Stay inside a valley
Renan · Shangri-La · a valley enclosed by mountains
Renan Valley · 3,274 m a.s.l. · The Milky Way over a tent house
The wild, and home
Wild outside, home within
Leave Shangri-La on the road to Pudacuo and keep going, further into the mountains. At the last bend the valley opens in front of you: mountains on three sides, and on the fourth, the road you came in by.
The Qudzhen river runs beneath Dabao Temple, Tibetan farmhouses are scattered up the slopes, yaks wander the pasture. Time seems to slow with them.
There is no need to hurry. Stay a few nights; watch the sunrise light the valley layer by layer, and the stars settle over the tent roof. On the day you leave, you will probably want one more.
The valley after snow
A Tibetan carved-wood bed
By day the valley is wild country. Behind the camp is forest, above it the high ground, and the pasture runs on to the far slope. The road is long, the wind is strong and the food is simple: this is how the mountains are.
Indoors it is another matter. Underfloor heating keeps the boards warm, the private bathroom has hot water all night, and there is medical oxygen and a humidifier by the bed. No queuing for a shower, no shivering through a night at altitude.
- Underfloor heatingThe floorboards stay warm, even barefoot.
- Private bathroomEvery room has its own, with hot water all night.
- Medical oxygenAt over three thousand metres, a few minutes before bed helps you sleep.
- Down quilts, electric blanketsMountain nights are cold; the bed should be warm.
Early morning A tree in the morning mist
壹The Valley
A valley closed in by mountains
Open the tent flap: pasture in front, snow peaks beyond, mountains to either side and behind. Mist in the morning, rainbows after rain, the whole Milky Way at night.
Dusk Dusk on a tent terrace
贰Stay
Six kinds of room, eleven in all
Every one stands alone and faces the mountains. Wild outside; inside, underfloor heating, a water-warmed bed, TOTO and Kohler, and wildflowers picked each morning.
Night Matsutake and morel chicken hotpot
叁Table
A mountain hotpot
A chicken raised free-range for a year, matsutake and morels, a clear broth that is not spicy. Breakfast from eight till noon, whenever you wake.
Early morning Carrying firewood down the hill
肆Among Neighbours
Nirru, and the people of the mountains
Further into the mountains lies Nirru, where people revere the peaks, the lakes and the pastures, and days follow the seasons. You can learn a craft from the neighbours, too.
Afternoon Shaping a pot by the window
伍Gifts of the Valley
What the valley gives
Some you make with your own hands: black pottery, incense, thangka, butter tea. Some you can take home: rugs, yak blankets, mountain Pu’er, wild honey.
Dusk Diudiu on the stone path
陆Journal
Letters to the valley
Diudiu’s ten years, a book and this valley, a day in Nirru, listening to the sutras at Sumtseling. Wang Tianxiao, the host, writes one every so often.
The mountain says nothing. It simply stays, waiting for you to slow down.Yesu