Oct 1 2009 MULI

So we left on a bus from Xichang and headed to Yanyuan. I may have mentioned before how I didn't really think much of this town and how long it took for us to get a ride. Although I did get to see Thibaut feed a tiny, wild kitten some crackers.
We finally set out on this journey headed to Muli. (Eric had said that from there we could get a bus to Yading and we'd be set). Ha Ha Ha...oh Eric.
In our travels to Muli a few guys rode with us. I have no idea their age they looked like 17 but you know how you can never really tell with Asians. So we get to Muli and find they aren't selling tickets to anywhere else for that day. So we explored the town and looked for a place to stay/someone to take us to the next place we wanted to go. This seemed nearly impossible. We did however run into the two guys we rode with and they took us to a good place to eat (and showed me where the toilet was in this town).
After eating I felt funny, I felt kind of high (like stoned high). Maybe it was the MSG? who knows. So we find a hotel and go down to the town square where they are having a big celebration (as it is China's 60th anniversary of being the People's Republic). It was pretty cool. Lots of people, especially women were dressed in traditional garb and they were dancing and singing. There was a big lighted structure that sort of reminded me of a sparkler. We walked around and some kids came up and wanted to take pictures with us. One was very aggressive and acted like he wanted to fight Eric. He couldn't have been older than 10. It was funny and weird at the same time.
We decided to head back up to the hotel and maybe grab a beer or two on the way. Walking up the street we looked in the little shops and talked to locals. Thibaut bought a jacket that "e-people" seemed to always be wearing. A drunk guy in a full army fatigues took pictures with us. You could smell the booze on him from a mile away that and he pulled the bottle out to offer us a swig. No thank you! ha ha.

We found out from different people that Yading was 11 hours away or 7 hours away or 6 hours away. We decided when we found out for sure how far away it was, would be when we decided to continue on our trek or return home. We got back to the hotel grounds and in a near by apartment building of sorts there was a guy (I'm assuming he was drunk) who was yelling and looked to be being dragged out by police men. I'm not really sure. That night I got to shower!!! It felt amazing. We watched part of the Beijing Celebration on TV which included Jackie Chan singing and he had a beard. It cracked us all up.
I got woken up during our sleep because some people were trying to get into our hotel room. Whether it was intentional or not I do not know. *Eric talks in his sleep, apparently. When the people were trying to get in, Eric giggled in his sleep and said "Jin Lai Jin Lai (which means come in in Chinese.*
The next morning we got up really early not knowing what time the bus station opened or when the they would be leaving. So we walked to the station and hung out for quite a while and ate at a little shop around there. We talked to some other people who were also headed to the next area we were trying to get to (Shuiluo which was supposed to be on the outskirts of Yading) they told us it was only about 7 hours away so we decided collectively that we would go there hang out for a day and 1/2 and then return home. When the bus station finally opened we found out they were not selling tickets to that place. So once again we had to try and find a different ride there. Of course people are wanting to charge us something ridiculous and so Eric is trying to bargain and then we gang up with an elderly man so that the price could be split 4 ways. It was going to be something around 300 kuai per person. So we headed out.
About an hour into it there is a road stop with cops. We all had to get out show them our passports and answer questions as to what was going on. As it is illegal for someone with out a business license to drive people (and get paid for it) we were no longer able to go with the man who was giving us a ride. I'm not sure what ever happened to the driver.
I wonder but don't know how China is these days with law breakers. The cops loved us however. We were there for hours. They made us lunch, tea, gave us fruit and Thibaut even smoked with them. Finally the cops found us a different ride to where we were wanting to go (even though technically foreigners weren't supposed to be in these Tibetan Autonomous Regions during the holiday). This ride was to only cost us 100 kuai a piece. Way to go COPS!!!

The rides were always bumpy but fun. Ha ha. We stopped in some small little town where I had to go find a toilet. A spider ran in-between my legs as I squat to pee....i screamed and ran a bit with my pants down before I was able to talk myself into going again. (I had to pee really really bad).
We finally are rolling up to this place that has 2 buildings and its dark and I say "this can't be it right...right?"
Eric says "naw no way"
well YES WAY!!! We were getting kicked out in the middle of NOWHERE!!! Where were we going to stay? How were we to get to the next location let alone home? Apparently there is a bus that leaves the next morning at nine am back to Muli the next day. And to top it off the guy is making us pay an additional 20 kuai then what the cop told us but there wasn't anything we could do. Although thats not much more money its the principal of the matter.
Okay so what are we supposed to do now? No tent, No sleeping bags (although I asked Eric if we should bring them and he said no) and we've come all this way only to have to turn back?
Right then, no joke, a random small tour bus comes rolling through the town. Eric stops it, there is ONE foreigner on it and a whole bunch of Han Chinese people. The tour bus agrees to let us on as they are going to the next little village outside of Yading National Park. So all four of us (Eric, Thibaut, myself and the old man) pile into this already overcrowded bus. We were sitting on top of stuff on the floor and on people. It was ridiculous. They also made us pay 80 kuai for an hour and 1/2 ride. But we were lucky (or god was smiling on us) enough to get this ride so no complaints really.