Songpan - poor horses

Chengdu is like the bulls eye in the dartboard of attractions of the Sichuan Province. There was a lot to choose from but after being in the country for a month we had learnt how best to decide on what to do. Find out where the Chinese are going and avoid that. The town of Songpan was our choice and we joined a 3 day horse trek to Ice Mountain.

The company we went with is called Happy Horse Treks but this is very misleading. The horses most certainly are not happy! The only happy things are the guides. We were joined by 4 South Koreans which didn't concern us too much initially. By the end of the trip we were ready to throw them along with our guides over the edge of 1 of the nastiest cliffs. This might sound a bit harsh but let me explain. I'll talk about all the bad stuff first and end off with why we would do the trip again.

Lets start with the guides. There were 6 of them, probably aged somewhere between 20 and 60, all chain smokers and with a remarkable hatred for all forms of animal life. Every opportunity they got they would ride up and whip your horse and it only took 2 occasions to take Jacks over the edge. We were half way up a big mountain and I was just thinking how amazing the horses were when 1 of the prick guides trotted up behind Jacks and whacked her horse. She got off and walked the rest of the way up and I told all of the guides, in no uncertain terms, that if any of them touched our horses again I would whip them. They listened to me but their behaviour remained disgusting. They would be riding along on their terrified horses, drinking beers and littering as much as possible. We'd round a bend and come across a beautiful scene with yaks feeding on a slope and just as we were about to smile one of the guides would scream off on his horse and reek havoc with the scene, chasing yaks and throwing rocks. They would perform similar acts with all animals encountered and we refuse to accept that anyone would describe this as normal behaviour. I avoided all contact with the pricks and would have rather camped with the yaks.

So, we had 6 bad guides, surely the trip couldn't get any worse. WRONG! Our 4 Koreans were a complete nightmare and for some reason thought they were starring in a psycho cowboy horror movie. They shared the guides attitudes to animals and seemed to be equally set on scattering as much litter as possible. You might ask what is the difference between South Africans and South Koreans. This might assist in forming your own picture. The last leg of the trek, that took us up a very steep slope to 4300m above sea level in the freezing cold required a huge effort from the horses. Jacks and myself decided at the halfway point that they'd done enough and jumped off. We sent them back down and walked the rest of the way. As we neared the top we looked up and saw 1 of the Koreans whipping his horse like there was no tomorrow. What a man!

I know that sounds like a lot of bad stuff but Jacks and myself have become quite good at focusing on the good and we'd still say the trek was amazing. Our horses were unbelievable and the mountains were as beautiful as any we've seen. Riding peacefully along the edge of a valley, with the sun warming our chilled bodies was an unforgettable experience and 1 that we would recommend. If at all possible, take your own horse and go it alone.