Day 167: Travel Day to Xiahe
We had a lot of ground to cover in the next few days – thankfully Igor scheduled an overnight pit-stop in Xiahe so we could sleep in a real bed, rather than suffering an overnight bus. We started our journey with a very comfortable, 4.5hr train ride to Lanzhou (first class!). We hopped off the train at the end of the line and started negotiating with taxi drivers at the station. The first bus to Xiahe would get us there after 5PM, and we were willing to pay a little more for a taxi if it bought us more time to explore the town. When we researched fair prices online, we decided RMB 500 would be our max price. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get anyone lower than RMB 700, so we decided to go with the bus route after all.
We grabbed a taxi to the South Bus Station, which was a good 45min by car (more with bad traffic) – according to Lonely Planet the fare should have been RMB 35, but our driver price gouged us a bit by charging RMB 50. After wasting 15min trying to hail a taxi on the side of the street, we caved and paid the “tourist fee” to make sure we didn’t miss our bus. We were a bit nervous as the tickets for the Xiahe bus can only be purchased in person so there was no way to pre-book the seats, but luckily there were plenty of spots left on the 2PM bus.
At the Zhangye Train Station, bright & early, ready for our high-speed ticket outta here!
Our first leg of the journey is a 4.5hr high-speed train ride from Zhangye to Lanzhou. All the sleeper seats were sold out by the time we bought our tickets in Beijing, so we had to “settle” for First Class
The scenery outside the window was spectacular, as we climbed over snowcapped mountains and whizzed by towering pagodas
Our second leg of the journey is a 3.5hr bus ride from Lanzhou to Xiahe
As soon as we arrived in Xiahe, we went back into the ticket office to pre-book our bus tickets to Langmusi for 7:40AM the next morning. Then we grabbed an RMB 4 taxi to our hotel, the Nirvana Restaurant & Hotel, right across the street from the city’s main attraction – the Labrang Monastery. We were a bit worried that we had once again been hoodwinked by false advertising when the assistant at the counter didn’t speak a word of English as we tried to check-in, but luckily the Tibetan owner and his Dutch wife were just really busy and came to greet us later that evening.
As we expected, we arrived too late to take a guided tour within the Labrang Monastery, but we were pleased to find out the 3KM “kora” (pilgrim path) is open 24hr free of charge. We walked over to the monastery grounds and took our time walking (clockwise) around the complex, spinning the endless rows of prayer wheels along the way.
We returned to the hotel just before dark for a hot shower and a delicious Tibetan dinner at the downstairs restaurant. Our hosts were disappointed to hear that we were only passing through, and told us how we could unlock the front door to let ourselves out the next morning. In hindsight, we realized we would have liked to spend another day in this cute mountain village, but we were happy that we at least got to visit for an evening.
Colorful prayer wheels surrounding the Labrang Monastery
We make way for determined pilgrims who power through the 3KM of endless prayer wheels at a breakneck pace. Igor takes a hand spinning one of the big wheels with a grin
Looks like renovations are underway, as new gateways and prayer wheels are under construction
Wandering through the monastery courtyards and pathways, we see a lone monk walking ahead of us
We hike to the top of the hill for a view of the huge Labrang Monastery complex
Loving our cozy, Tibetan-style boutique hotel
Savoring some spicy Tibetan fare at the Nirvana Restaurant & Hotel