Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Leave Me Breathless

Had the great opportunity to head up to China last week with my parents and their friends! At first I was a teensy bit worried about being stuck in a tour full of retirees who were all about 3 times my age, but this is not the first time we've travelled together and I had heaps of fun being the youngest one about. Of course I became the translater and also the unofficial 'strong woman' of the bunch, since I can carry things and bend with a lot more ease then anyone else teehee. But I'm so glad I made the trip! We flew into Chengdu, of which I have no photos because it is, like all other major cities in China, absolutely shrouded in the haze and pollution of industry. But when we took a connecting flight to Jiu Zhai Gou, which is translated to Nine Tibetan Village Valley (henceforth JZG for short), it completely took my breathe away! Literally and metaphorically, since the oxygen content in the high altitude environment (roughly 3-4 thousand feet above sea level) makes it hard to breathe, and of course it is just gorgeous. These photos are from the first two days we arrived in JZG, and thankfully we heeded the advice of our tourguide and bought some oxygen 'tanks' because we sure as hell needed them once we started sightseeing! One other thing we did not expect was the cold! It is supposed to be autumn, but when we arrived the stewardess announced it was -15 degrees celcius. Thank goodness for the lovely sunny weather, allowing us to fully enjoy the crystal clear aquamarine waters of the lakes and waterfalls. In stark contrast to Chengdu, nature is truly breathtaking. 

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