At the end of last semester, the monitor of Class 7 advised that he would like to invite us to make a pilgrimage to the holy mountain. Having considered the fact that we were going to finish our volunteer work and leave this northwestern county, my roommate and I decided to go hiking with the monitor. Faced with the situation that teachers were not allowed to go out with students, we were worried about safety from the beginning. At first, we thought that we would just go to somewhere for a picnic. But it turned to be totally different.
We woke up at six in the morning and waited the monitor at the school gate. Unexpectedly, the rented a minibus and another 6 students came along with him. We went on the bus and it took half an hour to get the first stop. Colorful prayer flag gathered from the ground and it’s four-floors high. Prayer flag has five colors which represent different things in the nature. For example, blue prayer flag stands for the sky. Students gave us some Longda and we followed their way of spreading them in the air and saying a certain Tibetan sentence at the same time. Longda was a small paper printed with scripture and pattern. Then we had to use the water to wash face. The monitor said the holy water is sweet and suggested us to have a try. I did not know where it came from, most probably flowing down from the mountain. Then we set out again.
After another half an hour, we finally arrived at the foot of the mountain which was the destination as well as the starting pointing of pilgrimage. Students took at least 6 packages including food, beer and a box of Longda and so on. There was a basin of cold noodle that was made by a 16-year-old Tibetan boy, Zhang Xuehui, yesterday evening. Students carried heavy packages willingly. My roommate and I volunteered to share the packages but they refused because we were too weak to carry such heavy things and walk for a long time. They were right and taking care of ourselves was already a task for us. We really appreciated students’ considerate arrangement.
It was drizzling and we started walking up the hill at half past seven. After a 10-minute walk, we saw a giant tree with a big irregular stone under the tree root. The stone has two small holes and you could get in from one hole and get out from another. And they said it was like the tough process out of the womb.
Though it was the end of May, there was some snow on the sides of the road. Thus the road was muddy and slippery which reminded me of the road in my hometown when I was a kid. The shoes were soon covered with mud. Students told us that pilgrimage wasn’t the same as climbing. Climbing was just a king of simple action while pilgrimage required a pious worship. There was a convention that you must complete the climbing and couldn’t return. At the beginning of every lunar month and other important festivals especially the spring festival, almost all the family would go to the mountain to pilgrimage. Last year was the animal year of the mountain and a large number of people came to the mountain endlessly. I felt so lucky to have this opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the holy mountain.
We saw two women in traditional Tibetan clothes and a six-year-old boy on the way. We also met a grandpa with a backpack. They had one common character that they were in high spirits. They walked so quickly that we couldn’t see them in minutes.
At noon, we chose a flat meadow near the stream to have lunch. We happened to come across that grandpa and he was resting and having lunch.
One of the Tibetan students, Da Lazu, took a bowl of cold noodle and a bottle of milk for the stranger who couldn’t understand Mandarin. He talked with the grandpa in Tibetan. Then he explained to me in awkward Mandarin that they followed the rules to help others in need when making a pilgrimage. I was touched by his kindness for he was such a naughty boy at school and no teacher would like to care about him. If he had this kind of firm and active attitude towards study, he wouldn’t have such terrible academic performance. His behavior changed my opinion about him and I decided to pay more attention to them.
We saw various kinds of animals on the way, like mouse without tail and even wild peacocks. I was surprised that animals didn’t afraid of man and they took the food left by us. Da Lazu brought a handful of rice from home and he left rice on the sides of the road for birds would eat.
We climbed up and down again and again and finally we crossed about six peaks. My roommate and I were so tired but struggled to finish climbing at three in the afternoon. At the end of the hiking, we took photos together at the gate of a Tibetan temple. I was so lucky to have this special experience which I wouldn’t have if I were a tourist to visit. I really appreciated students’ help and introduction and it was so wonderful.
