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Chola Shan Expedition |
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MaNiGanGe
This is our destination: MaNiGanGe. I don't know the Tibetan meaning of this word. But in Chinese, it produced an image of armed men riding on fleeting horses. This is a tiny town, with only one street block stretching about half mile long. Our van took us to a glanderous-looking, brand new building, the only two-story building on the street. It was so new that the inside was not renovated yet. The corridor was dark and the restroom was filthy. For every 30 or so rooms there is one tap water. But the room was relatively clean with very simple furniture. Before I had time to catch a breath and wipe the dust off my face, Ma asked me to go to talk with Tibetan herders with him. I hopped on Ma's van and left Tao alone to help the "fellowship" settle down. Ma's local friend accompanied us on the van. He is very handsome young man and a very heavy smoker. During the short 25 minutes of car ride, he consumed two unfiltered very strong cigarettes. I already felt headache due to altitude, dehydration and lack of sleep. Now the smoke of tobacco almost choked me to suffocation. But then, I saw Chola Shan at the end of the road. There she was, right in front of me. So lofty and high up there. With my heart beating like a drum and my aching head, I didn't even want to think about how to climb her at that moment. At the foot of Chola Shan, there is a national conservatory park for white-lipped deer. To enter the park, we need to talk with the regulatory agency, which is also responsible of arranging herders and horses. We soon found ourselves in the park office, a dark room with a stove in the middle. A Tibetan woman gave us an official and plain welcome. She was also the interpreter between Ma and the head of the village where the horses and herders would be called upon. Her Chinese was less than fluent. It took her 5 minutes to figure out we want 30, but not 13 horses. The negotiation of price was much harder than I thought. Both Ma and the old man was very stubborn about price. They also started talking about a few unpleasant incidents that happened last year, which concerned a few lost luggage. More people gathered in the room and joined the heated discussion. Ma and I were the only people who were not Tibetan. All the Tibetans spoke very firmly with heavy and expressive gesture. It would have been very entertaining for me to watch, but the smoke inside was unbearable. Everybody smoked, one cigarette after another. I stood as close to the door as possible and stepped outside every 15 minutes to catch some fresh air. Ma was sitting deep inside the room, engulfed by the smoke, holding his fort. He really has a tough job ... After all, the negotiation ended at a middle ground accepted by both sides. A messenger on motorcycle was sent off to the village 15 miles away. The herders and their horses would travel 15 miles and waited for us at the park in the morning. We went back to the hotel. Dinner was already served. When darkness fell, power was off, which happened almost every day, as we were told. The hotel was well prepared, since soon candles were lit in every room as well as inside the hallway. We ate dinner in the candle-lit dining room. I was too tired to have appetite. Tao and I went back to our room. There is some romantic atmosphere everywhere with the candle light. But we hardly had any mood for romance. We were both physically and mentally tired. What was worse was that Tao started to have a fever. In the middle of the night, I was waken up by the sound of rain. Next morning, it was still raining outside. The notion of riding a wet horse in the rain was not pleasant, not mentioning the trouble of keeping gear dry. We ran into an American on the street. Upon his suggestion, we purchased 100 ft of tarp at a local store which proved to be invaluable in many places. After a hasty breakfast and some running around, we finally all reached the gate of the park. The meadow in front of the entrance now was full of horses and cheerful people including children.
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