Langmusi: Horse trekking

23rd July 2009
LANGMUSI: HORSE TREKKING

Well, no luck with the nomads. They are still at war with each other, so that has been written off. We’ve actually travelled over 5,000 miles to get here and sods law, the nomads too busy to guide us! Gutted.

However, in the Nomad Youth Hostel bar last night, we met a Chinese girl who had been horse trekking that very day – sans official nomad guide. We got speaking to her and she offered to help organise us a trip with the person who took her out.

A few Baileys and Absolute vodka’s later, we decided to draw all over the bar in the Nomad Youth Hostel with a marker pen. The owner Mahon was very enthusiastic about this and translated our pictures with Chinese characters for the benefit of the Chinese tourists. The Chinese loved this and so, for one night only, we were very popular!

Mahon:

Back in our own hostel, we attempted to get an earlyish night but the Chinese tourist machines were in full force. Crashing and banging all over the place. I think they must survive on about 3 hours sleep a night.

Our hotel is £12 per night per room, which is quite expensive for western China. It is cold and damp. Our shower is basically a hose, but at least we can get hot water from the hose between 7-11 am and pm. The water fills up on the floor to about 3inches because the drain is blocked, so you have to paddle around for the next 3 hours while it drains away. The lady who runs the hotel is nice and it is fairly clean, except for the odd blood stain on the bed sheets… you get used to that.

The Chinese girl from the bar last night was as good as her word. At 10am we went to meet our horse riding guides. The weather, for the first time since we arrived, was gorgeous and hot all day: cloudy with occasional blue skies, 30 degrees. We couldn’t have asked for more.

We had a horse each, assisted by a Tibetan lady and her son. They spoke no English, but we got by with gestures. The little boy had a mobile phone which I found quite bizarre. We rode around the Sanke Grasslands for about 5 hours, taking in the breathtaking, amazing scenery. I had never been on a horse before and it was absolutely brilliant, although pretty sore after 5 hours! The horses were treated very well. Well fed, not skinny, no sores and seemed happy. Not scared of their owners. I was pleased.

We rode over hill after hill, with nothing in sight but the untouched landscape and the odd nomad settlement. It is so remote and unwestern. Perfect. The air was crisp and fresh and the only sound was the horse trotting along.

It remained beautifully clear and warm all day. We just took in the scenery and thought about how lucky we were to be there, experiencing this, in a place where hardly any westerners – or Chinese for that matter – have ever been. It was a very calming and fulfilling experience.

We trotted back to Langmusi and waved our guides goodbye. We are now finding it a little difficult to sit down after the 5 hours riding, but it was more than worth it. We went to a little ‘modern’ restaurant run by two young Chinese girls for dinner. They could speak English, so we all chatted together for some time. I ordered beef and tomato stew, which turned out to be the best food I have had in China so far. They gave us a marker pen and asked us to draw on their newly painted white walls. We, of course, obliged. My drawings are the ones that look shit eg: the horse.

It feels like we’ve been here ages, even though it’s only been about 2.5 days. We’ve seen a lot of the surrounding scenery and spoken to a lot of locals – as well as being stalked by many. The only thing that freaks me out is that there are skinned animals everywhere. A recently gutted fox skin lying on the floor here, a sheep’s head in a washing up bowl there. I practically have to walk around with my eyes shut. Exactly…

We are staying here in Langmusi one more night and then getting a taxi to Jiuzhaigou, which is south east. We will stay there for 2 days to visit the nature reserve and then head south to Chengdu, where the pandas are!