The Only Problem with Ganzi is Getting There

This is what we decided after our third or fourth day in the car. It's always been that way so long as we have been visiting Ganzi. Once you are there, the sunshine, blue skies and radiant landscape give you such a lift that you forget about the tortuous roads, terrible toilets and thumping headache you have suffered along the way.

But really, I'm not sure what we were complaining about this time: we drove our own vehicle at our own pace and didn't suffer any major delays. Times were, we would sit on a bus for two or even three days waiting for yet another pile of dirt to be cleared off the road over Erlongshan. These days a 4 km tunnel cuts right through the middle of the mountain. Even though the road up to the tunnel is always fog-bound and gloomy, and at this time of year often icy, the weather on the other side is often completely different.

True to form, on this trip we sat around in a double-parked line of traffic, while cars ahead of us stopped in the middle of the road to put on chains, so they could crawl through the snow to reach the tunnel. Local men on motorbikes stand by the roadside with chains for hire. For 100 yuan they will fix them onto your wheels, then ride with you to the tunnel mouth and remove them. As we waited around on the narrow road, fitting in some snowball practice for the boys, I remembered many other long delays on this road, wondering how long I could hold out before climbing up or down the hillside to find a secluded toilet spot. At one point we even considered turning back, as it was nearly 5 pm and we did not want to spend the night on the mountain in the snow. But based on prior experience, we were fairly confident things would be different through the tunnel, and sure enough, once we made it out the other side the sun was shining, the road was clear and we cruised down the hill to Luding.

The trip to Ganzi is about to get even easier, as an airport is ready to open at the top of the Zhiduo mountain pass above Kangding. We drove past it on our way back, a long strip of tarmac stretched out along the rocky mountainside. I remembered a cold foggy hike along the same route 12 years ago, when we didn't see a single person all day, and pitched our tent in a spot that is probably now under the runway. The tourists are coming and I hope the people of Ganzi are ready for them. I fear that few are as prepared as the people of Jiaju.

They're coming: ready or not!