March 8, 2012

• Sichuan Day 6: Horseback riding to Mounigou (E)

  There is an interesting story of this horseback riding company- Shunjiang horse tour (順江馬隊）.
  The owner of the company got a few horses and he could speak some broken English. So, he talked to the foreigners in Songpan(松潘）and told them that he could bring them to some beautiful places with his horses. Some foreigners joined him and found that it was really nice. So, they started to tell their friends back home. Slowly, this alternative way of traveling in Sichuan is getting famous. It is so famous that even Lonely Planet write about it. Of course, it brought more and more tourists and so now the company is officially taking tourists with their horse going to the lake, going to the snow mountain, going to the places which usually tour does not go. The staff knows their horse well, they can cook for you, make your bed, set up the tent. They are nice and professional.

  I read about this on the internet and decided to join a 2-day horseback riding tour to Mounigou(牟尼溝）with Shunjiang horse tour.

  Tel number of the manager of the company: 馬隊經理郭常（13909043513）（0837*7231161）
  They also have an office at Songpan, you can ask anyone on the street and they know where it is.

  This baby just love sitting on the horse. His dad said that he has to sit on it every day.

  

  As it was quite cold, I was surprisingly the only one to join. My horseman was old but nice. His horse was calm and cute. We started going uphill and climbed over a snow mountain.

  

   

   

  

  

   

  

  

  

  Climbing over a snow mountain. As a city girl, riding a horse over a snow mountain was just amazing.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  The snow got really really heavy when we were about to arrive Mounigou. We were all wet and cold. So, we hid at the shelter room of the staff house in Mounigou.

  I love their traditional hair accessories.

  

  When the weather got better, I got in the park. Mounigou is divided in 2 parts- the warterfal and Erdao Sea (二道海）. As the waterfall was too far for me, I chose to go to Erdao Sea only.

  

  The staff told me that the road to Erdao Sea was under maintenance, so no car could get there on that day. As I am the only one who come with horseback, I am the only visitor in this park today. They worry about my safety, so 2 of the staff were actually walking with me the whole way. They told me the legend of Mounigou and their job. We had a fun time walking in the park together.

  At the same time, they are testing the water temperature all the way. They said it is to monitor the health of the river and the whole area.

  

  

  

  

  

   

  

  Legend:

  The locals used to “scare the sea” (驚海）to ask for rain. They said even if you speak louder in front of the sea (mean lake), the god in the sea will be shocked and the sky started to rain. However, the god of the sea started to get used to the loud sound. People continued to use other methods. One time, they even put a bomb inside the sea to ask for rain. After that, this “scare the sea” does not work anymore.

  Poor lake!!

  

  The end of the trail was a hot springs which was kept around 22 degree even in winter. The staff said it is the best time for me to try as there was no other tourist. They would wait for me outside to make sure I could go back safely. I tried to take off my pant and put them in the water, it was still too cold for me. So I gave it up. haha!

  

  

  I went back to the staff house and my horseman told me that we had to stay overnight in this house as it was too cold to set up a tent outside.
  So, we spent a night at the horse with my super warm sleeping bag.

  
  Our horses were eating grasses under the sunset at Erdao Sea.

   

  • 12:05 pm
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