horse trekking in songpan

---

After the laborious trek through the tiger leaping gorge on two legs, we decided that four legs was the way to go, and that's how we ended up trekking through the mountains north of songpan on horses. Not just any old horses though, but esp enabled horses, horses that responded only to the thoughts of their masters. It didn't matter if there was a car bearing down on us in the middle of the road and I gave a tentative (ie life -or -death tug) on the reins to get my four legged friend to move to the side, he, or she, (we never got that far) would not budge. Until that is a random message came down the telepathic lines of communication from the guide and my horsey trotted obediently to the side, and therefore averted the fatal outcome .

We headed through the mountains and stopped in the afternoon to set up camp..and by that i mean we sat around the fire warming ourselves while our hardworking guides pitched the tent and cooked our lunch for us. After lunch we walked up the road a bit to the nearby hot springs. The springs are located in a park that boasts a number of beautiful seasonal lakes. However it not being "the season" meant that there was a distinct lack of water in the lakes, but pretty anyway. We eventually found the aromatic hot springs and bathed in the eggy water, how this is good for you I do not know..but the prospect of a hot shower was at least five days out so ..we went for it.

In the evening we sat around the fire and when instructed by the guides, took a swig of baijou from the bottle. This stuff is a chinese spirit and not very palatable, but is a necessity if sleeping through the cold night is on your agenda. It worked , sort of, but we had saddles as pillows and there was a half a foot gap from the bottom of the tent to the floor, and there was snow on the ground outside, so ..

The second day we took a different route back to songpan, passing through some tibetan villages on the way. Arrived back in songpan and went to bed.

---

Photos

My Horse
the stubborn little mule

campsite
the main house, and the chalet to the right