Don't Be Fooled by the High Heels

When our liaison Barbara invited us on a hiking trip on Jade Dragon Snow Mountain we thought sure, what a great way to see the mountain and to get to know more of the Chinese teachers. How hard can it be? They wear stockings and high heels everyday and shade themselves from the sun with an umbrella. As we were soon to learn, Barbara is a hiking machine, even in a nice sweater with faux pearls on it!

Our party of seven took off from a small Naxi Village at about 8,800 feet. We were passed by a string of chain smoking Chinese tourists riding donkeys. Their guides, also smoking, seemed rather bored of the trek. There were a few resting places along the way where the horses and tourists could get a break from one another. We doggedly climbed our way through the forest until we were funneled past some small shacks where the locals demanded our 100 Yuan entry fee (each). Being local teachers helped cut the price a bit and Barbara's fluency in the local Yunnan dialect helped even more. After 5 minutes of heated exchange we paid 20 Yuan total-a far better deal than 700 Yuan.

From here we made our way up above treeline. Our next resting area was a small stone hut littered with garbage and used oxygen bottles. These small portable bottles are sold all over and are generally right next to the large surplus Army parkas that are rented to climb the mountain. At this point our party divided in its goals. Steve, Li on Steve's back, Barbara and I humped our way up some steep alpine terrain and called 13,198' (Just over 4,000m) our summit for the day. The mountain exceeds 18K. We were happy no one incurred grievous injury on the steep descent. Finally, after 9 hours of hiking, 9.2 miles and 3637' of gain, we have learned that looks can be deceiving. Never underestimate a woman in heels.

We also learned that the best thing to have for dinner after such a day is a recently slaughtered chicken in a pot of bubbling broth-also known as a traditional hot pot dinner. If you could get over the "parts" floating in the broth, it was wonderfully delicious. Barbara and our companion Judy both complained that they do not like to buy chicken at the market because they cut the feet off and they love the feet. They also both agreed that the stomach was by far the best part. We were generous enough to let them have those delicacies and the heart and the liver and...

Today, we rested.