Ganzi to Da Tong Ma

When Gregor and I first arrived to Ganzi, we met a Taiwanese monk who we’d assumed was a tourist passing through the town. The monk in fact has a lot of influence in the town due to all the community projects he undertakes. One such project the monk has undertaken is funding the building of a monastery in a rural village by the name of Da Tong Ma.

The monk, having heard of our experiences at the local Tibetan school invites us to spend a couple of days at the small village as his guests. Elise, Gregor and myself gladly accept and the following day join the monk’s driver (Tashi Judah)  in his truck for the drive to the town.

The town lies five hours drive north of Ganzi along a dirt road, unfortunately our truck breaks down numerous times along the trip and the trip takes closer to nine hours. The first time we break down, we call a mechanic from Ganzi to make the repairs. The mechanic arrives an hour later with a punctured tire losing air rapidly, we offer to change the tire while the men repair the truck. Unfortunately the men used their spare half an hour later and have come close to bursting another tire.

After a quick repair job involving a glove, screwdriver and glue, the mechanic and his companion are able to leave back to Ganzi, while we continue our trip to Da Tong Ma, only to break down half an hour later.

The second time we break down, we are in a position where no trucks can pass us, so they’re forced to stop and after a cigarette, they decide to help fix our truck.

When we break down the second time, the driver of the orange truck comes out to help. If you look closely, you can see a 4WD in the back of the truck amongst all the other supplies. Had I taken a photo a minute earlier, you’d have seen a man climbing out of the 4WD in the back of the truck.

The truck overheats numerous times along the way and we eventually arrive at Da Tong Ma at 11:30pm.