I recently enjoyed a very pleasant trip from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou.Jiuzhaigou it self is simply stunning...the mountains are just amazing to see.The waters too are really beyond words.

However,just thought that I would like to advise the following points:

1.By road from Mianyang to Jiuzhaigou took a very long time,we departed Mianyang at 7.00 am and despite driving with only a lunchbreak and three 10 minue stops for us to use the facilities we did not arrive in Jiuzhaigou until 17.00 !

2.The road to Jiuzhaigou is not a highway...it is long,winding and at times a little bit boring - some parts of China always look like a 'work in progress' with many building sites or river pojects that are not pretty.

3.Jiuzhaigou is very high,I am not sure about the actual hight abouve sea level - but as a consequence it gets cold at night,so don't forget to take some warm clothes.

4.The return journey...for those of us that have travelled in China and seen the standard of driving - well,you know that it is at best a worry at worst terrifying.The road back to Mianyang is sometimes inspiring - but after about 4 hours it begins to follow the path of a river.The road is single carriageway and on this part as it twists,climbs and falls as it follows the river's way,sometimes you are very high,with only a low crash barrier to stop you should anything happen.

But...the road follows the river for 3 agonising hours ! The driver may be very experienced but as we know there are many things that can cause an incident...a truck having a wheel changed on a blind corner...or a farmer taking his frightened horse to somewhere..just around a blind corner...I have to tell you that this was the worst ever raod journey I have taken and as I have said it lasted 3 hours.I am not a religious person...not easily scared... but I promise you I prayed to God to get me to safetly.

So,the moral of the story is please,learn from my words and my experience and fly to Jiuzhaigou - you will not regret it !