The Cube

Start: Tashigang Village

1. Lulang Scenic Area 鲁朗景区

End: Draksum-tso/Basongcuo/巴松措 and Tsodzong Monastery

Start: Long Du Hotel 龙都宾馆

1. Giant Cypress Nature Reserve 柏树王
2. Sejila Mountain Pass 色季拉山观景台
3. Lulang Forest 鲁朗林海
4. Zhatanglucuo Scenic Area 扎塘鲁措

End: Tashigang village 扎西岗村

The tour company couriered the original copy of our Tibet Travel Permit to the hotel in Chengdu as original copy is required if travel by flight to Tibet. We flew into Nyingchi Airport (LZY) from Chengdu Shuangliu Airport and were picked up by our driver and guide for the rest of the tour.

Nyingchi is one of the prefectures in Tibet and within Nyingchi, there are 7 counties. The airport is located in Mainling county and the stops are in Bayi District (formerly known as Nyingchi county). Checking in to hotels usually involved some long process of registration and as it was our first day in Tibet, the guide also organised other required permits at this day. We didn't had to but as we didn't plan any itinerary for day 1, we asked if we can followed them. It turned out to be a good decision because there was a change in the requirements and needed one of us to be present to have a photo taken. 

About 2 kilometres southest of Bayi is this cypress park with many ancient cypress trees. The most venerable cypress is reported to be 3200 years old, making it the oldest tree in China. This 57 metres tall and 14.8 metres diameter tree is also sacred to the Bon religion founder Tonpa Shenrab. This is a prime pilgrim spot and Buddhist visitors can be seen circumambulating this tree 3 times, clockwise. Bon believers (Bon po) circumambulate anti-clockwise. 

Mt Namcha Barwa can be seen from Sejila Mountain Pass (elevation 4728 metres) with a lot of luck, as the peak of Mt Namcha Barwa is covered with snow and often covered with fog and clouds. Therefore it is also known as the "Fairy Mountain". The optimal time to see Namcha Barwa peak is from end of October to March the following year. 

Lulang (or I've also seen it spelt as Lunang) is another spot to see Namche Barwa peak which we were not lucky enough to view it. Lulang means “Loong King Valley” in the Tibetan language, or “a place that will make you forget your homesickness”.

Lunch was a popular dish in Lulang area is the stone pot chicken. The ingredients of course include chicken (a lot of it) in soup. There are options to add different types of mushrooms. The selling point of this dish is the pot it is cooked in, where it is carved out from a single rock that said to contains elements which is good for health. 

Zhatanglucuo is a man made lake, built to improve surrounding environment. It is referred to as Lulang Lake by the locals. Access to the area is through a hanging bridge and there were some activities area for participation. One can enjoy the view of Gongbulazan Snow Mountain at the lake. 

Tashigang is a small village, a couple of kilometres east of Lulang. Guesthouses in this village are run by Tibetan families, mostly with a buidling with rooms within the same compound. The village is comprised of walled stone Tibetan block homes, with landscape of forested mountains across the valley. I took a stroll in the evening when sis took a nap in the room. We brought some quick oats and had that for dinner after the big stone pot chicken lunch. 

Chengdu was our base this trip as our international flights were in and out of Chengdu. We stayed at 4 different hotels in Chengdu for convenience. Once we checked out of the hotel at Tianfu Airport, we walked over to the domestic airport side to have lunch before took the more than an hour long train to the city. Our second hotel was at Taikoo Li as our flight out to Nyingchi the next day was from Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, plus it would be easier for sightseeing. On this day we went to Kuanzhai Alley (宽窄巷子) and Jinli Street (锦里古街). The visit to People's Park and to see the cute pandas was at our last day before flying out of Chengdu. 

It consists of three parallel alleys -  Wide Alley (宽巷子), Narrow Alley (窄巷子) and Well Alley(井巷子). These alleys showcase traditional architecture, local craftsmanship, and Sichuan culture. Kuanzhai Alley has a history dating back to the Qing Dynasty. 

Our visit unfortunately coincided with China's May holiday which meant crowd. Which probably explained why the morning session tickets were sold out when we tried to get it from trip.com. As it was our last day in Chengdu, we went ahead with the visit. No surprise - it was crowded. 

By the time we got to Panda Express Bus stop at Kuanzhai Alley, we have missed the 12:00 pm bus and the ticket counter was not unattended. We decided to just get a Didi ride, we paid CNY 27.30. Return trip to hotel near People's Park was CNY 25.40. 

It was also a hot day so the pandas were indoors except the red pandas but they were also hiding to get some respite from the heat.