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Published: October 7th 2006
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Oh yes we survived!
Yesterday afternoon after a 9 hour journey back to Chengdu, us laoshi (Charlotte, Daryl, Felicity, Ally, Fran, Steven and I) arrived at our respective homes and collapsed!
We set off for Songpan on Monday (2nd Oct) at 7am from the bus station. Songpan is a (as you can tell) 9 hour bus ride away from Chengdu, a mountainous region which is very beautiful and has been offering horse-trekking for the past few years. Dave at Dave's Cafe said to us before we left that a) not many Chinese people did the horse-trekking cos it was too tough b) once (i.e. horse-trekking) was enough! We appreciated the last statement by the end of our trek, for sure!
Anyhow after only an hour on the bus the scenery changed and it turned into a windy bus journey (if you get travel sick, watch out) with mountains around us and the river clearly visible, as well as the people looking more Tibetan than the Han (i.e from Chengdu). The air also changed and it was literally a breath of fresh air when you opened the bus windows and noticed that the air was thinner and cleaner, and
there was pure, blue sky.
We arrived in Songpan at about 4pm and found a hostel which was basic and cold, but the toilets were passable which was the main thing! We booked our trek and met a few other laowei who were in town. We also had a wander round the town, and after realising how bloody freezing it was - compared to Chengdu anyway! - invested in some super sexy thermal underwear...we reckoned the female outfits were going to be too small as everyone is so teeny tiny here, so invested in the male version, which even had the feature of a 'pouch' for your, er, male organ. But at least it fit!
We set out on our trek (plus 2 other people) at around 9am the next day. There were a few other horses with us carrying our stuff, bags, plus blankets, sleeping bags, pots and pans and whatever else the guides packed for our 2 nights worth of camping. I did horse riding for a few years when I was younger and you do remember how to hold the reins and your posture etc, but it's still pretty uncomfortable, a bit like riding an
elephant (if any of you have done that)! The views were amazing and on the first day the weather was pretty good, cold, but relatively sunny. Seeing the reds, oranges, yellows and greens of autumn on the mountains around us was a real change from being in the city and seeing the old cow and yak added to the novelty! We arrived at camp at around 2pm and praise the lord, the guys quickly set up a fire for us to huddle around and warm ourselves.
The next day was the hardest. We trekked for around 7 hours in all, as we headed towards Ice Mountain (the clue's in the name) and pretty much the whole time we were riding it was snowing, sleeting, raining, you name it, and once you're wet, it's very hard to get warm. All I was thinking was 'I wonder how long it takes for frostbite to set in?' I have done a marathon and that was easier than our horse-trekking experience! It was also quite hairy (i.e. scary) cos the mountains are very steep and the tracks were very muddy, so you really had to grab hold of the saddle and try and
steer the horse in the right direction down or up the paths. At one point I was about 5 mins ahead of everyone else, so couldn't see anyone (my horse always insisted on being up front) and I went down a slippery slope and was thinking 'if I fall, no-one's going to notice til they see a horse riding by itself!' However we made it back to the camp eventually (and to Ice Mountain) and spent the rest of the evening by the fire!
So all in all, would I recommend it? I'd say, think about it carefully before you go! I don't know when would be the perfect time to go, I don't think there is one. Summer is very hot and humid, winter would be too bloody freezing with non stop snow, and October when we went was also very chilly with mixed weather. However the scenery with all the autumnal colours was amazing. The guides were helpful and provided us with everything. The food was fine, just noodles with veg and garlic and lemongrass, bread (very nice bread) and tea, and it was all very communal in spirit, not 'us and them'. It is the hardest
physical thing i have done though, and some people had some falls off their horses which isn't nice especially if you are a bit of a novice at horse-riding - it can put you off and make you scared, which is not ideal if you still have many hours of horse-trekking to go! However if you want an experience and to get out of the city and see another part of China, go for it.
Things to take:
lip balm
hand towel
toothbrush and toothpaste
waterproof clothing (trousers if possible too!)
waterproof gloves/thick, warm gloves
waterproof shoes/trekking boots (you will be doing some walking in the mud)
a change of trousers
spare socks
thermal underwear/lots of layers
torch
snacks
water
sunglasses
hat
cards/entertainment for when you're by the fire!
travel pillow (you may have to sleep on saddles and is a bit uncomfortable!)
baby wipes/hand wipes
loo roll
headache tablets. Altitude sickness (you do go very high up in the mountains on this trek) affects some people and causes headaches/nausea/dizziness. Though the guides do bring oxygen with them.
camera
plastic bags (for your wet/muddy stuff)
stamina!
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nice!
it sure looks cold! keep up with the excellent bloggin!