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Published: February 16th 2011
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The next morning we woke up at 7:30 to prepare for the 8 am sunrise hitting the mountain peaks. Most of my companions had some pretty serious cameras. One guy had even lugged his tripod into town. They also had foreign expensive brand-name outerwear that I think were not fakes. These upper-middle class adults from big cities were really used to foreigners, so they were totally normal with me, which was a huge relief. (I have an instinctive desire to not make eye contact and run away when approaching groups of Chinese people I don't know!) There were fewer clouds than the day before, and the sun on the peaks started red and turned to fire orange. I enjoyed my coffee on the deck as I watched the show.
We then headed inside for a hearty breakfast of noodles, then to a little shop to stock up on food and water for the journey ahead. Our goal was first the base camp for one of the mountain peaks and then an ice lake at 3900 meters (almost 13,000 feet). At first it was a bit confusing where to go, but some of the others had hired a guide and he
Good Morning, Lower Yubeng
Smoke coming out of the rooftops signals the start of the day. pointed the way. I went with the two faster guys. The trail started with a pretty steep climb, but there were only a few icy spots and it was fine. Then it got a bit snowier on the way to the base camp, which made for some fun sliding descents, but really no difficulty. I have missed snow this winter, so I found it quite nice. The trail from the base camp to the ice lake was hard to do without crampons and the snow was so deep that I wish I had waterproof boots, snowpants and gaiters. Without proper equipment, we were grabbing at bushes to pull ourselves up, often falling over in the snow, and our pants and feet got soaked. At that altitude, we definitely had to stop on occasion to catch our breath!
The ice lake was all covered in snow and didn't look like a lake, However, from there, one could very clearly see the glaciers on the mountain and even (from a safe distance) little avalanches. The return was smooth and we roasted our soaking shoes near the woodstove, stuffed our faces, and went to bed.
The next morning there were no
clouds, so the sun shining on the mountain peaks was really brilliant. The peaks looked like they were on fire. After breakfast we set off for the holy waterfall. We crossed a river and walked through the lower Yubeng village. Then it was a pretty straightforward climb up a series of switchbacks to a snowy clearing. On our way up we passed several tributes to the mountain left by Buddhist pilgrims. On several trees, people had hung all sorts of clothes, hats and jewelry. There were also fields of rock piles. Our friend in the village later told us that the rock piles represent stupas. Maybe somebody is so poor that they will never get to see a real stupa, he said. But even if you are poor and live in a small village, you can still have big thoughts. The village does have several stupas, incidentally.
The final ascent to the holy waterfall was a bit slippery, but much easier than the hike the day before. The waterfall had mostly turned into some serious icicles that occasionally came crashing down in front of us, making a terrible thunder. Si Tu again provided hot coffee. Odd to bring a
camping stove on a day hike, but I wasn't complaining! We slip-slided our way down, half walking, half skiing, and falling down in the snow frequently. Si Tu showed me an alternate path down by way of a temple on a hillside with one lone monk. Our path back to the guesthouse passed through a lot of people's back yards and we climbed little ladders over various fences as we wound our way back.
Back at the guesthouse, the bosses were preparing a New Year's feast. One boss grabbed a whole flat dried pig so we could have some fried fatty pork skin. The other boss grabbed a limp freshly-killed chicken and finished plucking its feathers over the fire. The wife decorated the altar in the family room with fruit, cookies, and a crisp 100 kuai bill. There were a lot of guests that evening. Together we ate a lot of food, beer, and Tibetan "qing ke jiu/请客酒," their locally brewed baijiu, a kind of nasty hard liquor. A couple from Holland who were staying in a nearby guesthouse joined us for dinner. I later bumped into them again in Chengdu!
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Leiah
Leiah
inspiring:-)
Aah, reading your blog, was such an inspirtation, I miss climbing hiking and so on. I climb Sani Pass ( drakensburgh south africa, half the height of killimanjaro) three times a year with my uncle, who last year climbed Mount. Killimajaro and broke a world record, by takeing 9 blind people up. I felt so at home when you were mentioning, having tea/coffee at the top of a mountain and how odd it was. My uncle had a funny experiance concerning just that. When climbing the mountain it has been reported that many people become dillusional, and start hearing strange things or seeing odd things as your mind plays game with you. My uncle hadnt mentioned to anyone that he'd been hearing tea cups clinking together for hours on end the one day. When finally the porters decided everyone could have a break, the one guy pulled out an entire tea set and hot water from his satchel...all my uncle could do was laugh. I generally hike, and climb as often as I can. I inspire to also hike killi like my uncle, and everest, and one day would love to be able to afford to send him and his wife to Machu Pichu as this is a dream of his, and I know he will one day see it, be there and experiance the beauty. I myself hope to as well. There are many places I intended to go, and photograph ( as this is my passion) and you're pics and blog are def an inspiration:-) Thank you so much. I am currently based in the UAE, Abu Dhabi ( been here 2weeks now) and I am originally from Durban South Africa:-)