Lugu Lake 2600m above sea level

How a 7 hour bus ride turns into a 11 hour bus ride and why it was worth the wait – read on. Sleep deprieved from the night train I arrived in Xicheng 7am. No English signs, no buses to Lugu Lake, tired, lots of Chinese people and then all of a sudden a Chinese guy asks me were I want to go. He works in a hostel and helps me taking the right bus to the official bus terminal (number 12 from Xicheng train station till last stop). I buy my ticket and go on the bis and wait for it’s departure until three Chinese persons stand around me and point at another bus. I get up and rush to the other bus, which definitely looks more touristy. Except for an Australian guy I am the only westener.

I expected the bus ride up to Lugu Lake to take around 4 hours. Lucky enough I had some food with me as it normaly takes 7 hours. The roads are mostly good with lots of bends. At some point in the afternoon we stop for another break, which turns out to be a 4 hours break. We didn’t know what was going on. I met a group of Chinese girls and they thought me some Chinese card games. We played for an hour or so and before we knew it lots of onlookers were standing around us. We had great fun. At some point I wanted to find out what is blocking us from going any further. Walking up the road I could spot a huge boulder blocking the road.

We arrived at Lugu Lake and the guy from Australia and I made our way with a Chinese couple to the hostel I had prebooked. There was no power so we checked-in by candle light. The guy at the reception proofed helpfull and recommended to stay only one night at his place and then (hitch-) hike around the lake. This was a very good idea. The next day we set off to walk to Goddess Bay where we expected to have breakfast. We took a wrong but more senic path and walked with our full backpacks for 2 hours. A little dog followed us all the way, it seemed like he was showing us the way. After hiking a few hills up and down in the heat we made it to Goddess Bay where we had lunch. It started to rain and we still had a long way to go. We were able to get someone to drive us to the next town (Dazhu Pier) where we stayed for the night. The owner was super friendly and took us to a temple nearby. It wasn’t finished so we could see all the floors and even climbed up to the roof – amazing view from there. Afterwards we went to his other guesthouse that was under construction. We had tea with the workers in their temporary home. Great to see how a local family lives. Basically it is one large room with 4 beds, kitchen, fire place and TV. Dimmly lit by one candle and hot due to the fire where the food was cooked.

The next day we started to walk in the direction of Lige. It is too far to walk so we tried to hitchhike again. Only this time it was more difficult. We reached a shrine that keeps the ghosts away from the towns. There we met a chinese group, all wanted to take pictures with us. So we endured the picture taking. Then this one guy felt a bit sorry and asks me what he can do for us in return. A ride to Lige it was. Later we bumped into them again and they invited us for lunch. Very nice.

Lige was way more touristy and expensive than the other towns before. After checking almost all the hotels for a cheap available room we found one for 50RMB (each). The next day we went on a bycicleride around the lake. An American girl and a Chimese guy from Macao joined us. It was a fun day with a lot of sun and great hills to peddal up and cycle down. We also had to repair one bike, which took us some time. One of the gorgeous spots is the Marriage Bridge. The local Mosuo people don’t get married however. The men don’t have any responsibilities in bringing up the children.