5 December 2014
Out of all the things to see on the trip, THIS was my most anticipated one.
Probably because prior to the trip, my dear uncle spammed me with some breathtakingly gorgeous pictures of the place. I simply couldn’t wait to see it in real life!
Kath & I had to drag our asses out of bed super early in the morning… Naturally, I had to get up first.
I’d like to think that it’s because I’m the elder cousin, so I’m so magnanimous that I let my younger cousin sleep in a little more. 😀
But the truth is that I actually take longer than her to get ready. 😦
After a rather long bus ride, we finally got to… 九寨沟!!!! (Jiu Zhai Gou)
The natural beauty of the place captivated me, I didn’t want to leave. Sometimes the world gets so ugly, you forget that God created the world beautiful.
Yes, the number of people there was INSANE. It’s like the IT fair in Singapore; everyone wants to go everywhere, so they don’t really know where to head. Everything is in a positive mess, but people don’t mind because they’re there with a purpose in mind.
And if you know me well enough, I simply hate crowds. I steer clear from the IT fairs, if I could help it.
But the place was so beautiful- I didn’t mind the crowd at all.
Okay, not at all… I did get a little annoyed here & there.
But worth it!
The best part was that we visited at a really rare time!
It was right smack in the middle of both autumn and winter. So we got to enjoy a taste of both here & there.
She was so drawn into the beauty; she just kept on staring. 🙂 It felt so good to have her on the trip.
One of the greatest joys in life is knowing that your grandparents are healthy enough to travel & see the world with you. ❤
Even though Kath, Fran and I had to assist them quite often- we didn’t mind. COUSIN TEAMWORK! Keep the grandparents safe!
My forever-handsome & annoyingly loving uncle!
A LOT of walking was involved. My pedometer app in my mobile kept on sending me alerts like, “WOOHOO, SOMEONE IS ON A CRAZY MOVE TODAY!”
Look at the mountains behind my grandparents- they’re each in different seasons. How cool is this!
Soon enough, I was utterly exhausted. I just found a rock to sit on.
This absolutely adorable doggie that was smart enough to get food from tourists. 😀
But anyway, I was really bushed from all the walking; supporting my grandparents up the infinite number of stairs… As soon as we got on the shuttle bus around the park, I knocked out for a little bit.
Speaking of buses, because of the craziness on the bus- our tour guide actually lost us. Like, he managed to get us all on the bus… Except himself.
So while the bus was driving off, I looked out the window and saw his “OMG SHIT” face.
It was one of the most tedious outdoor activities I’ve ever done in my life. (Keep in mind I’m not your outdoorsy sort of girl) But it was totally worth it! The beauty I got to see made it all so worthwhile- I’LL DO IT AGAIN! No second thoughts. Most definitely would do it again!
But your stomach doesn’t get full on beautiful sceneries… I was so happy when it was time for lunch!
The food was quite decent, I was just really hungry anyway.
So after lunch, we went for a little walk-around and saw these couple of signs!
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Kath & I stood there laughing our asses off trying to decipher what it meant.
Well, apparently it led to some shops. So those signs totally made my day. Firs it gave me a HUGE dose of comedy, then it led me to my favourite activity.
There was fur everywhere!!!
Towards the evening, we were brought to these “tribal” sort of places. They spoke REALLY loudly, it scared me.
I imagine their telecoms company isn’t doing too well, because they don’t really need to call anyone using a phone.
They just have to yell for the person to come over or something.
And I was picked on constantly by this dude; when I spoke back at him, he said he wanted to take me as his wife.
Then MaMa (grandma) asked, “How many yaks do you have? What colour are they?”
HAHAHAHA!!
Anyway, marrying him would mean I will dine like this… No way am I going to survive.
Is it a trend now? It seems like a lot of women want to adopt me. Is it that obvious that I have mommy & daddy issues? So they want to love me & fix me, I think.
So anyhow, our tour guide probably knew we wouldn’t be full with the food served there. I barely touched my food… I simply wasn’t accustomed to the taste, I guess.
We were brought to a nice restaurant to have our usual rice & several dishes.
The place was really nice, but their washroom had a weird signage. It was like some disco thing.
And once we got back to our hotel- it was time for some wine & cakes.
After seeing so much oriental things, it was sort of refreshing to see a hint of western designs.
But because it was our last night at that gorgeous hotel; we simply couldn’t resist heading down to the hot spring in the dome!
Good thing I packed in my bikini! ❤
It was really quite cool. The entire dressing room area was in a Victorian-theme; which is actually a symbol of wealth. With those burgundy curtains with golden strings, large mirrors with intricately-carved frames…
But I totally enjoyed the pool more! 😀
Came out looking super red & roasted! Now that was an awesome soak.
It was a good day! ❤ I really enjoyed myself soooo much!
I’m just going to end this post with this candid shot of a truly happy me. 🙂
Several picture credits go to Kath ❤ No way I could’ve caught so many priceless moments without her.
XOXO, G.
Gera Shen 