From here the ascent over a second range of mountains is made by
tortuous paths that wind along the sides of the hills high above the
stream below, and at other times along the river-bed. The river is
followed in a steep ascent, a sort of climbing terrace, from which the
water leaps in delightful cascades and waterfalls. A four-hour climb
brings one, after terrific labor, to the mouth of the picturesque pass
of Ya-ko-t'ang at 7,500 feet. In the quiet of the mountains I took my
midday meal; there was about the place an awe-inspiring stillness. It
was grand but lonely, weird rather than peaceful, so that one was glad
to descend again suddenly to the river, tracing it through long
stretches of plain and barren valley, after which narrow paths lead up
again to the small village of Yi-che-shin, considerably below
Ya-ko-t'ang. It is the sudden descents and ascents which astonish one in
traveling in this region, and whether climbing or dropping, one always
reaches a plain or upland which would delude one into believing that he
is almost at sea-level, were it not for the towering mountains that all
around keep one hemmed in in a silent stillness, and the rarefied air.
Yi-che-shin, for instance, standing at this altitude of considerably
over 6,000 feet, is in the center of a tableland, on which are numerous
villages, around which the fragrance of the broad bean in flower and the
splendid fertility now and again met with makes it extremely pleasant to
walk--it is almost a series of English cottage gardens.
Pages:
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223