Yes, knackers, pavees, tinkers, travelers, itinerants, whatever you want to call them, that’s what they are. Total cowboys. So we all awkwardly climbed on board our respective horses….when I say horses they were more like sheep. They don’t respond to reins or kicks or shouting. They are more a breed of sheep. They follow each other and that’s that.
So we headed for the hills, out of Songpan. Up and up we went into the mountains on a little trail. For miles we traveled, our behinds becoming numb.
Trying to get into to Tibet unnoticed is relatively easy, as there are so many mountain trails, although these are at huge altitudes so they are dangerous enough. It took nothing out of the horses who seemed pretty well able for the journey. For me though I was on my last legs. Every 20 mins I had to jump off and head for a bush. I’ve never felt so bad in my life! I’ve eaten plenty dodgy Indian food but this is 10 times worse. I got weaker and weaker as the day went on.
We stopped at 4200 meters to set up camp for the night. This is about half way up mount Everest and we were all starting to feel it. Breathing was becoming a lot more difficult and this was not helping my situation. I needed some antibiotics as soon as possible.
As dinner was being served the guides started opening their bottles of fire wine. This is absolutely lethal stuff. I don’t know what percentage alcohol it is but after about an hour all their noses were pumping blood. They didn’t even bat an eyelid, just kept supping away on the stuff as they broke into song every now and again, when they weren’t panned out on the ground. Tough as nails these guys!
As one by one they passed out by the fire, we headed to our tents. A night of hell was about to begin for me
For the entire night I was vomiting….from both ends, and lost all strength. In the end I just lay on the wet grass wishing I would die.
So we headed for the hills, out of Songpan. Up and up we went into the mountains on a little trail. For miles we traveled, our behinds becoming numb.
Trying to get into to Tibet unnoticed is relatively easy, as there are so many mountain trails, although these are at huge altitudes so they are dangerous enough. It took nothing out of the horses who seemed pretty well able for the journey. For me though I was on my last legs. Every 20 mins I had to jump off and head for a bush. I’ve never felt so bad in my life! I’ve eaten plenty dodgy Indian food but this is 10 times worse. I got weaker and weaker as the day went on.
We stopped at 4200 meters to set up camp for the night. This is about half way up mount Everest and we were all starting to feel it. Breathing was becoming a lot more difficult and this was not helping my situation. I needed some antibiotics as soon as possible.
As dinner was being served the guides started opening their bottles of fire wine. This is absolutely lethal stuff. I don’t know what percentage alcohol it is but after about an hour all their noses were pumping blood. They didn’t even bat an eyelid, just kept supping away on the stuff as they broke into song every now and again, when they weren’t panned out on the ground. Tough as nails these guys!As one by one they passed out by the fire, we headed to our tents. A night of hell was about to begin for me
For the entire night I was vomiting….from both ends, and lost all strength. In the end I just lay on the wet grass wishing I would die.
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