Episode 2: Into the Wild in Sichuan

Watch episode 2 – Into the Wild in Sichuan – on Youtube or Youku and read all about our 2nd week below.

I’m honking vigorously while driving. Not an unusual sight here in China. However, there are no pedestrians and traffic jams where we are. Welcome to rural Sichuan province, where honking my way through groups of yaks has become a daily exercise…

We’re driving with our Chinese ‘Build Your Dreams’ car on half the altitude commercial airplanes are flying, while singing ‘I believe I can fly’. Indeed, a surreal setting. But no more surreal than the nature we’re cruising through. We’re driving at nearly 5000 meter, higher than the highest peak of the Alps, but the grass has never been greener and villages with the most joyful people are abundant.

We’re trying to make our way up north, to the deserts of Qinghai and Gansu province, but to get there we have to cross a mountain pass on the Tibetan plateau. To call it a road would be overdoing it. We’re caught by pouring rain and every pothole on the rocky road has turned into a mud pool of which the depth is only certain after hearing the bottom of our BYD scrape over the rocks.

The gear is excellent, really, if only we had picked a tent of a size that didn’t require us to be spooning the next 3 months.

To give our car, and ourselves, a break, we decide to setup camp in remote grasslands. Trying out our tent and sleeping bag of Chinese brand Ozark for the first time. With hindsight and sarcasm I can say: always try out your gear before setting off on a journey around the world! The gear is excellent, really, if only we had picked a tent of a size that didn’t require us to be spooning the next 3 months.

Within minutes our not so remote after all camping spot has caught the eye of local nomads. With their friendly smiles they convince us to go on a two-day horse trek. Both of us not a big fan of horses, we agree hesitantly. Within minutes of being on the horse, Maren’s horse rears and he gets propelled into the air – thinking for a second back to the ‘I believe I can fly’ song, only to be brought back to reality seconds later when he hits his ribs on the rocks. Finally understanding what our car has been going through. Lesson learned. Rocks hurt.

A nomadic family waiting on us for dinner in their tent rewards the brutal trek through some of the most beautiful landscapes. We’re 6 hours by horse away from the closest village. No phone signal, no electricity, and no 3G connections. Not really a ‘brand new China’ scene, as China Mobile usually covers even the most extreme places. But this is even a stretch too far for their signal towers.

We say ‘wan an’ – goodnight – to the nomadic family laying next to us and fall asleep dreaming of the yaks that are surrounding us in the hundreds around our tent. No vigorous honking needed here.