Yangtze River Adventure |
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Meanwhile While Ken was hiking up the trails, Ron and I came back with a more favorable scouting report, the river was good for at least 15 K. On the fifth day in camp after the monster water days we got the film crew persuaded to get back on the river. One raft was not reparable, so we set it loose by itself as a test of the rapids. It did better than our subsequent manned efforts, not gaining even a pail of water. We were back to three separate rafts, and still no one wanted to ride in my raft, being a newcomer to the sport. Ron and the Chu carried the film team, and so I was able to go ahead, experiencing the lead position for the first time. It was kind of a thrill, not knowing for sure, wondering about the next bend. Eventually all three boats got close and we noticed another obvious drop a quarter mile ahead. We pulled over to the Chinese side of the river. The rapids were full of large rocks, keeper holes and just looked dangerous. So we made camp again. The next day Ron and I did some more scouting and unlike the previous scouts, this one was along a well worn trail. That changed the picture. All were agreed now to hike out. After waiting one more day for me to recover from a bout of the runs we took off on a trail system that eventually led inland on the second day, away from the river. Just when we are trying to decide what to do, a Tibetan and his son arrived, hiking down the trail. With sign language and some help from a shared word or two, Chu was able to ascertain that we would not be able to hike to Batang. Bama, as he is called, said we should follow him first to his village, 5 miles into the mountains, and from there we could travel to Batang on horse back. Adventure's End After two days of hiking with fewer calories than a Jenny Craig diet, we were now in heaven, or at least Shangri-la. The village had about 50 mud brick homes, two to four stories high, with only a door on the first level. Bama cleared a space in his main room, above the animal stable on the first floor. Here is where his family lived, but they made room. We were given cloth pads and animal skins to sleep on. We offed to buy a sheep for our meals, which Bama agreed to. Bama arranged for horses from surrounding villages to be brought and on our third day in the village we set off, up the trails on the surrounding mountains, just as a rescue team, with more horses, arrived down the trail. After a palaver we united teams and continued to Batang. It is rained most of the time, and I did my best to take photos and keep my cameras dry. This is a brand new adventure, going overland from the Yangtze to Batang.
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