Wade in de Water, Chillen

Sichuan Day 5, Part 2

Yeah, we’re still here in Jiu Zhai Gou.

After finishing our food-truck special, it was, of course, bathroom time.  We found the public restrooms.  As it is worldwide, there was no waiting at the men’s toilets but there was a long line at the women’s.

X23 was on her way to get in this line when I noticed another section of women’s restrooms on the other side of the building – with no line!  She owes me one.

So now we started on our trip back to our village, partly by walking down the wooden trails with thousands of tourists and partly by shuttle bus.  There were fallen trees with mushrooms,…

…forests of red-trunked trees,…

…and more crystal-clear lakes.

This particular lake was very deep and especially clear.

I even think its name is “Clear Lake,” and, like everyone else, we had our picture taken nearby.

We hopped on the shuttle and headed back down the valley.  We noticed that one of the regular stops was at a largish building that seemed to be a local “Trading Post,” i.e., a retail place where we could buy really cheap junk that we don’t need and would eventually give it away to people we don’t like.  How can anyone resist such a lure?

We hopped of the bus and started towards the Trading Post, but halfway there we noticed a small footpath leading off toward an old village.

Off to our right was a woman outside her home,…

…and off to our left was a guy washing lettuce at a water pipe.

It turned out that he was the owner-chef of a small café in this village.  Because we were not the typical tourists, we took turns helping him wash the lettuce.

When we were done, we continued up the path to find a place where we could sit and rest for a few minutes.

I was a bit tired,…

…but X23, full of energy as usual, decided to become intimate with a nearby tree covered in prayer flags.

We walked a little around the hillside and noticed a number of “houses” in varying stages of construction – or perhaps deconstruction.

We saw a small concrete post in the ground that I assumed was an indicator of an underground electrical line.  Anyone have a better idea?

Finally, it was time to head back to the bus stop, and on the way we passed some horses saying their prayers.

Our next stop was at a place called “Stone Mill,”…

…and at the end of a short path was a fast moving river…

…with an old shack over it, presumably the actual mill.

It was a hot day and the water looked very inviting, but along the boardwalk the tourists stood and photographed the water.  I talked X23 into cooling her feet in the water, and out of hundreds of people on the boardwalk, she was the only one doing so.

Perhaps it’s against the rules, but there was no warning sign indicating this.  Notice X23’s excitement.

When I was in junior high and high school, one of the true joys of life was drinking fresh water from a clear stream such as the Kern River, so I bent down and did so here.

A young boy saw me doing this and decided to try it, while his mother and others looked on in amazement as if they’d never seen something like this before.

Arriving back at our own village, we sat for a few minutes on a bench outside the local Starbucks.

Before heading back to our hotel, we decided to peruse the village shops.  There was a hat place, but we decided against buying any hats, despite their chic design.

There was a jeweler at work making something interesting.  X23 told me what it is that he’s doing, but I forgot (duh).

Thirsty.  Yup, time for a drink.   We found a rather nondescript place (to say the least),…

With an interior that was anything but nondescript.

The woman in charge (manager? owner?) brought us some delicious barley tea…

…in a lovely bowl.

Outside, across the “road,” was a drawing in a shop window.  Still trying to decipher it.  Anyone?

We took an alternative route back to the hotel and came across more construction, this time more precariously on the walkway itself.

Back at our place, our hostess was preparing tea and dinner.

All the hotel’s residents sat at the same table for dinner.

What did we eat?  I’m not sure.  Mostly vegetables and seaweed over rice (yum),…

…accompanied by some milk with floating brown stuff that resembled malt.  As before, X23 told me what it was but I forgot.  Oh, well.

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