Nancheng

Arriving at Nancheng was at first very depressing. While the Lonely Planet describes Nancheng as dusty, this was at the time of my arrival an understatement, considering that the whole main road was basically a huge construction area. Since Nancheng is not on the itinerary for most foreign travellers, you can’t find that much information about it online and so I tried the hotel addresses of the guidebook to find an accommodation. While the signs still exited, the hotels themselves seemed to have been closed some time ago and so I returned back to the bus station to ask some locals for help. The Tibetan there were very helpful and one of them offered me a right on the back of his motorcycle. The hotel was very cleaning, having just recently opened and relatively cheap, so at least I didn’t have to worry about that anymore.

The next morning started with a shocking surprise: I noticed that I lost my credit card. I must probably have lost it already back in Ganzi, where I last withdrew some money from an ATM. While I had enough cash for the China and Tibet part of my journey, I would have to find a way to cover my expenses for my planned Nepal trek. After thinking a bit about my options, I wrote an email to Jamin, the organizer and guide of the Tibet tour, whether he could help me out by bringing me some cash after I have transferred some money online and thankfully he quickly replied that this would indeed be possible.

Since the bus to Xining is often quickly booked out, I then started the day with organising a ticket for the following morning. Because Nancheng itself is not that interesting but has many interesting places around it, I tried to find a driver to take me to Gading Si next. On my way I met an English speaking monk who offered to help me and so it didn’t take long until I was on my way.

The journey to Gading Si was fantastic. While the road is mostly dirt and stone, the views where fantastic and after we crossed a pass we had an amazing view over the clouds. Unfortunately that implied that Gading Si in turn would be covered by clouds as well. Arriving at the monastery we heard the characteristic clapping of the monks debating and I only stopped shortly to not disturb them. I then climbed the hill on the opposite side of the river to capture the view on Gading Si.