Friday, December 23, 2011

Yading trip, 2001


Yading trip, 2001, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Hi readers. Have a happy Christmas. I'm back on my feet after the fracture and hobbling around without crutches at last, but certainly not in any shape to walk in the foosteps of anyone just yet, let lone the rugged terrain of Yunnan or Sichuan. Hopefully with a bit of rehab and training I will be fit to go by May - at least that's what my physio says!

Mt Chanadorje, Yading, China - taken with the Rolleicord Yading trip 2010 (Pic by Rolleicord).

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Yading Outer Kora trek maps (亚丁大转山 地图)

I have been marking the route of the Yading Outer Kora on Google Earth - which now has much higher resolution images of the area. Here's a few examples. Contact me if you want some higher res versions, I have detailed maps for each day of the trek. (亚丁: 仙乃日, 央迈勇, 夏诺多吉)

Yading Big Kora Map: Day 1, Chonggu Si to First Pass.

Yading Big Kora Map: Chongu to camp 1

Yading Big Kora Map: Day1


Yading Big Kora Map: Day1, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Here are pictures of the basin containing the stone shelter:
Yading Kora Day 1
And approaching the first pass:
Yading Day 1 pass

Yading Big Kora Map: Day 2


Yading Big Kora Map: Day 2, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Here's a picture of the nomad camp on the other side of the First Pass:
Yading Big Kora, Day 1, over the pass

Yading Big Kora Map: Second day


Yading Big Kora Map: Second day, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Some pictures of the circuit round towards the epic views of Chanadorje and its glaciers:
Yading Day 2 Chanadorje

Yading Day 2

Yading Big Kora Map: Second-third pass

Looking towards the Third Pass (Yaka Pass as Rock called it) from the Second Pass:
Yaka Pass, Yading 2010

Yading Big Kora Map: Yaka (third) pass

Some pictures looking down from the Yaka (third) pass:
Yading Day 2

Looking towards the shelter (on the left):
Yading Day 2

Yading Big Kora Map: Third pass to ampitheatre

Here are some pics of the 'ampitheatre' (an ideal camping spot, with a stream for water. Yading - Day 2, pic of me by Peter Jost(Pic by Peter Jost). Yading Day 3
And the shrine:
Konkaling chorten cave

Yading Big Kora Map: Fourth pass


Yading Big Kora Map: Fourth pass, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Yading Big Kora Map: full trek route


Yading Big Kora Map: full trek, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Yading Big Kora Map: Shoulder (4th pass) looking back

When you reach the fourth pass, you can look back and see the route you have travelled down the Lawatong valley from the Yaka Pass. Great views of Jambeyang (left) and Chanadorje (right).
Not quite the same view, but it gives you the idea of seeing the route you have travelled:
Yading Day 3

Yading Big Kora Map: 4th pass ('The Shoulder').

Yading Big Kora Map: Fourth ('shoulder') pass onwards

The fourth pass is a major milestone, where the hard slog ends and you switch direction 90 degrees to head north again over relatively level terrain:
Yading Day 3
Here's typical terrain heading towards the fifth pass:
Yading Day 3

Yading Big Kora Map: Fifth pass - Shenrezig

This is the view looking down from the rather gentle Fifth Pass - almost a non-pass, really. It's not apparent here, but the big lump of schist known as 'Rock's rock' is at the centre of the grass bowl at the bottom of the pass. This pic is from near the top of the fifth pass. Yading Day 3
This pic is of the area around 'Rock's rock', looking back at the fifth pass.
Yading Day 3
'Rock's rock':
Rock's rock, Yading

Yading Big Kora Map: Sixth pass lookdown

This is the view looking down from the sixth pass to the lake 'Zumi Ho', Shenrezig in the backgound. Jambeyang is just out of picture to the right, and is even more imposing.
It's quite a steep descent that requires a bit of scrambling over rocks. Here's a picture of the same spot, paying off our porters, who wanted to run ahead and get home that same day!
Still taken from Peter Jost's video of Yading 2010 trek(Pic by Peter Jost).

Yading Big Kora Map: Sixth/Seventh passes

Here's a picture taken from almost the same spot, looking back at the lake and sixth pass, but a bit lower down, near the lake:
Yading Day 4

Yading Big Kora Map: Seventh ('three way') pass

Here's a picture I took ten years ago (April - hence the snow) looking down on the small lake below the three-way pass, back of Shenrezig:
View from pass Here is a picture of the three-way pass, as we approached it from the lake. The kora continues to the left, while the short cut back down in to the Luorong valley is straight ahead (you can see Chanadorje peeping out to the right). Three Way Pass, Yading

Yading Big Kora Map: Seventh-Eighth pass


Yading Big Kora Map: Seventh-Eighth pass, originally uploaded by jiulong.
Here's a picture I took en route between the seventh and eigth passes:
yading kora

Yading Big Kora Eighth (final) pass


Yading Big Kora Eighth (final) pass, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Here's a picture I took of the pass covered in snow:
Yading second pass

Yading Big Kora map - Eighth Pass to Chongu

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Trip to Choni/Jone cancelled

Tomorrow evening I was due to be setting off on what should have been my 'final' Rock trip, to Gansu province. I was hoping to fly to Lanzhou and visit some of the places that Rock explored during his extended trip to Amnye Machen, namely the monasteries at Choni and Ragya. However, it was not meant to be. A couple of weeks ago I had an accident cycling home from work, in which I broke my ankle and tibia after  being squashed by a car. Ten weeks on crutches, and I can't even walk to the bus stop without a couple of rests, so there'l be no walking in the footsteps of Rock for a while either.
My flight ticket also turned out to effectively be non-refundable/changeable as well. Hint - don't ever book with Zuji, unless you like making long futile calls to Indian call centres.
Ah well, perhaps next year.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

The armchair kora: doing Yading by Google Earth



Yadig Kora - The Shoulder, originally uploaded by jiulong.


There is a fairly impressive level of detail now on Google Earth images for the Yading area. Here's an image I grabbed from the place that we called 'the shoulder' looking back towards Jambeyang (left) and Chanadorje (right). You can see the image from the real world below.
Yading Day 3

Yading Kora - Heaven Lake


Yadig Kora - Heaven Lake, originally uploaded by jiulong.

Compare this Google Earth Image with the 'real thing':

Shenrezig Yading