April 08, 2004

Bus ride to the sky

Zhongdian, Yunnan Province, China

Having kitted myself with the best in Chinese winter gear I was heading for the Mingyong glacier. First step was a seven hour bus ride from Zhongdian to Deqin.

We headed west from Zhongdian and down a long valley. Small villages and isolated houses overlooked green terraced fields. Mostly the terrain was rocky though and unsuitable for cultivation. We travelled up and over a couple of passes then we started to climb and climb and climb.

Snow began to appear by the roadside and I saw the clouds above getting steadily closer. Well beyond the last signs of habitation we continued climbing and soon we rising through then above the clouds. Suddenly a huge vista of snow-covered mountain peaks surrounded us. We continue to climb, higher and higher, each turn more impressive than the last. We're well above the snow line now and the sun is streaming down on the distant mountain peaks, lighting the snow in colours of white and gold.

Finally we reach the summit at over 4200m. I was expecting a bit of a cheer from the crowd but they all seemed a bit underwhelmed. Not least my seat companion. He'd been asleep on my shoulder for most of the journey.

Posted by David at April 8, 2004 12:22 AM