were great!
I may have pushed everyone to hurry a bit. There were some side areas that we didn’t get to explore much, but it was still beautiful, and we all had a great time. And we made it back to the bus pick-up point, stopped by the restrooms (the restrooms up here were much better than the ones near the parking lot–I didn’t go to those ones, but several others did while I was parking and informed me that it was a terrible experience), and made it back to our car in around an hour.
The rest of the drive was incredible, and we managed to stop a couple of times for a few minutes. The other places that we stopped at were more like viewpoints than places to do things, and I loved the views.
Timothy’s pictures 👇
I loved all of the mountains!!!!
To get to our hotel, we had to drive up and up and up a super crazy road, and I was really thankful that we weren’t doing that at night. The road was winding around up the mountain but incredibly beautiful. Thankfully there weren’t many other cars.
Our hotel was in a little village and we noticed that all of the buildings in this area had the same style of paint and little towers at the corners of the buildings. The buildings were made of stone, and at the top of the buildings, there were strips of paint: white, black, red, and white. All of the buildings had the same pattern, giving the village a very cool feeling.
Our hotel was beautiful with wooden furnishings and lots of cool designs. On the roof, we could see the tops of the nearby buildings as well as the mountains in the distance. I loved it so much.
The hotel also had a restaurant, so after getting settled in a bit and enjoying the view from the roof, we ordered our food. Unfortunately, it was a bit slow, so we ate at around 9, but at least we didn’t have to drive in the dark! Better to eat in the dark. And the food was delicious!