The China Journal - Day 19

Laura times two, plus myself, spend the morning exploring Jiaju Zangzhai, a small Tibetan village comprised of large stone houses boasting trims of intricately designed motifs bursting with vivid colours. Situated along the steep slopes of a mountain several kilometres east of Danba, the village offers a panaoramic view of the green, terraced fields and the surrounding mountains, dotted with tall, stone watchtowers that once marked the frontiers of a long dead kingdom.

Despite the view, the village is eerily silent and seemingly void of any inhabitants (except for the ones at the front gate charging the entrance fee). We then travel several kilometres west to a village called Zhong Lu. The village has a much more "lived-in" feel, and we spend some time chatting with one of the local artisans who works to restore many of the homes and watchtowers in the surrounding area. Unfortunately, his three year-old son is less than thrilled to have three pale-faces in his company, and peering from behind the entrance to his house, casts a Tibetan curse upon me as I snap his picture.

The kid wasn't fooling around though. Within the hour I'm hit with the sudden need to empty my bowels, and fearing that I won't make it back to our guesthouse in time, I find myself a good spot against the side of a stone fence, let my shorts fall to my ankles and let nature do it's work. Normally this might seem a bit uncouth, not to mention the very real possibility that at any moment someone may come along and catch me in a very uncompromising and unsightly position. But I am in China after all, where the release of bodily wastes is as public an event as a Santa Claus parade in Toronto.