If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain
A taxi
driver didn‘t leave straight away
but stood at the car and was curiously staring at me how I would managed it.
I put a heavy, 40 litres rucksack
full of cans and other food on my shoulders, but from the site of my chest.
Then I put a completely packed 70 litres big rucksack on my back. By that I
fixed straps of my front rucksack so they would not slip off from my shoulders.
The big rucksack was too heavy so I had to fix its waist strap around my waist,
just above a money belt full of small but important things like cash, IDs or
passport. Finally, I put my second 40 litres rucksack on the top of a huge
suitcase with wheels and at the same time I started to drag my travel bag (also
on wheels) next to me by my other hand.
Already sweaty from putting all
this staff on me, I have dragged myself to the railway station entrance, where
after checking my ticket and passport I had to scan all my baggage through a scanner.
I had to take off my entire luggage from my shoulders again, put it into that
scanning machine one by one and then on the other side pick up all five bags (I’ve
still haven’t mentioned a small bag with food and drinks for the train journey)
and repeat the entire loading procedure again.
It was here, when under that heavy
weight a holder on my travel bag already broke so I could not pull it behind me
anymore but had to carry it in my hand. Fortunately, the suitcase was still
resistant against its weight. If even one of its wheel would get stuck I would
be sentenced to do ‘’double shifts’’ – moving 15m ahead, leave the suitcase
there and then come back for the rest of my luggage (God thanks it didn’t
happen).
I would never thought that weeks
of physical preparation are nothing in compare with the difficulty of travel
arrangement preparation, looking for sponsors, getting climbing permit, finding
an insurance company (which would insure me even for an ascent of 7500m high
mountain) and shopping for high altitude gear. You should try to manage all
this in a country, where you don’t speak their language, don’t understand their
writing even a word and finding English speaking Chinese is nearly mission impossible.
The train
journey was not very interesting except the fact that it took three and half
days.
What
was definitely more interesting, were train changings. To get on and get off
the train with heavy five pieces of luggage is an experience by itself. Of
course, it is not possible in once, but you have to do it in two rounds. Obviously,
you would not like to leave the baggage on the platform unattendant when you
are going back to the train for the rest of your luggage and on the top of it
there are at least ten unpatient Chinese getting on the train and pushing you
back inside.
Train
stations are designed not to let homeless people stay in and therefore all
exits from the train would lead you out with no chance changing a train
without going out of the station. I had to get down the stairs into an
underground passage, walk through 40m long tunnel which ends with another
staircase that I had to climb with my suitcase and all that to find myself
in front of the station anyway. Without any other option I had to climb another
stairs to get to the second floor entrance (I have no idea why all Chinese stations
have entrance on the second floors) where they would check your ticket,
passport and scan your luggage again. After all this, you would end up in a waiting
hall again with other hundreeds of commuters. All then the announcement board
showed me that my train is comming to
the second platform where I can only get through the underground tunnel
again...
But
the most interesting part of my journey was while travelling in a seating carriage.
Because of the late train arrival I had to rebook my ticket for a new
one and the only one available was for a seating carriage.
There
are four classes of railway tickets in China – standing, seating, hard sleeper
- six beds open compartment, and soft sleeper -four beds lockable compartment.
Keep in mind that China is so big that you might travel just by one train even
longer than three days and then you may change for another three days journey
again...
Standing
is allowed only in sleeping carriages and because the tickets for standing
are very cheap, these carriages are always full of people travelling for shorter
distances (please understand short distances could be up to 12 hours in China).
I only understood it when a train door opened and some people nearly fell off
the train. Probably the same surprise was on their side too when they saw me
with a huge suitcase and other four rucksacks and bags. I had thrown the
bags between them, left the suitcase and rucksack there and slowly started
to force my way through the crowd to my seat. Roughly in the middle of the
carriage, I found my place seated by a dad with his little boy, two
students sqeezed next to him, an old lady sleeping on opposite seat with another
student girl and between them probably a four years ald baby. Moreover, there
was a men standing between these seats and leaning his weight against a table
in the middle. Whole sceene was surrounded by everywhere scattered boxes, big
and typical stripped bags and some more suitcases that did not find place on
the shelf above seats.
I even
didn’t have space to put my big rucksack so I ask for my seat (simply
showing them my train ticket and surprisingly they very kindly left one seat
for me) and I put all my staff on the seat, except a travel bag which
I sqeezed under the seat. Shortly, I was forceing my way through the crowd
again to get my left suitcase and rucksak. In those moments I was only
thinking where I would put that huge suitcase when I came back to my
seat again. After I step on nearly everybody’s foot and after pushing over
the same amount of people as when I was coming to my place for the first
time, I carried my huge suitcase in my arms back to my seat where I stayed
helplessly standing.
Then,
by a mirracle, the standing man pushed suitcases on the shelf to the sides
with all his flyweight and I was able with his help to put my heavy
suitcase in that small gap. Finally, we pushed it with all our strength all the
way inside (I think that by pushing my suitcase inside, at least two other suitcases
had to fell off the shelf on both sides of this long carriage shelf).
Standing
next to my seat where my bags were rested, I spent all my six hours
journey to my next destination. There
was already awaiting me my next challenge – move from this carriage to the
sleepers carriage on the same train (please don’t ask why I had the
journey so complicated, because explaining it would take another half page and
I am sure I would not be able to explain it clearly enough...)
And
so, after six hours I had to force my way to the carriage door through I think
even more crowded train than before. All this again with two ways as I had
to came back for my big suitcase. Finally, when the crowd spewed me out on the
platform and I had gathered all my luggage, I put quickly everything
on me and started to run. Well, run..better to say I started half-crowling
through hundreeds of people trying to get on the train. Not deliberetaly, I managed
to hit maybe dozen of pople who were just staring at me and complitely
petrified. They didn’t give me a way even by moving 10cm (this ‚un-moving‘
experience I have not only from this on-platform-run experience but also
from other places in China).
The
trains in China are very long so they can take as many people as possible and
therefore it is not uncommon to see even 32 carriages long train (try to
calcualate it by let say 20 meters long carriage). I had to do my hardle
race to the front of train as soon as possible so I don’t miss the train
as I would miss the next train connections and other seating carriage will
be deadly for me. My seating carriage had number 27 but after stressfull and
exhausting run I finally climb into my sleepers carriage number 7.
After
the experience like this, I considered all my other travelling a stroll
through a spring garden. Not anymore I had to pull my luggage for any
longer than 150 meters and even so only on flat surface without any stairs...
;-)
I met
(for the first time ever!) my climbing partner Phil on the station in the
second biggest province city Kashgar (surely, he didn’t have so much luggage as
me).
Everywhere
presented soldiers with automatic guns scared us a bit (esspecially after
a sad story of shot climbers in Pakistan), but it was because of uprising
that had happend just a few days before we came there. That province wanted to
get separated from China so Chinese government sent army to sort things out...
The
organizers of our climbing permit and accomodation in the base camp took care
of us from this point onwards.
Five
hours long journy between deep canyons with beautifully snow covered peaks
above us, knocked out all our pre-expedition stress and with our heads already
clear and fresh like the mountain air around us, we finally got under our mountain.
That was surrounded by yurts made from concrete...
Muztagh
Ata, our climbing peak, welcomed us dressed into an orange sunset light. We
couldn’t wish for a nicer welcoming.
IN THE PART II:
-
about frostbitten fingers and nose
-
about broken toe
-
about crowling between lightings from snow storm
...and about much
more, but also about ascending Muztagh Ata in minus 37°C!
MORE PHOTOS AT:
http://zdengo.rajce.net/POD_KOPCOM_on_the_way
