Horseback Riding!!!!!

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. because I had to use the bathroom. I went on the roof afterwards to check it out and found that it was snowing. I woke Marissa up because she hadn't seen snow in three years and I was sure she wanted to see it. We then woke up again at 9 a.m., ate breakfast, and met the horseback tour guides at 10:30 a.m.



Walking to the mountains



While we were riding, one of the guides was playing music, which kind of clashed with the beautiful nature. The music itself was not bad, but the atmosphere we were in did not call for music. The ride was also a little scary. When we first started riding, the horses were walking on the edge of the mountain covered with snow. I was afraid that the horses would lose their footing and we would all go tumbling down the mountain. I tried to make my horse walk more on the inside of the trail. He obeyed me most of the time. The horse in front of Marissa's didn't have anyone on him, so he would stop every few feet to snack on something. Marissa's horse, who was in front of mine, saw this and then did the same thing. He got away with it and we had frequent stops because of it. When my horse tried to do the same thing, I pulled on the reins to stop him. I successfully passed Marissa's horse at one point and was stuck behind the naughty horse. However, every time he stopped to snack, I clicked my tongue and made him keep going.

The guide, the naughty horse, and Marissa







Yak!






People in the countryside don't have cemeteries, so they have to bury their relatives where they find room.


Other horses watching us ride by


Where's the goat?

One of the goats' leg was broken. I felt so sorry for him.






Yak and goats being herded



Tibetan monastery





Tibetans praying






Tibetans turn all of these as they pray and walk by them. They seem to go on forever.





Inside one of the side rooms in the monastery.


Artwork on the walls of the room







Where we stopped for lunch. We went inside this house and a Tibetan woman served us soup with noodles, potatoes and yak.


Our guide


The monastery from above




Our horses (view from the top)

View from the bottom


A student (I think) walking to the school


The entrance to the school


The school





The intricate door


One of the classrooms

My horse

The snow had melted on our way back and we were now riding (and later walking) through mud. This time the horses were losing their footing because the mud was so slippery.
I was originally leading the way until I went the wrong way and then was stuck behind Marissa's horse again, who kept stopping to eat food. I tried to pass her horse again, but this time, her horse wouldn't let me. He kept cutting my horse off or would go faster just so that I wouldn't pass him. Once he was far enough ahead of me, he would again stop to eat, only beginning to walk again when my horse caught up to him.



We had to get off the horses since this part was too steep and muddy for us to ride through. As I was walking, I began to lose my own footing. I had about a pound of mud stuck to my shoes and I was afraid that I was going to slip off the mountain.









After walking through all the mud with Songpan in the background


Riding through the town

We returned to our hostel around 4:30 p.m. where we rinsed the mud off our shoes and took showers. We relaxed and played cards for a couple of hours. Around 7 p.m. we headed to dinner where we met the part owner of Emma's kitchen, a restaurant in China with one of its branches in Songpan. He asked us to go there after dinner for drinks and we agreed.

Emma's kitchen and our orders: Marissa's fruit salad and tea, my chrysanthemum tea, and Tom's beer.


On the wall were postcards from all over the world. In the right hand corner is a postcard from Bayern!


From Emma's kitchen, we went back to our hostel (which was right around the corner) and headed to bed.