Dimaluo to deqin trek:

The trek story starts in bingzhongluo... In preparation we eat a big feast the night before, sort our bags out so we have one extra heavy backpack (for the porter) and one light backpack for us to rotate on an hourly basis during the 4 day hike and strip our already lean backpacks down to shear necessities (which means no shampoo or conditioner bottles :/).

Day 1: 8km trek to dimaluo...
Carrying everything we own we leave dimaluo a little nervous. Firstly Alou hasnt given us any information (the little info we have received is from owen our trekking companion!)... We have no idea how many days, what to bring, whether we need a sleeping bag or waterproofs... We were a little disappointed in the lack of Contact Alou provided. Secondly, we were still a little sore and physically tired from the huge day cycling to Tibet..
Thirdly, we asked for a porter for a reason... Trekking 8km on a trail in which we don't know it's topographic scale with 12-15kg backpacks was daunting. And lastly, I was wasn't sure I was in the mental state of mind to pull myself through the 4 day challenge as I spent a lot the day before. But Becks was keen to at least try the 8km trek to Dimaluo with all our gear so I thought if I could conquer that feat I would do ok on the rest of the hike... At 5pm, with bus and hike directions from owen (not Alou) we set off aiming to make it to Dimaluo before 8pm. At the red bridge 20km from bingzhongluo we hop off the bus, cross the bridge and start the 8km. The dirt road turns out to be spacious with reasonably shallow inclines. No qualms why a mini van couldnt get you all the way. Taking it slow with multiple breaks we made it to Alou's guesthouse in Dimaluo right on 8pm. The bags were not too bad nor was the walk so my enthusiasm for the rest of the trek heightened. The gang was there all together for the first time.. Owen, myself, becks and Alou! A few beers shared between the 3 of us (minus Alou), we sat for a delicious dinner cooked by Alou's wife and talked about the expectations of the hike. It was at this point that Owen found out (he speaks Chinese) that Aluo was feeling unwell and would not accompany us on the trek. ????? Hmmm my skepticism was growing and growing.. We had read so much amazing stuff from reviews of this trek people did with Aluo and I was a little sad I had not seen his "amazing hospitality" or his "friendly nature"... Not to worry I had a full tummy, a comfortable matrice on the floor and a weird excitement for the unknown which will unfold over the coming few days...

Day 2: trek uphill for 9hrs.. Down for 1:
Up at a reasonable hour I donned my runners and shorts, ate a big bowl of pasta-like noodles, met the mules that will be our porter for the trip and waited for instructions that never came. We handed over or 1150yuan (the cost of the trip between us) and sat admiring the healthy state the mules. Hurriedly we were told to get ready and set off. As we left the gates of the quaint guesthouse Aluos last remark rang in our ears; "today's a tough day.. 11 hours should be enough"..... Thanks mate. Cheers!

The moment I stepped foot out those gates it was on. My head was in the zone and I was ready for anything. Without consciously preparing myself I had prepared myself in an odd way. I had relaxed and calmed all the distracting thoughts. Wow. I am writing quite deep here but if I complete this 3 day challenge, it will be the biggest trek I've done to date! So give me a break alright ;)

The Chinese boys leaving out the gate with us I assumed were our guides for the trek. 2 younger ones (1 I later found out was Aluo's son) and an older man. So 6 people plus 2 donkeys head off the beaten track...

Pretty soon into the trek it was up up up.. With inclines ceasing to prevail, the endless peak above which keeps growing as we get closer to the clouds our excitement and buzz fades. Owen, the mules and the 2 boys power ahead and the older dude stays with us whistling to touch base and smoking cigarets at point further up waiting for us to catch up to him before powering off up again to wait for us once more. Becks struggled a fair bit.. Well a lot (her words!), after an hour of intense incline her knee ligaments were swollen and sore and her chest was pounding inabling her to catch her breath. Its tough. Its all tough. The emotions, the feelings, the exhaustion... It's a battle with yourself. Becks went through all of it and came out with even sorer knees, a tighter chest but with a lighter tone. With her setting the pace, putting one slow step in front of the other, taking regular breaks to catch our breath caused by incremetal altitude change, it worked. It was slow but it worked. The tension between us dissolved and we just looked ahead at the ridiculous peak towering above us. The older guy took pity on us and took our big backpack from us for the rest of the day. What a champ. After 7hours we made it to a spot to eat lunch :/ a little to long a wait I say but anyways we passed around baked potatoes and boiled eggs and relaxed upon the soft dewy grass on the side of a mountain gazing out at the gorgeous scenery below us. It's a pretty cool feeling looking down at where you have come from.

The higher we climbed, the colder it got.. The first sight of snow was pretty exciting.. Without any communication between us and our loyal guide we never knew how long we had to go, how far we had climbed, how high we were nor how long until lunch. It wasn't until our feet were stumbling much more rapidly in front of each other and our pain in our calves eased that we has unknowingy reached the highest pass of the day (we later find out was 3700m from 1800m in dimaluo) and had begin a quick decent.

After maybe an hour of down hill, A little log cabin... Basic as ever... But still mega cute was ahead at the bottom on a deep green valley. Smoke bellowing out its walls enticed us to move quicker. Ben and Eric the mules which now had names to perfecty describe their personalities were contently tied up out front.

Upon arrival the tiredness from emotions and shear physical exertion swept over us. The warm welcoming open fire enticed us to join the crew but not before a quick rince (fully clothed) in a freezing stream nearby. Dinner of tofu mixed with mushrooms along with seasoned potatoes and rice was a perfect night cap to send me straight to sleep. Curled up in long trousers and a big coat, a plastic bag of clothes for a pillow, 2 sleeping bags entwined around us and lying upon a windscreen protector we drifted into a restless sleep.

Day 2: up 4 hours, down 3hrs...

Waking up to a crackling fire, breakfast was being served. With eyes adjusting to the smokey ambience I greedily ate the extra delicious bowl of noodles and potatoes served before me.

Todays atire was log waterproof trousers, a singlet, a long sleeve T, beanie and a pack-a-mac over the top. Back in the wet trainers and dirty socks I go. Time to get the day started!

The plan for the day is a hike up to 3300m (though this figure changed throughout the day) from 2300m then down to the valley on the other side where we will take refuge once again for the night.

Today was in everyone's opinion the best. The steep hike up lasted for 4 hours, which was a nicer prospect than the day before :) along the way we takled rain, thick mist, slippery paths and leaches... Tens of tens of leaches. A nice way to stop and savor a breather was to pick off the greedy f***ers... Closer to the top the windy chill was icy which mimicked the surroundings. Out of the icy pine Forrest we emerged. A glorious white wonderland stood before us gazing down taunting us, almost guarding the peak we were so desperate to conquer.

Owen stood before us at the bottom of the snowy summit. The Chinese boys, to quick even for him, had raced on ahead leaving a trail of thick fog in their wake. Unable for Owen to find his way, he waited patiently for the slow-coachers to catch him up and lead him along the right path. One slow, cautious step after another we scrambled to the top - only one slippage of 30m... A Minor setback. Though at the time was a disaster... Cold fingers are a b****. Oh and this is where I suggest multi-terrain shoes... Trainers just don't cut it!

The top!! What a feeling. Glorious white snow in every direction. Bitter winds over-road our sweaty, warm bodies and our coats, beanies and gloves were piled on with haste. 4 of us.. Isolated on the peak of a moutain which it's ranges extend into tibet to form part of the himilayers... It's an exhilirating feeling. Such a rush!

Ben and Eric had Come as far they go, dropped their Supplies and our bags.. It was our turn to Carry them.. All the way down :S

Slowly and cautiously at first we transversed the snowy terrain until it became evident that it was too difficult to remain on our feet. On our bums we go, backpacks on backs, our faithful guide waiting meters below us incase we steer ourselves in the wrong direction or just keep on going into the icy abis, we slide... Slide 10m... Transverse right... Slide 20m... Transverse right. And on and on we go until the terrain gets a little more rockier and a little less snowy. It is here where we can scramble down the icy waterfalls, down the mossy rocks into the valley. This is the most mesmorisingly scenic part on the whole trek. I've neer seen anything like it before. All I kept saying to the guys was that I wish I had my snowboard. Absolutely perfect moutain for a clear run all the way to the bottom.. Even with my backpack!!!

Once we were at the hut with socks and shoes warming by the fire (mine later caught fire!) we realised that it was going to be a cold night. After another deliciously carbo loaded feast of potato and rice we made our beds on the hard stone floor. Dressed in Everything we owned, 2 sleeping bags, and a Valium, it didn't matter how close we snuggled together, we were unable to keep warm.

Day 3: 7 hours down

Emerging to a warmth and crackle of the young fire we ate plain noodles one more time and set off again for the final day. "All down hill from here" made becks day and for the next 6 hours the 3 of us trudged the muddy vallies and mossy rainforest with merry steps. Leaches - meh! They are old news :)

Out of the rainforest and onto road! Wahhhoooo we had made it to civilization!! Still heading down we stopped for snacks/lunch (no food left) at a tarpolan tent complete with airlocked chicken legs, beer and crisps... Unknown as to why we left the chicken legs, we grabbed beers and bags of crisps and proceeded to sit out in the rubbish tip (seriously it was, owen can translate for us!) and munched away on the never ending crisp supply.

Merrily and a little wobbly from beer we finished the trek on a high! Ahead a cute village teased us on. plod, Plod plod down the dusty road... Until we were led to an isolated guesthouse where the young boys bouncing with energy and wine in hand greeted us. Tired and overwhelmed from the astronomical 3 days, we took off our muddy shoes only to see them be swarmed with flies. We bite into a juicy plum provided in a bowl before us only to see the plums be swarmed in flies and we were pores a shot glass of tasty wine only to see it be... Swarmed in flies... I don't want to end on a bad note but I need to write these last few gripes... We were stranded at this guesthouse in which we were invited to by the boys the day before. We were invited by them to eat, drink and sleep. BUT we later found out the hard way that what 'invited' means in china is a
Little different than what 'invited' means to us.

Becks and I didnt Like the feel of the place almost immediately. Wanting to get out of there and head north or south; we wernt fussed, the lady of the guesthouse insisted there were no more busses this afternoon... Minivans were out of the option with her quote of 400yuan.. So we were stuck until the morning where we could get a local bus the rest of the way to deqin for 30yuan each. Hmmm I'm not into this.

Unable to use the bathroom due to the filth, unable to shower due to the lack of water and unable to bare the swarming buzz of persistent flies, oh and unable to bare the brutality of the chicken slaughter before us, we snuck upstairs to our clean dorm....

Not too long after we had settled in we were rounded up for dinner... 5 minutes passed and again we had a knock on our door insisting us eat dinner NOW. Around a small shabby, unhygienic table we squish where a few simple Chinese dishes were laid before us including the recently slaughtered chicken!! More wine was passed around and the boys ordered s few extra things... Tired and full and definately ready for bed we were approached by the guesthouse women to pay. The check included the dorm (25yuan each), the wine (15yuan each) and entire meal split between the 3 of us which was a whopping 240yuan!!!!! Now this is ridiculous.. For starters we didn't eat the chicken or the pork.. Nor were we aware we were footing the entire bill... Or how f***ING RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSiVE the BASIC meals were! Mega pisses off.. Unable to do anything we handed to greedy b**** the last of our money and went to bed.

The gripe comes from the fact we didn't even order anything... And the fact becks and I eat even better than what she served us for 30yuan MAX between us!!

Final note:

Now just to make this clear I know it's a trek.. A hard trek.. It hurts sometimes (well a lot) but it's so damn worth it. The scenery was out of this world. Hiking through meadows, jungles, creeks and pine forests. Sludging Down waterfalls, slipping up snowy peaks, sliding down snowy moutains, up gullies, meandering down vallies.. It's all there. The scenery changed through 4 seasons each day, the terrain changed double that, the temperatures tripled that and well, your emotions changed around every corner...

The next morning we made it to deqin.. With less than 10 yuan left we went in search of a money changer to be able to afford some breakfast (we got out of that guesthouse as quick as possible!) and buy a bus ticket onwards to Zhongdian!! No banks would change a thing.. Lucky a trusty savings card was except Which meant a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast and coffee!!

Deqin is a hole. The only reason to stay is to do some trekking around Kawa karpo (6100m).. But right now my legs want a break. We will be back but now it's time to eat well and rest! Zongdian here we come!!