Ganzi (Garze), Sichuan:
landscape around Ganzi
The public minibus brought us from Yushu in Qinghai (~3,700 m) to the mid-sized town Ganzi in Sichuan (~3,400 m). However, we wanted to see something from the countryside before visiting the bustling city and took a taxi to Beri Gompa approximately 10 km towards the west. This little monastery occupies a quiet spot among fields and tiny villages. A friendly monk invited us to climb onto the roof of the temple offering spectacular views across the valley of the Yalong River. From Beri Gompa we hiked along narrow and winding country roads back to Ganzi. The changing scenes with fields, yaks, some wildlife, and farmhouses with its friendly inhabitants were really great!
On the following day, we took a taxi to Darjay Gompa, a large monastic complex around 30 km west of Ganzi. In the grasslands behind the prayer halls lies Talam Khang, a tiny temple within a small courtyard inhabited by three friendly monks offering rustic overnight accomodation. After we settled in the dormitory situated in the first floor above the main hall, we hiked through the countryside with its fields, villages, ruins, and still more temples. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy dampening our enthusiasm. After warming-up with a meal of hot noodle soup and chatting a little with the monks and some Israeli tourists, we slept very well through the chilly mountain night.
In the morning, we hitched a ride back to Ganzi (also spelled Garze) and finally explored the city. The most striking feature of the town are the numerous old wooden houses with their colourful gates. In addition, the busy town features the fantastic and very atmospheric Degongbu Temple (Temple of the Hans) as well as a big monastery dominating the old town. Here we were invited by a couple of monks to drink our first Tibetan butter tea. Although the communication was difficult due to the language barrier, the hospitality of the Tibetans was once again magnificent! All in all, it was great to notice how the people in the area had preserved their cultural identity.
After our last night at the Hotel Himalaya in Ganzi, we took the minibus to Litang (click here for a video of the trip). The road followed a narrow gorge and traffic was interrupted several times by landslides. The architecture of the village houses also changed with the appearance of multi-storey buildings resembling little fortresses. Eventually, we reached Litang – one of the highest settlements on earth at an altitude slightly above 4,000 m! You can read all about our visit there in the following post!
Matt Travels 
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Your trip sounds great! I’ll certainly read some more about it. I also went to China last month, and I’ve started blogging about my trip too 🙂
thank you! It was really a great journey! I will check out your posts, too!! 🙂
Thank you! I’ve only just started blogging, so I really appreciate you taking a look
the shot of Himalayan Griffon in flight is my personal favorite
p.s. followed you on Instagram and twitter 🙂
thanks a lot!! 🙂
So many interesting photos here!! 🙂
thank you – glad you like them!! 🙂
I enjoyed today’s leg of your journey, Matthias, as I always do. I especially like seeing the farming, also enjoyed the towns and roads and houses. This was a great overview of the area, and your photos are spectacular.
wow – thank you very much!! There are still a few posts coming before this journey’s story is finished… I hope you don’t lose interest! 🙂
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