Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya

Finally the last day had arrived.

Finally the last ten hours of freezing was complete.

Once again I left my bed with my beanie and the air and ground around me wet from dew. I returned to the fire with drips from the bushes covering my clothes and had my tea and coffee as others joined me. I was not looking forward to the return journey to Songpan at all. We had spicy noodles for breakfast and watched as the guides packed the campsite.

All too soon we mounted our horses and left the valley at 8:30am.

I believe Bruce my horse could feel my tension as he continually began to bolt. I stopped him twice by pulling hard on the reins and the third time a guide grabbed him by the 'bit' and tied both Bruce and I to his horse on a short lead. This made Bruce happy as he buried his head beside the guides horses flank and played follow the leader. Me, my white knuckles returned as I waited the next 'surprise' from Bruce.

For several hours we rode through mist and couldn't see far infront of us at all. finally the sun shone through and I felt calmness return as my body warmed. I decided Bruce was happier being led and was obviously too young and spirited to have an inexperienced ride upon him.

The guide said he was a good horse and would one day be a great horse but was a little naughty at the moment. We both laugh and I felt much better. I still didn't feel confident and chose to walk as often as possible, this was more an internal struggle and not Bruce's fault at all.

I believe in the future my choices in trekkin will be that of placing my sandal clan feet upon the ground one after the other. I'll be happy to carry my own pack and beer!

One the return journey we stopped at a Lama Factory (Monastery). I couldn't believe how long the building was that was full of Prayer Wheels. An elderly lady smiled at us showing her big silver teeth as we jumped from our horses. We stayed at the Lama Factory for about an hour and shared some rather heavy bread for lunch. The guides shared beer and bread with the locals and soon showed their rosey faces telling us it was time to head off.

We mounted our horses for the final leg of the journey.

The scenery on the last day was not as beautiful as the first and second days but much more beautiful than a Chinese city square. It was mainly of rolling green hills and from a distance you could hear baby lambs crying. The funniest part of the day was watching the lead guide fall asleep on his donkey. The donkey then chose it's own way and happily trod off into the distance with our favourite guide yelling after him;

You stupid
You too much beer
See you tomorrow
Hello, Hello, You stupid, wake up, see you tomorrow!

We all laughed so hard. He would wake up and make his way back to us to then fall asleep again and go off into the distance again for our favourite guide to once again yell and scream at him.

We finally made it to the top of the last hill and there was Songpan in the lower distance. I happily jumped from Bruce, gave him a huge thankful pat on the neck and put one foot in front of the other and walked and slid my way down to Songpan. On the way down I spotted the human skull again. On of the Chinese that stopped to look jumped back in fright and just stared at us in amazement without saying a word.

It is such a strange sight. To see a human skull in a track gutter so close to houses and no one take any notice of it. Makes one wonder anyhow!

At the bottom most mounted their horses for the final walk to the Horse Trekkin Store but several of us chose to walk. I almost flew upon the ground I was so happy to be free. At the Horse Trekkin Store we all decided to get together for dinner at Emmas that evening and headed our seperate ways to shower and change our clothes.

After scrubbing myself for what seemed a million hours Jude and I headed out for a walk in the sunshine. My face was so burnt and my lips so dry that before i went I rubbed several coats of Aloe into my skin. We decided on a massage and unluckily for me the Big Tibetan Guy was booked until 8:30pm so I left and headed across the road where they assured me they do Tibetan Massages. I even played charades and clicked my neck etc with my hands. Oh yes they said. An hour later I left very unhappy as it was probably one of the worst massges ever. The guys left hand was strong but his right was like a babys.

NOT HAPPY JAN!

We all met at Emmas for dinner and a huge good bye chat. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful event. Though I was happy for its end I am also very happy I went on the Horse Trek. The 'situation' was my fault in a way but NOT my fault as no one told me NOT what to do. Infact, we were actually not told anything, not even how to stop our horse if it did bolt or run too fast for us.

My tip for any horse trek for an inexperienced rider such as myself..ask questions! Think of a list of questions to ask the night before and ASK THEM!
Horses can be very dangerous and unpredictable at times just like any animal. Sure it's comforting to be amongst a group with leading guides but they can't stop the horse from being unpredictable...no one can!

I couldn't thank the guide enough for catching me.
I am still free to teach and travel the world.
This may have changed in an instant!

May have, may not have, I'm glad I will never have to find out!

Beers N Noodles to ya...shane