I got up this morning and decided to leave the valley and head for the hot spring guest house to pick up my internal backpack. After oatmeal for breakfast I came across Y3 who apologized for not being a better host in showing me around the valley. She told me that she would be leaving shortly too and implied we can leave together and head to Lijiang. However, I was packed and ready to head the trail and declined her offer to stay longer.
I enjoyed my time in heading down the trail. I bid my last good bye at the scenic views of the valley. This little haven is well preserved because the only way in is by foot or horses and it is not an easy hike to trek. I did not stop at any tea stalls; I wanted to keep my body warm so I kept on moving. It was nice to be on the outbound direction and looking at faces of inbound hikers panting and sweating. I understand now when I was hiking up; everyone who was hiking out had a glow in their face and a smile, who all spoke words of encouragement. Yup, it was torturous to do 16 kilometers on steep incline and the reward was worth all the work.
I came across Chen and his new friends Wang and others. Wang, a young college graduate is a volunteer teacher in rural Yunnan. We all shared a car out to Deqen. Chen was dropped off at FeLaiSi a monastery that over looks MeiLi Snow Mountain. He wanted to stay there because of the free internet, hot water for shower, and the golden sunrise on MeiLi Snow Mountain.
Our driver was a 28 years old going on 45. He said, not having been married at 20, that his chances of getting married now are much less. He wanted to go have yak butter tea with us and maybe increase his marriage eligibility with Wang but Wang was not interested.
Wang and I decided to pair up as roommates. She's from ZheJiang and teaches 2 and 4th grade. She and I don't hit it off, Wang showed much more interest in hitting it off with men. However we remained polite and courteous to each other. Wang is a light hearted person and we managed to get along alright. We found a guest house with beds for 20 yuan each. It was low season and the place was slow so we ended up with a top floor double room with a TV all to ourselves in stead of a dorm room set up. I set my bags down on a bed that leaned against the wall and Wang ended up with the window bed which she preferred so it worked out for the both of us. Wang says she needs direct fresh air flow from the windows in order to sleep. I need to be warm away from the window in order to sleep. This meant the window would be open all night and I would have to sleep fully covered except for my nose and mouth to breath. It was fine by me since I like fresh air myself.
We walked the streets of Deqen and saw children doing acrobatic performances for money. These children did not put on smiles for the TV since they were not being broadcasted. In fact they showed a real experience of the acrobatic, rubber flexibility moves, which was pain and difficulty. I wondered what happens to their bones later on in life, will these people have spinal joint troubles and will their movement be impaired at old age.
At the room Wang discovered that a part of her blanket smelled like urine. The receptionist would not allow the exchange for a new one or at least one that didn't smell like pee. So Wang's solution was to keep the window wide open but then compromised and agreed to only have it half open. It really did smell very bad. The fresh air did not end up being very fresh since our next door neighbors smoked like a chimney.
We spent a big part of the evening channel flipping going through all the possible talent competitions or star search. It was fun for me to see, it was new for me. Wang ended up telling me history stories to bring me up to speed on being a Chinese person who needs to know Chinese History. Well, I loved stories and have always enjoyed historical stories. It was a nice way to fall asleep listening to her stories.
