The cowgirls ride on!
Well we're now in Songpan and have completed a 3 day horsetrek which was FANTASTIC! Definitely on a par with the glories of Tiger Leaping Gorge. We set off first thing on Sunday morning up into the hills overlooking Songpan. I named my worthy steed, Becks, because of his Mohican-style mane. There were 14 of us - 7 guides, an Israeli couple we met on the bus from Chengdu, 3 Israeli lads, then Melanie and myself. I've now learned a few words of Hebrew! The first day's trek was pretty constant - the guides just kept going and going with only a couple of short breaks. So unfortunately I didn't get to my suncream in time - Melanie is overjoyed that she won't have to pay money to be photographed with a panda when we go to the panda reserve next week as I do the job pretty well. But I'm now somewhat concerned that they won't actually let me leave the panda reserve!

Anyway we reached our basecamp around 3 in the afternoon and the setting was so beautiful. In no time the guides had set up camp beside a gorgeous river and plenty of bushes around which provided ample cover for relieving oneself as long as you avoid the horse manure! (At 4.30am I needed a pee and stumbled out of the tent with torch in hand, I had just finished when one of the horses neighed and scared the living daylights out of me ... I didn't exactly hang about then!) The guides turned out to be very good cooks and it was fascinating to watch them concoct some great grub over the campfire. Before bed I played cards by torchlight with the Israelis which was good crack and then admired the stars - awesome!

The next day we arranged with the guides to stay at the basecamp whilst the Israelis trekked up to Ice Mountain because Melanie's altitude sickness was playing up again. Our basecamp was 3300m and Ice Mountain is 5588m so I think that would have killed her! We saw the Israelis' photos when they got back and the mountain really looked stunning, lakes and all. However we actually had a really lovely day - I think God had it all planned out for us! Melanie's guide was a lovely wee man and he took us for a dander down the valley to the Tibetan village. We got a look round a temple, stopped for a coke at the local 'snack bar' where the owner was getting on with some sewing. Then the guide showed us where to find a waterfall and left us to it whilst he went pack to camp to prepare lunch. The waterfall was a hidden gem - so beautiful. The landscape up there has an alpine feel to it, and reminds me of the Rockies too, but at the same time there is something different about it - something wilder, and something very Tibetan. Their villages are beautfiul, they seem to take real pride in their homes. We saw yaks being used to plough fields and harvested crops being hung out to dry. There are prayer flags dotted all over the place and it challenged us to think of our own faith - it's so much a part of our identity for both Melanie & myself, yet how visible is it?

Yesterday by 8.15am we were packed up and on horseback again on the homeward bound trek, on a different route back to Songpan. We were quite sad to leave our little idyllic campsite! Again the scenery was glorious and the weather too though it was cool to start with. Unfortunately I lost my sunglasses when I nearly fell of the horse as it was going down a steep dyke. Later on the paths got really dusty and the glare from the sun was really strong so my eyes were killing me. But hey it was a fantastic experience and I would definitely do it all again! It was wonderful to get showered and put on clean clothes yesterday evening! And to top if all off we had a full body Chinese massage (2 quid for an hour!) - wonderful in a perverse kind of way - my body has never been yanked about like that before!

Well there's a pizza with my name on it, so I'm heading! Until the next time...