Hi - this is Kelly. My interim trip this year took me trekking in the mountains of northern Yunnan province. Talk about amazing! We flew into the small city of Zhongdian, also known as Shangri-la. Walking down the narrow, cobblestone streets you pass little shops and open stalls selling all sorts of jewelry and things indigenous to the culture. A large square in the center of the city is filled with stalls selling food, the perfect place to go if you’re looking for an adventure. They had everything from greens to fried yak on a stick.
The first full day, we went to the Songzanlin monastery. It’s the largest monastery in Yunnan and it’s built to look like the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Inside the temples, the walls were covered with colorful paintings depicting the life of Buddha. Though the paintings were beautiful and the visitors were constantly going in and out, it had a feeling of darkness, the curtains closed behind us as we went in, the smoke and smell from the incense hung thick in the air, and the monks sat through the hall continually chanting their prayers. As we walked though, it made me sad that these people had most likely never heard of Jesus. I prayed that God would shed his light in the dark places of Yunnan. We went to the “home” of one of the high llamas, where we had the opportunity to sit and ask him questions, but I had trouble paying attention to what he was saying because I was distracted by a little boy, no more than nine years old, sitting on a rooftop near us reciting the prayers. How sad that he is essentially bound to be a monk for his life. It was eye-opening to see first hand what I have heard so much about, though New Heights, Perspectives, and such, and as my heart was broken again for people who don’t know Jesus, it reminded me that our God is a God of love that extends to all people, in all walks of life.
The second day we started into the mountains - our school group, four guides, and a group of Tibetan nomads with their horses. Our first campsite was set in a huge field in a deep valley, surrounded by mountains whose peaks were lost in the clouds with many little nomads’ huts at the base of them. The Tibetan horsemen drove the herds of random horses away from our campsite and we set up our camp. Two people to a tent and one larger dining tent. Our cook was a Tibetan man named Tenda. He was sweet, friendly, and an amazing cook. Considering we had to carry everything that was cooked with; our meals were amazing, every night it included some type of green, a soup, a bread, cooked veggies, and some form of yak meat, which isn’t near as bad as it sounds. While I lay trying to fall asleep, in the cold and on the hard ground, I could hear the horsemen singing and talking in Tibetan, and hear the horses’ bells ringing from where they were tied up near our tents.
The following morning I woke up a couple hours before everyone else, so I walked across the field to sit near the river. The time that I got to spend the three mornings alone in the mountains was my favorite part of the trip. After being in the busyness of Shanghai for so long it was cleansing, I guess, to spend sometime alone to think and pray. When we started the hike up the mountain it began to rain. The trail was hard; it was all mud, straight uphill, and slippery. I was completely exhausted by the time that we got to the top. We had planned to go further but the mountain we were on is sacred to Tibetans and the horsemen were too nervous to go to the valley on the other side. Naturally, I was completely fine to stop where we did. Once we had set up our camp I hiked with a small group over the hill to the sacred lake Abujee on the other side. We reached the top of the mountain that looked down onto the lake below. The top of the mountain was at an elevation higher than Mount Blanc in Europe; the hoesemen who had never been to the lake took off their hats and sat silently looking. When we turned back to leave it was incredible. We could see far over the mountains beyond where we started, and our campsite on a little hill below, the colorful tents made it “a pod of cheerfulness.”
The next morning we trekked out from our camp to an overview of what seemed like all of Yunnan where we sat and rested for several hours, then continued back down the mountain. We spent our time talking and singing as we hiked. When we got to our final campsite we got to wash our hair and faces in the river. With time to burn before supper, and not enough energy to do any small hikes, we got a couple games of ultimate Frisbee and wiffle ball going. We built a huge campfire and our guide/translator Sonam helped Tenda tell us his life’s story, which was pretty amazing and humorous. Then the horsemen started singing… after the horsemen sang; they expected us to sing. The singing went on for a very long time, well past 11:00. But it was fun, lots of laughs were shared, even across cultural and language barriers.
The final morning after an oatmeal breakfast with chopsticks (it takes skill!), we hiked back to town. We had a Nepalese lunch, which was so good after having yak for four days! We all took showers, despite the cold water and cold rooms at our hostel with no heat. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the back roads and outskirts of the village, enjoying the sights, smells, and culture. For supper we went to Tibetan hot pot, for those of you who don’t know, it’s kind of similar to fondue. More yak and yak butter tea (tastes good but upsets your stomach later).
The trip was incredible. The places we went were beautiful. The people we met and culture we were exposed to were amazing. Interim is great because it is a time to get out of Shanghai and the routine of everyday life and experience something unknown and exciting.
