Trail Tales
Yeah, I’m a week late telling you about this. It was a pretty remarkable week. Overall we had a great time. I’ve intentionally waited before putting to pixel the events of May Holiday in an attempt to see if just the best parts can be passed along rather than the details of our bowel movements, (quite free-flowing), in the woods. So, despite the length of the following you can be assured that it is the distilled version.
Leaving Chengdu
I arrived in Chengdu the night prior to our departure and met up with Evan and Sergio at Dave’s Oasis for a pizza before heading back to Evan’s. It was to be an early night since we had to be up quite early for the 10 hour bus ride North to Song Pan.
We were five.
Evan, Richard, Jon, Sergio and I headed off to the bus station in separate staggered taxis. Richard and Jon a bit ahead of us. Sergio and I headed up the street so I could grab some cash with Evan rolling up in a taxi after a couple of minutes. Before Sergio and I left the apartment I grabbed the three tickets off the coffee table.
At the bus station we didn’t see either of the lead party so we headed for the bus expecting to see them there. They were nowhere to be seen and after a few nervous minutes Evan spotted Richard in the terminal and headed in to get him. What happened next could only be described as a complete meltdown. Richard’s face was glowing as he moved his head in jerky motions while his arms flailed about excitedly. Sergio, in great deadpan delivery said, ‘Richard is mad.’ Finally, what must have been just short of cardiac seizure, Richard stormed out of the building. With no idea what had just happened we looked on eagerly as Evan and Jon boarded the bus. It seems that Richard had lost his ticket. Rather than buy another ticket, (this is the place where they make them, afterall), he decided to freak out and blame me for picking up the tickets. Whatever.
And then there were four.
The bus ride was eventful enough in that Jon was suffering from food poisoning that he was certain was from some bad sao cao, (Chinese street vendor barbecue), and Sergio was still sick with a sore throat that his ‘injections’ had failed to relieve. Jon was the real highlight. He was sick out the window to the delight of the passengers behind him. At a stop for fuel and xi zao jian, bathroom, he continued in a roadside garden while the horrified owner looked on. Through this Evan and I were sharing bai jiu to help ease our ride. Neither Jon nor Sergio wanted any. Go figure.
Once in beautiful North Song Pan we decided that 40rmb, ($4.87 USD), was to expensive for a place to stay and instead dropped our gear off at a dorm style place for on 20rmb each. A 50% savings! We had been bombarded with business cards for local businesses as we came off the bus and decided that we would check out the trek options and then head to Emma’s Kitchen for some grub. Grubbin’ it was too.
Day 1
We began early enough. For us. We negotiated a 9am start so we could enjoy breakfast at the very hospitable Emma’s Kitchen. Since we booked a five day trek it would be just the four of us and our two guides. Advantage us. It seems that most go out for two or three days and often end up with strangers as the groups grow to twenty plus.
We were being encouraged to eat quickly by Mike, our contact at Shun Jiang Horse Treks who is a great guy, to hurry and eat so we could be underway. Throughout breakfast Sergio was questioning his ability to make it for five days in his current health although Jon was nearly fully recovered. We discussed Sergio’s concerns with Mike who told us that if we returned early we would be refunded any days not used. A fairer deal could not have been offered especially considering that they were the only horse trek outfit in town. Breakfast was great and we went to meet our guides and horses. Horses. Loose use of the word. It seemed that these were our pack ponies and we figured our horses must be waiting, corralled somewhere and waiting. Wrong. After walking through the recently regentrified and almost Disney-esque town we were instructed to mount these poor burdened beasts to begin the trek. Inexplicably, despite being the shortest and weighing the least I was given what appeared to be the biggest steed. We weren’t so much riding as we were an extension of the baggage. It seems we had just the magic number that we would all be riding gear rather than saddle.
After a few hours, and some nervous squealing by Jon as his horse rode the edge side of the trail, we arrived at our camp. We only actually ride the horses uphill and walk down the hills. It was a bit strange for me to ride again after so many years. I kept hearing my childhood riding instructor, Sue Pruitt, telling me to keep my heels down! Hands low! Sit straight! None of which mattered to my horse who took very few commands whether they were heel, rein or vocal.
Our guides. We had two great guides. We initially thought the guy in green with the impish grin was Dicky and the other we didn’t know or remember his name. Since he was the guy not in green I dubbed him Kato. We discovered later that we had it backwards and went through the rest of the time referring to them as Dicky and Not Dicky.
After camp was set up, with little participation on our part, Not Dicky began speaking and making swimming motions. We knew to expect hot springs and so we figured that maybe he knew of a place to swim despite the chill of the elevation. With towels in hand, Evan, Jon and I followed him while Sergio decided to stay at camp and rest. Along the way Not Dicky would stick empty water bottles on branches so we could find our way back. We arrived at one of the most beautiful green/blue ponds you should ever see. It was also freezing cold. Having come this far we decided we would give it a go anyway. Others had been there before us and a dead campfire inspired Evan to begin to build us a fire so we could warm ourselves afterward. Just as the fire began to live without our constant prodding a group of Chinese tourists came upon us and quickly connected the dots as to what we were about to do. That we were in our underwear had to have been a strong clue. They offered to handle our cameras for us and we proceeded to the waters edge while they goaded us in near perfect English. Just our luck.
Evan is new to wearing contacts so I mentioned to him not to open his eyes underwater and he should be fine. Jon was the first in the near freezing water. He was also the second. Evan and I were really ready to pack it in. It was so cold. It was so beautiful. It was a lot like women I’ve dated. Well, that is only half true. Jon sensed our hesitation and was now completely shaming us as he cannon-balled in for his third time in. It was then that I struck, when no one was looking, by diving straight into the water. Wow! It was so cold I immediately regretted the dive that put me so far from shore. I turned, submerged and took a huge lunge towards shore with my eyes open as I wanted nothing more than to be out of the water. I reached the muddy shore and attempted to scamper out as I sunk to both my knees and elbows in my effort. I was also very disappointed to be lacking clear vision in my right eye. The very thing I had mentioned to Evan not to do I did in my flight or fight moment. I was fortunate in that I found a case with an old pair in them back at camp and was able to restore my vision. It was a bit lucky for everyone as I was quite pissy about it.
His back to me, Evan heard the splash that reported my participation which prompted him to call me a name before jumping in himself. Neither Evan nor I felt the need to go in again. We thanked our Chinese audience and the three of us made our way to the fire in an attempt to thaw. The fire really was a pretty genius idea.
The hike uphill back to camp helped to warm us greatly. Sergio had been sleeping or resting in the tent that was to be our home for the night.
The rest of the evening was spent around the campfire. The vegetarian meal, (the first of many), was great. We just relaxed and shot the shit while passing around the bai jiu before deciding to join the already retired Sergio in the tent. See a trend here? By the time Jon and I made the run to the tent it was cold and wet snow was slopping down on us. As the last one in, Jon was left with the task to secure the tent door. This proved to be nearly impossible for him which threw Evan and I into hysterics and awoke Sergio. As Jon became more and more confused Evan and I became more and more hysterical. It seems that since the ground was wet and he was on his sleeping bag, Jon had his hands in his shoes and couldn’t seem to figure out how to close the door with shoes on his hands. Our howling laughter eventually woke one of the guides who bailed Jon out by sealing the door for us.
Good thing this is the short version, eh? This was just the first day.