After working a couple days with Yanzong in Deqin area I declared myself on vacation, and took Saturday and Sunday off to go hiking and hang out with westerners at a trekkers lodge outside Deqin called Tashi's. I sent Yanzong home to Shangrila Saturday morning and set out with a group of foreigners to Mingyong glacier, a day's walk away. Our hike took us from Feilaisi at 10,300' down to the Mekong river valley at 6600', where we saw a couple villages full of vineyards. Then we climbed again over a big hill and came down in the valley of the glacier (冰川 "ice river" in Chinese)。 It really did look like a massive, dirty, frozen river hanging in midair. Totally wild. The glacier wasn't exactly remote - you could drive to the foot of the mountain, pay your admission, and then ride ponies up the hill the rest of the way. But by walking we got that sense of personal satisfaction and also skirted around the admission booth. We bought ourselves warm cans of terrible beer from Mingyong village and caught a ride back to the lodge.
The group was two guys and three girls, two Americans, a Canadian, an Aussie, and a Moroccan.
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