Deqin Things to Do

From Feilaishi, you travel further on the mountain road. You will meet the begining of Lanchang River (Mekong River). Mingyong is at the base of Kawagebo peak. There are some lodgings at the base. They are quite basic. There are some Tibetan houses around the area. It's quite interesting. It is an easy hike up to the Glacier. It can be done in a few hours depending on your body strength. There are two tibetan temples on top of the mountain.

Feilai Shi is the name of a small temple out of Deqin town. It is also the best place to stay and view the magnificent Meili Snow Mountain. The temple is small. The door to the main temple is closed. It is dark inside. The air inside the temple is filled with scent of butter as the candles are made from Yak butter. It is a hambling experience inside the temple.

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Who doesn't like seeing Glaciers?

"Me. What's so great about it? You only like glacier for the name, the way it sounds. " My brother said.
"And you pay a lot for it too, I rather eat!" Continued my brother, who weighs 200+ lbs.

Well, whether you like glaciers or not, this glacier is worth it to see before you die!
Yes! The craggy, stone like peaks that slide down the mountain which looks like something from a Sci-Fi movie isworth all your money; Remember! These strange peaks are 100% ice! And because of global warming, when the temperatures increase, of course the ice melts and bye-bye glaciers! (No wonder there's avalanches here.)

Another thing: The Mingyong glaciers are one of the lowest (altitude) glaciers in the world. The beauty of this? It allows the Chinese to create a viewpoint up to 17700 feet, a chance for a panoramic shot of not only the glaciers, but also the beautiful, snowy Meili Mountain. It's also exotic!
A sacred mountain for Tibetans, you'll see many prayer flags, prayer stones, and more exotic stuff. Obviously, it's a photographer's delight.

Admission:
Mingyong glaciers- We paid about 40 yuan (Yes! The price had increase as of 2007!) per person.

How to get there:

We rented a van from Puppet restaurant, Deqin town, because they spoke some English. (Hardly anyone here speaks English which can be frustrating!) It was 200 yuan (About 25 US) the whole day with a young, pretty and sexy (and nice) Tibetan girl driver!

"I was so shocked when I saw the driver! She was so...pretty!" My dad says.

It's also economical since we were 7. (That's how big our family is!) I don't know how to get here the budget way for solo travelers- I've never tried it.

Family's comments:

Dad: "The driver was beautiful!" (Click the see more photos part for her shot)
15 yr. old Brother: "I hated the glaciers- it's double hell if you're obese (220 lbs+) and asmatic like me! I never made it to the top but I was nearly there! (Climbed up to 15500 ft.)

It is like a pilgrimage. I am here to see Meili's Kagebo Peak, which is not yet conquered by any human being due to its unpredictable horrendous weather condition.

The mountain is sacred to the Tibetans.

From the conversations with one of the local Tibetan, I get the feeling that Japanese are not amongst the most welcomed guests. He claims if you can't see Meili's peak (hidden behind clouds), it is because there is a Japanese among the viewers. (??)

With much luck, I saw Meili (yahoo!!!!!).
But my travel companion got such terrible altitude sickness they wanted to throw up all the time. Luckily, Coke was a good cure. After a good afternoon nap, and 2 cans of Coke, they finally felt hungry.

While we were sitting in the only bar/restaurant/the only place to chill and eat there waiting to see the famous sunrise of the Meli (it was actually 5 pm then.. so we have to wait for like 14 hours.....) the clouds started to gather and then rain and haze and snow and haze and snow and rain...

After negotiating the price for our stay (its something you must do in China.. dunno why.. ) we went out to do our prayers. There were a bunch of girls there selling those "prayer kits" and they were all very nice and taught us how to do the prayers. 2 types of "kits" available.. if you only pray for yourself.. RMB30.. for the whole family, RMB50. And then.. with wishes in my heart, burnt something from the kit.. and took what's left (square pieces of cloths tied with string and written with Tibitian prayers all over them) to walked around those white piles. And then tied these prayers cloths on those piles (like what you see now in the picture) The girls said that tie it higher = better! However as short as I m... my wishes probably won't come true too soon....

It is a known fact that not every one who wants to see Meli can see Meli. Heard from the driver, that 2 japanese girls stayed there for 9 days and still couldn't see the secred Meli. (How do they get so many holidays...!!!)It kinda got me worried cuz we only planned to stay there for 1 day..

But the weather actually seemed okay when we arrived at the motel, although the weather was fast changing along the way --> sunny when we left Zhongdian ---> raining on they way --> snowing while we arrived at BaiMang .. and got a little bit of haze afterwards. However, when we arrived near Meli.. we saw the sun again! (probably because I've been good all year!!)