Day Hikes & Wild Feasts

Within a forty-kilometre radius of Manigango town, there is a full inventory of world-class natural beauty, far more than any single visit can hold. We have sorted a handful of these places into day-hike destinations, reachable in a single round trip.

But these are not just walks for the body. The land here has a particular field to it — a particular presence, both in the unaltered terrain and in the herders who live on it seasonally — and the walk is also a kind of inner passage.

From pasture to glacier, below Mt. Chola

Standing on the riverside pasture just outside Mt. Chola, the first thing you do is face that deep, magnetic snow mountain across the way. The road we are taking is a walk toward it. First through the herders' grassland, then through the lake of Xinluhai ringed by the snow peaks, then along the forested lake edge, into a valley where few people go — gradually closer to the glacier, closer to the place where the mountain deity lives.

If it is summer, you may pick up a bag of wild mushrooms along the way; in autumn, the countless purple flowers floating on the meadow feel like the visible form of the god of color; as deep winter sets in, you may come across yaks walking across the snow, walking onto the frozen lake, the whole field of the place cold, extremely vast, haunting, and luminous.

Rinco circumnavigation and the mountain walk

Next door to Xinluhai, we drive another small village road, past a few pasture cabins in the rift valley, to Rinco. In the winter half of the year, the mountains ringing the lake are mostly under snow, the pure white world probably the cleanest place on earth; in the summer half, in the right season, you will see the rhododendrons ringing the mountain, the dense wildflowers, the lake water flowing over the plank-and-log footbridges down toward the village; in the brief autumn, it briefly shows a face of abundance.

Here, we walk the lake. Between stretches, we sit, meditate, just watch the water move, let the mountain wind pass through our bodies and minds; or, from the side, we climb toward the peak of Mt. Chola, to meet the hare, to meet the musk deer, to meet the gods.

Quxi village herb-forager's trail

This is another valley in the Mt. Chola block, carved by tectonic movement — the secret place Achuo has written about in her book.

She has not written about the scenery here, only because this is where the villagers go to dig for medicinal herbs, where they pasture in summer, and where you see the real life of people who are prostrate on the ground. Snow-melt water runs down from above and gathers into a lake. In spring, the people crouch along the two sides of the lake looking for herbs, walking from the lake edge into the deep, mysterious mountain. In summer, two fixed herding families pitch their tents here, pasture and live.

We will first reach the lake, visit the herders, perhaps invite them along, take the small path around the lake edge, and from the deserted herb-foraging path go on into the depths — to see the landscape that, apart from locals, almost no one has ever visited.

The three connected lakes above Co'a

These are the alpine lakes of the neighboring township.

We drive out from Manigango, past the wide grassland road, the dazzling morning light, the gold roof of the monastery, and turn into a forest track. We climb all the way, through vast stretches of old forest and higher pasture, where the flowers spread out like a carpet. We reach the pass, cross the ridges, and you will see the sharp peaks in the distance; keep climbing, round more than ten steep hairpins, and a red mountain mass opens out before you. Perhaps that huge, sharp rock has been dusted with the first snow of autumn, but the middle of the mountain is still green — the whole mountain solemn, beautiful, looking down on the world.

Our walk winds along the slopes above the lake. From the high ground looking down, the water shifts in an instant with the weather — blue, or the deepest blue; the mountain behind it reveals its shape, its lines, its color, its mystery in the play of light. A little further, looking across the valley at the mountain on the other side, you watch it change from one moment of sun to the next.

If you finally make your way down to the lake's edge, try doing what the locals do: pick up stones from the ground, pile up a little mani cairn of your own, and pay your respect to the lake god.

Xueke village pasture path

This destination is guided by two mountains.

The road runs on, between two beautiful mountains, into the uninhabited. Halfway along, a tall, beautiful mountain suddenly appears — a deep red body, sharp peaks and ridgelines, the mountain changing its size and angle as the vehicle moves. In summer, the slopes and meadows at the foot of the mountain are so lush that the herders settle their lives and their yaks there, keeping it company; in winter, only the mountain remains, deeper, more magnificent, standing alone in the world.

Our vehicle passes the mountain on the way, arrives at a riverside pasture beside the paved road. The walking route starts here: a small path will lead us upstream along the river, past a hot spring, past a few tents, past a few bends, past stretches of summer wildflowers or winter snow, to a meadow close in front of the mountain, where we gaze at it. If your heart is searching for some mountain, here, in this place only herders and wild animals have set foot, the mountain standing silent in the world, might be the one that touches you.

Gegong village hot-spring expedition

This is another place that even the local villagers and herders rarely know about.

We will drive to the end of the road, then follow a small path upstream along the river. Along the way, the herders' summer tents dot the riverbank, the meadow runs yellow with the abundance of wildflowers. You will see white and black tents, the smoke from the herders' kitchens, the yaks roaming on the land — a life on the ground that is quiet, wide, and vast.

If it is winter, this becomes a much longer snow hike. The snow erases every trace of people; the world is left with the most extreme solemnity, silence, and grandeur, only a hidden path stretching through the snow. If we insist on walking into the uninhabited, crossing the old summer pasture, crossing a glacial river, we will reach the wild hot spring by the plain's river.

In summer, we arrive here at dusk, sit down in the wild spring pool, and live through an entire, full sunset, watch the yaks and the sheep come home through the twilight. When the night falls, a half-moon or a full moon slowly rises from upstream in the river, and then come the stars, the Milky Way, and the whole vast sky. In winter, it is a different kind of expedition across the snow — a kind of walk toward the warmth of the earth's body.

Mani village canyon to an alpine lake

This is a hiking route not far from the town.

In summer, we drive first to a herder's mid-mountain pasture, to see the residents of the city in the sky, and the pace of their life. Then, perhaps the whole way is on foot, or perhaps the herder rides a motorbike or leads a horse, taking you along a stretch of mountain road. Then we go down, and from a small path on the meadow slope start to walk, joining a small glacial stream, and we keep going up, to a small lake close to the peak. It is small, hidden, like a mountain hermit, so still, hidden in the hard-to-reach peaks. When you have come, by various kinds of transport and by a devout walk, to this more hidden destination, you will receive your due — the echo in the heart that only the untouched wild can give.

These are the day-hike routes we have set up for the friends who come. They are not really outdoor adventures; they are a way of going deep into local life and the natural environment. From the morning of the hike, you will have one of our local friends with you the whole way, guiding. If there is a need, we will bring a horse, ride a motorbike, to take you through the parts of the walk that are hard to do on foot, or to save some of your energy, so that you have enough attention and space to feel how you, and that particular natural environment, can come together.

The wild feast

Perhaps on the same day, or on another chosen day, in another chosen place, we set out on purpose. By the lake, at the foot of the snow mountain, beside the hot spring, in the most fitting scenery, we spread out a cloth, prepare some music and some drink, set aside the cluttered thoughts of the mind, stop thinking and judging, and just sit quietly with the lake, the snow peak, the hot spring, the creatures, and the truest part of yourself.

This is a way of going deep into nature, and a purification of the mind and spirit.

Whether it is a walk or a wild feast, it follows the state of your heart and what the moment brings. Perhaps Achuo is there, or another guide, or a local monk. At the right time we share some words of the spirit, and walk together into a meditation in the wild.

What you can do

• From pasture to glacier, below Mt. Chola: face the snow peak across the river meadow, pass Xinluhai, walk the quiet valley toward the glacier.
• Rinco circumnavigation: winter white as the cleanest landscape on earth, summer azaleas and wildflowers; circumambulate, sit, or climb Mt. Chola from the side.
• Quxi village herb-forager's trail: another tectonic valley — in spring, search the lakeside for medicinal herbs; in summer, two herding families pitch their tents here.
• The three connected lakes above Co'a: an alpine lake system in the neighboring township — walk the slopes around the lake, watch the water shift in color and the mountain reshape itself.
• Xueke village pasture path: guided by two mountains — walk upstream past hot springs, tents, summer wildflowers or winter snow, to the foot of a single, very quiet mountain.
• Gegong village hot-spring expedition: drive to the end of the road, follow the riverside path upstream — summer sea of wildflowers, winter snow to a hidden hot spring.
• Mani village canyon to an alpine lake: drive to a herder's mid-mountain camp, walk the meadow slope alongside a glacial stream up to a small lake tucked close to the peaks.
• The wild feast: by the lake, below the snow peak, beside the hot spring — spread a cloth, pour the chang, sit with the water, the mountain, the creatures, and the truest part of yourself.

The other four doors