Period of Travel : Oct 2008
Coverage : Chengdu 成都, Leshan Big Buddha 乐山大佛, DujiangYan 都江堰 (enroute), JiuZhaiGou 九寨沟(3days entrance), HuangLong 黄龙, Maoxian 茂县
To do China in F&E, pre-work must be done via internet. We book all our tickets, transfers and accommodation online.
Airticket : Singapore to Chengdu (2-way) : Each S$500 including airport tax
http://www.zuji.com.sg/, via thai airway
Chengdu accommodation : Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel, a Singaporean Man who married a Japanese Lady and decided to build their family in Chengdu. He runs a hostel in Chengdu, very clean room and facility and all their staff are very friendly. Their hostel serves the most yummy sandwich and warm milk which I ordered for every breakfast! They are getting popular so, please pre-book with them as early as you can.
http://www.gogosc.com/
Word of Advice, the route between Chengdu and JiuZhaiGou is long journey (10-12 hours), book the earliest bus, prepare some food/snack/water for the ride. During the journey, there will be toilet stop and food stop. The toilet enroute is pretty endurable by my standard, knowing its moutainous area but you should bring some axebrand medicated oil to block the smell. Rolling up your pants would be a good practice to avoid unwanted stains. The food, in my opinion, is much better than what we expect, just order rice + tomatoe/egg soup if you have concerns. The scenery during our travel for enroute is very scenic, its worth the long ride.
Food : 知味来餐馆, previously I heard from my brother that the food in the 5star hotel of JiuZhaiGou was so bad he had to eat 10 boiled eggs to fill up. We loaded up with loads of instant noodle, bread and can food! On our first night of arrival (9pm), right next to our hostel, is 知味来 zhiweilai restaurant. Its food is so delicious, even a simple bowl of vegetarian noodles taste better than the restaurant noodle serve in many Singapore restaurant! The boss are very friendly, on my 2nd day of dinner, he observe my pale face and ask my husband is the wife sick. When ask of the syndromes (headache, faint, nauseaus), he immediately point out that I am suffering from high-altitude-syndromes and offer to cook a vegetarian noodle added with the rare flower 藏红花 [zànghónghuā] saffron crocus. Indeed within 10mins, the syndromes all cleared.
- Food : Tribe food have a pancake, which taste 90% like Singapore deepfriedbutterfly pastry, with red bean. You can buy this at JiuZhaiGou or HuangLong, and I swear its delicious!
- Stay : We stayed at a hostel 500m from JiuZhaiGou park, which stinks like toilet which is not flushed! Regretted so much to book the hostel which we pre-book from internet on our own. I would do a search in JZG next round when we reach instead, as there is ABUNDANCE of accommodation in JZG. The boss in 知味来 mentioned he can help us to book next round if we need his help, especially during peak period.
- The JiuZhaiGou park : Its illegal, but the officials does close an eye if you stay with the tribal within the park. The tribal ppl will ask you in secret, and you can preview the room to decide. Rates start at US$20 for a night with dinner. The view in JZG, is beyond beauty, its no wonder its named as PARADISE! Entry to the park is inhorbitantly EXPENSIVE!
- Total spent : S$2400
