Category Archives: Explorations
South Tea Sips 2: Meals, Forearms, and an Enduring Tea Truth
Meals seem to at times provide the only respite from the luscious infusions of tea which hit from everywhere at once. We sit in Dafa’s dark wooden kitchen on the second floor of his home deep into Nan Nuo’s … Continue reading
Ascent of Gold Pass
It is said amidst the Himalayas that it takes but a whiff of mountain air to know what is coming weather-wise. Neither Fred, Fik, nor I have a nose quite capable of detecting what is to come, though there are … Continue reading
Video Post Atop Sho’La Pass
A short clip of video shot atop the blustery Sho’La Pass here: http://youtu.be/oKGR8Xt0Lgw Yanpi, the wind, a huge sky and myself. Twenty minutes atop the pass to remember the two weeks to arrive here
The Journey to Sho’La Pass – Part 5 – The Pass, The Wind, and a Daughter
Up until the morning of our departure for the pass, our horseman has been a silent man, enjoying being with our group, and loving Yanpi’s bouts of sharp wit. He has done what any good horseman the world over … Continue reading
The Journey to Sho’La Pass – Part 4 – The Smell of the Pass
Baima’s empty valleys and snow shards stare at us. We have left Benzilan behind and ‘Ngawa the Machine’ is no longer with us. Mountain air now thankfully dominates the heat infested valleys and the lethargy that heat brought, gives way … Continue reading
The Journey to Sho’La Pass – Part 3 – A Route of Stone and Ngawa’s Wife
Heat and its lethargy inducing powers have long played havoc with my own senses and perspectives. I am not alone in this feeling. Exiting our safe cool forests, and descending into the hot valleys, I feel the itch of impatience … Continue reading
The Journey to Sho’La Pass – Part 2 – Sandalwood and Heat
What is eternally rivetting about the mountains is their ability to hold traces of what has come before on their surfaces, while simultaneously holding unimaginable power. Tucked away, under forest cover, within valleys, and particularly on the stone, the trails … Continue reading
The Journey to Sho’La Pass – Part 1 – Horsemen Are Always Late…
Songjè the horseman is late. It isn’t unusual for this part of the world, but still the same, it is something that burrows its way into me. For moments it seems as though his absence will delay the entire expedition. … Continue reading
Expedition: Shangri-La to sacred Sho’La Pass Begins
A team of five of us begin the trek from Shangri-La to the sacred 4,815 metre Sho’La Pass tomorrow via an old trade route that wanders along the Yangtze and Mekong Rivers.
The Lion and the Descent – The Sacred Lakes in the Heights – Part lll of lll
Morning comes with smoke and the sounds of “pops” on my sleeping bag. The smoke is from our still-burning fire which Ngawa kept burning all night. Aniè has slept only intermittently and Ngawa worried about our old lion so he … Continue reading