Chengdu Adventure

December 2010, Sichuan: One semester of weekly trainings; running, intervals and stairs climbing. Why did we have to go through these routine?

Day 0
The last night before departure was spent checking through the equipment and going through the check-list to make sure that I did not leave anything important behind. Lots of essential items to bring along in the backpack, leaving almost no space for my personal belongings. I only brought 2 sets of t-shirts for the 2 week expedition. The seniors said that we won’t be showering in the mountains because it would be too cold to do so. Probably, I thought. Well, we would also want to minimize the backpack weight as much as possible.

Taking up the most space was the down-sleeping bag, almost half my space. It’s quite amazing to see the full size sleeping bag being fit nicely into the small compression bag. Three layers of clothing; baselayer, fleece and outershell. Actually, in the end, 4 layers were just alright. Helmet, check. Karabiners, check. Harness, check… Ready to go!

We have to bring the boots and the crampons too! They were heavy, almost a kilo each side. You’ll only know its usefulness when you start walking on ice, or climbing up the frozen waterfall. I brought along a birthday gift companion, fit perfectly for my adventure.

And off we go to Chengdu on the 4 hour flight. Anxious, excited and definitely looking forward to the whole new experience. As we walked out of the airport, with a backpack loaded with mountaineering gears, it definitely felt different. The ground temperature was 2°C. That was really cold for Chengdu in Dec. Our instructor, Kim Boon came to pick us up, together with the assistant instructor Joanne. They told us to keep ourselves warm as it was quite cold those few days and snow came early. We stayed at Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel in Chengdu for a night. The place was really cozy; quite affordable (as low as RMB35 for a dorm bed), good facilities (hot shower, bar, restaurant, luggage storage, friendly front desk, etc). Here’s the front view:

And here’s the living room near the front desk! One of the maps was actually prepared by the owners based on their traveling experience in China.

Sim and Maki, the owners, (or rather ex-owners. the place is now managed by new partners) have been very welcoming hosts. A sumptuous night’s dinner in a nearby restaurant before we went to Carrefour nearby for last minute shopping. Bought sachets of Milo so that I can have hot drink up in the mountains. We also bought Christmas hats for everyone because we would be on the summit on Xmas Day! Anyway, this picture is of a cleaner at Carrefour. I don’t know why they are called ‘Bao Jie’. Maybe they do everything (bao ga liao)

Airline: Silk Air was our choice. About S$750 from Singapore to Chengdu. There were other options like AirAsia from Kuala Lumpur to Chengdu. It was cheaper but we had to fly to KL first. So paying more for the convenience.
Accommodation: Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel. Totally recommend this place! Click here for more details.