Organised tours in China. While taking away all the hassle of planning a trip yourself, all the extra "value" they cram in sometimes makes you wonder why you didn't just make the effort and do it all yourself. The Bamboo Sea is a four hour bus trip south of Chengdu, one hour from the nearest city, basically in the middle of nowhere. Once you get there, all of the sites are located in different areas, and the forest is not small so I decided it would just be easier to hop on a tour and let them deal with the logistics. Unfortunately I could not read the tour itinerary so I had no idea what I had signed up for until it was happening!
We set off from Chengdu at 7am, not from a bus station but a random side street by People's Park. It was madness trying to find the right bus, since all the various tour buses leave from the same place, why on earth would they schedule them all to leave at the same time? High stress.
All kinds of people were on the tour, students with their friends, families, young couples, old couples. I love how much passion the Chinese have for travelling in their own country. They were all so lovely to me as well. Communal meals really helped the group to bond and by the end of trip, we were all good friends.
The two day excursion amounted to just over NZ$100, accommodation, entrance fees and all meals included. The tour company is definitely making very handsome profits on these packages. They say that you get what you pay for, but I feel like we definitely got less! The food was scary and the beauty of communal eating means they can get away with giving you a very sub par meal indeed. Now I know what it is like to eat like a peasant. A steamed bun, plain congee and a boiled egg each for breakfast... The hotel was even scarier. I had a room to myself but with constantly flickering lights, a shower that didn't work and no AC. This combined with an awful storm abundant thunder and lightning included, equaled even less sleep than in the hostel! It was right out of a horror movie.
It did what it needed to though, and took me to the Bamboo Sea. After a month in Lanzhou surrounded by desert, it was amazing. Green, bamboo covered hills as far as the eye could see. Once we arrived it was go go go. Activities included: tea tasting, bamboo museum, cable car ride, boating, visiting numerous waterfalls, lakes, monasteries built into the sides of mountains, gift shops selling all kinds of bamboo knick knacks... Exhausting.
I could have done without all the activities, but it was all most definitely worth it. It was reinvigorating to soak up some nature after what has felt like such a long time the sand bowl that is Lanzhou!
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