Day 12, 7/16: Tashkurgan (11000 ft) - BC (14500 ft)

I really didn’t want to leave Tashkurgan. Partly because of the interesting culture and people that I’ve met the past two days, partly because I don’t want to miss the comfort of bed and shower, and partly because my stomach still felt a little sick. Yet we have to continue and proceed with the schedule, because the weather window on this mountain is short.

Good bye, Tashkurgan.

These clouds are beautiful.

In the morning, we went to downtown to buy a lot of fruit. Since we would have the luxury of taking a truck up to basecamp, we didn’t care about how much the fruits will weigh down our backpack. After finishing lunch (I just had some Latiao), we left Tashkurgan at 2 p.m.

Tajik proverb: I would rather drink hot water from a friend than milk tea from an enemy.

Tajik proverb: A crow disguised as an eagle is most afraid of an eagle.

Arriving at 204, I took a closer look at the villages and the villagers living under the mountain. The locals said that the Chinese government are still building more to the settlement. They aim to rid all poverty from the area.

The title of the red sign on the right of the picture says, "Poverty Aid Project."

The way up the hill to basecamp was as bumpy as it was to come down. I bumped my head against the car’s celling and window several times. Because of the unstable road conditions, we suffered a great loss… The two watermelons we bought along the way cracked. Fortunately, they weren’t placed with our backpacks, or else it would’ve been a disaster.

But guess what there're backup melons (and Pepsi) at basecamp.

When I arrived at basecamp, there was a sense of familiarity. It felt like home, and I no longer desired any showers or bed. I just wanted to face toward Muztagh, sit, space out, or watch some animals. Sometimes little birds will come search for food in our tents, and they would get trapped inside the tent. They always thought they could fly out from the plastic window on top of the ceiling since they can see the sky through it.

The clouds don't hint good weather

More marmot exploration.

For dinner, we had hot pot again! I was craving for this “surprise.” Since the water boils below 100 °C, we couldn’t have any large chunks of meat. Even corn couldn’t be cooked through, so we ate mostly shrooms and vegetables. However, it still felt like the best dinner ever.

At night, I couldn’t fall asleep, not due to headaches or stomachaches of any aches, but because of some strange emotions that rushed up my mind. I was excited for the summit, because finally, we can climb for real. I was scared about the dangers of altitude, because rescue would be hard at such a remote area. At the same time, I was annoyed because I grew tired of the path from BC to C1. I was distrustful toward myself, because I don’t know if my fitness and stamina was enough at that time to approach this mountain.