It’s time for us to leave Yunnan and make our way into Sichuan province, famous for its spicy food and pandas and while many people visit for those two reasons we’re here for others; the mountains and to visit the Tibetan villages and towns. Our first stop was Yading Nature Reserve which took us about 8 hours to reach from Shangri-La. It was a slow bus journey along mountain roads, passing Tibetan villages where the houses were huge and white with colourful window frames, built atop hills and overlooking blue rivers with mountain backdrops. The road climbed up over a mountain pass at 4700m where yaks roamed freely and occasional stone huts were built on the pastures for nomads. It was a windy road though and a local lady was vomiting into a bag. I’m not sure if it was sick or bile and if she missed the bag or it leaked but suddenly the whole of the bus floor had slimy wet streaks that spilt down the entire length of the bus. When the culprit and her boyfriend left at their stop we noticed his chair looked soaked like he’d had an accident. What a delightful bus ride.

We opted to spend the night in the village or Rencun just outside the park entrance. The owner translated on his phone that he’d upgraded us to the boutique room and that we should leave him a 5 star review…the room was the exact room we booked and there were three huge ceiling tiles missing in the bathroom. Oh how I love a fake upgrade. We met a French couple on the bus – westerners are rare in these areas so it was really nice to chat with them and we went for dinner together. The following morning we were up at the crack of dawn to be the first people to enter the park but it didn’t seem necessary as we were the only people there, what a treat visiting such a quiet park in China!!

Just after we paid and walked to the shuttle bus we heard someone call behind us and it was the worker who we’d paid, she was climbing out of the ground floor window to come and see us and show a translation on her phone “I forgot to ask if you wanted insurance cover, it’s 10 yuan extra?” It was just £1.10 so yes of course we wanted to add that on which involved us having to show our passports again. Luckily we still managed to catch the first bus into the park which climbed up steeply and offered fabulous views of the peaks – it was a perfect blue sky day and we were so excited to explore the park.

We wasted no time once we arrived and speed walked up to the golf cart shuttle to take us up the valley to the start of our hike to Milk and Five Colours Lakes. As I stepped off the shuttle I spotted some money on the floor, and then some more and suddenly it felt like I was in crystal maze. I looked around to check there weren’t any religious sites in the area where money offerings may of blown away from but there weren’t so it must’ve just fallen from someone’s pocket. It was about £3 so nothing crazy but I was elated.

The Chinese people that were on our shuttle all headed straight for the horse paddocks to get a ride up towards the lakes so it was just us and the French couple who walked. The views were already absolutely jaw dropping, the main peak was a snow-capped point that didn’t even look real. Our hike was going to take us along boardwalks through a valley covered in golden grass, with icy streams trickling beside us and snow capped peaks all around. The views were so much better than we expected and our jaws were hanging low the entire time.

We passed a pretty lake which reflected the mountains and then the climb uphill began. It was tough hiking at high altitude as we were going up to around 4600m so the air was thin and I was huffing and puffing but eventually we made it up to Milk Lake and we were the first people there, just us and about 50 Bharal, also known as blue sheep for their grey coats. It was unbelievable, the crystal clear water made it look like a beach from the Caribbean had been transported to the Himalayas.

Our next goal was Five Colour Lake, which involved another uphill slog. We arrived on a sort of high rocky hill in-between the two lakes. This lake was an interesting colour, almost navy blue but with emerald edges and it had a big oval slab of ice yet to melt in the middle of the lake. The mountains rising up around us were phenomenal, it’s kind of funny how so many people head to Nepal to see big snow capped peaks and they’re all missing out on China’s dramatic landscapes. We were concerned that the lakes would still be frozen as we were at such a high altitude but not only were they defrosted, they were filled with insanely coloured water.

We opted for a picnic lunch overlooking Milk Lake because the blue colour was now even more beautiful from above and looked like a pool of Gatorade. It was just us up there, enjoying the view and watching as a few more people started to arrive at the shores of the lake below us. While we ate we were discussing where to go next, our original plan was to hike back the same way but skip the shuttle and walk all the way back through the valley. There’s one other hike available called the Kora, a pilgrimage route that encircles Xiannairi Peak which stands at a whopping 6000m and is one of the parks 3 holy mountains. I’d read it was a 30km route which was too much for us. The French couple we met were interested in doing it but then they realised they weren’t prepared with enough water so scrapped that idea. The first pass on the route didn’t look too far from where we stood and when we re-studied our map we realised the hike was actually only 20km due to us taking the shuttle for the first section. We figured we could just walk to the pass and see how we were feeling and at that point it would be a similar distance back as it would be forward (although a lot more elevation gain on the latter).

While we sat there pondering what to do we noticed 6 people coming our way, I could tell by their long skirts that they were Tibetans doing the pilgrimage route. Seeing as we hadn’t actually researched the Kora it was quite nice to know that 6 other people were walking it – which probably means it’s safe and not too much snow on the route. In fact I forgot to mention that the hike to this area of the park only opened today! We actually delayed our trip so we would have access to the lakes and beyond if we wanted.

As they passed they greeted us with a jolly “Tashi Dalek” which is Tibetan for “may all good things come to you”. Interestingly there was a Tibetan cowboy helping a young Chinese guy who’d joined them and looked like he was terrified of even small heights as he crouched over in terror while the cowboy held his arm and giggled. Once we finished our lunch we decided to follow in their tracks and ended up catching up with them. The Tibetans seemed happy to see us behind them and we all walked together in a group for a few kilometres. They took it in turns to lift up our bags from the base to see how heavy they felt and then gave us a big thumbs up and smile. Most of the ladies didn’t carry anything, no snacks or bottles of water which was just crazy for such a long and arduous route through the mountains….and certainly no rain coat or practical gear if the weather changed. So when we passed a stream they all crouched down and began scooping up water with their hands and slurping it up.

The Chinese guy was seriously slowing down these strong, fast Tibetans and I would of been mortified if I was him because sometimes he had Tibetan ladies holding either arm of his to help him down the steep sections. We’d already traversed the first pass and made the decision that it was worthwhile continuing the Kora but this route came with a time restraint as the last bus out the park was at 7pm. With the Chinese guy holding the group up we decided to overtake the friendly Tibetans and make some head way because we didn’t know how long the hike would take. Their group seemed to separate a bit because when we stopped for a snickers and coffee the eldest lady (who was probably about 65 and hiking in her long skirt) overtook us, and she was barefoot!! I don’t know if it was part of the pilgrimage or if she didn’t want to get her shoes wet through the snowy sections we traversed but now she was walking with ease across the sharp rocks!!

The views were less dramatic in this valley compared to the main one with the blue lakes and interestingly the lake we passed on this side was totally frozen. We got a completely different view of the back side of the holy mountain, there was less snow on this side so it was more of a jagged grey peak with a very neat pile of snow balanced on the top. We were now all alone in the mountains, the scenery look wild like Alaska with mountains all around and the valleys were filled with pine trees. We came across two more groups of Bharal who seemed very wary of humans and as soon as they spotted us they all charged off in a tight group, leaping effortlessly like the Babycham logo.

The next section of the hike seemed to last forever. It was relentless and I was trying to make up time on the flat sections by speed walking. Out of nowhere though we heard music which seemed very odd in such a remote area and then we realised it was solar powered speakers, shaped like lily pads and set on some rocks. The music was a calming mantra which was really lovely to hear out here and a reminder of how special this hike is to Tibetans. When we were walking with the group earlier they regularly picked up little stones and put them onto piles of rocks and took detours to pray at certain points.

The route through this section had really warmed up and it made hiking even more exhausting so we stopped for some water at an abandoned hut. We were actually really low on water by this point so in a desperate measure to not completely run out we filled up our bottle with some old crusty snow beside the path. Yum. Two young Tibetan girls appeared out of nowhere while we sat at the hut, they weren’t with the original group we met so they must’ve hiked so fast to overtake everyone. But the crazy thing was one was hiking in what looked like leather school shoes and the other was in trainers which maybe rubbed or were too small because she folded down the heal of the trainer and then wrapped the shoelaces around her ankles to keep the shoe on! They were really sweet and smiley and we ended up bumping into them again when they stopped to eat. They insisted we joined them for some food, offering us Tibetan bread while we gave them dried pineapples which I don’t think they’d tried before. We were lucky to see them detour to a stream they knew about and fill up our water, avoiding having to use our dirty snow cocktail. As we filled up our bottle we noticed a yak was peering over the top of a hill looking at us. We weren’t sure if it was out of curiosity or aggression but as we left the area he came down the hill with a few other yaks in tow – this wasn’t just our drinking spot, it was the yaks too.

The final slog up to the second pass was unbearable. I was really struggling, my legs were exhausted, the air was so thin and it felt like all we’d been doing was climbing nonstop. The second pass was up at almost 4700m and even though we were very acclimatised to the altitude I still had a pounding headache. Every step I climbed up it seemed to get worse. It was taking forever to reach the pass, I’d check my phone after feeling like we should be there and all we’d walked was 100m, 600m still to go. We could see the young Tibetan girls were up at the pass already, standing amongst the prayer flags and shooting a hand held sort of canon of paper prayer confetti into the air.

When we just had 150m to go until we reached the pass Craig demanded that I give him my backpack to make it a little easier for me which was very kind. There were so many prayer flags at the top that we literally had to crawl through a sort of tunnel of them, navigating rocks and rope along the way. My goodness were we happy to be at the pass. We didn’t spend much time up there though, we wanted to head down as quickly as possible, not just to ease my headache or to catch the last bus but because the weather had taken a turn for the worse and storm clouds were brewing.

From the pass we descended into a new valley, seeing another side of the holy mountain we’d been encircling and this side was the most dramatic with glaciers clinging to it. In fact at one point we heard a bang and looked up to see a slab of glacier falling down the mountain. We didn’t pass a single person through this valley and seeing as it was all down hill we were trying to move as quickly as possible, even running at some points to make up time. Rumbles of thunder were soon tormenting us and they became even scarier as we left the wilderness trail and joined onto a metal boardwalk which just seemed like a terrible place to be in a lightning storm.

It didn’t feel particularly cold as I was still in a t-shirt but it began snowing and the weather was really turning nasty but we just had to focus on rushing down for the bus and eventually, after 9 hours of hiking we made it onto the bus with just 30 minutes to spare! Phew, we were relieved, exhausted but feeling very proud of what we achieved…while also agreeing that it was way too big of a hike for us and not to do such an ambitious route ever again.

Tonight we were staying in Yading village, about 7km from the park entrance so that we’d have easy access back into the park the next day. The hotels have a monopoly here so we had to book into our most expensive room so far at £33 and for that we got a nice room on first impressions however we soon saw rubbish down the side of the bed, behind the sink etc and a lovely blob of dried spit on the floor beside the bedside table. The room was an upgrade again so at least we had a mountain view to distract us from the filth and the staff were very welcoming and quick to write in the translator “you need to wear more clothes or you will catch a cold”. The village was based at 4000m elevation and while some hotels have offered disposable oxygen bottles for anyone suffering with altitude sickness, this one had oxygen hooked up to the rooms. Beside the beds was a unit where you could scan the QR code to pay for oxygen and I assume someone brings the tube that connects to your nose. Prices started at £7 per hour.

We searched for a place to eat in the small village which was a collection of hotels amongst building sites and dust as they build more hotels. I’m glad we’re seeing this area now as it’s all going to change and become over developed in no time. The first eatery gave us weird vibes and when we ordered the vegetable rice dish they said they only had potatoes to go on top. We were the only guests and I just didn’t like the feeling there so we took that opportunity to leave and it’s a good job we did as we found the place to eat in town, full of locals and tourists who were mostly domestic but there were also quite a few Thai’s in this park. Craig ordered a huge bowl of Sauerkraut and pork soup while I got a bowl of noodle soup without any meat, hooray! And a kind local who spoke some basic English helped us order and even brought over his pot of tea to let us try some.

The next morning we headed to a random eatery round the corner where our hotel offered complimentary breakfast. It wasn’t the best with undercooked and very sticky steamed buns, congee and boiled eggs. It’s funny how it’s just normal not to get coffee in China so we always have our own supplies to make in our room. We were both feeling rather shattered after yesterdays hike so we had an easier stroll planned, visiting Pearl Lake and the incredible 800 year old Chonggu Temple monastery on the way. It was such a beautiful building and the setting was just jaw dropping with the mighty 6000m peak as a backdrop. We headed inside where we admired the incredible art work on the walls, I just love how colourful these monasteries are, they’re probably the most impressive religious buildings we’ve seen.

Then it was uphill to the lake which was a vibrant green colour. Behind it was the snow capped peak we circumnavigated around yesterday. It’s quite something to stand so close to such a dramatic peak, absolutely no zoom lenses were required in this park. We arrived early so had the lake mostly to ourselves and then made our way up the valley where the yaks were grazing. We stopped for some snacks on a bench but a menacing looking monkey stormed over, we didn’t even know they had monkeys in this area and it was the first one we’ve seen in China. We shoved our food back into our bags so quickly and walked away, hoping he wouldn’t follow us. We took that as our sign to leave, we were too exhausted to hike anymore and yesterdays hike was one of the best we’ve ever done so we decided to leave on a high and remember this magical park forever.