Walk in moonlight

Over night at Yading will be a mixed of experience for most.  The good part is, it is nature and very primitive, people who appreciate the adventure would love the basic lives in Yading.  The bad part is, it is China, where often hygienic issue is least concerned, for example, Yading, or pretty much the rural area.  The travelers would need to get used to this.  Suggestion to get over this - sleep as early as you can. 

And I have no problem at all, I have traveled in China for long and often enough, to some very remote areas, know what to expect.  At least, the electricity and water is usually not an issue.   And the night over Yading after whole days shoot carrying loads of equipment, I very much look forward to the sleep.  I have to get up 3am next morning anyway!  There are snowing and constant hailstorm during the evening, I wish for a good day tomorrow.

A few hours later I was awakened by a rapid door-knocking, signaling it is time to go, and I am ready – it was a night of no-shower, just change of clothing, and slept with clothing.  I took a Canon 5DII mounted with EF 24-104/4L IS, 2 spare battery (never forget this) – prepared the previous night, and the Gitzo tripod, put on Petzl headlamp, I went out to join the die-hard group.

The die-hard group is a rather slim group, only 4 out of 20 people in this trip decided to wake up this early for the early morning shoot – and we will proof them wrong.

It is supposed not to enter the Yading Nature Reserve this early, we were basically just sneak in, ride the horse in silence, turn-off our headlamp and led the horse climb in pitch dark.  No sooner we arrived at the Chonggu Monastery, and started to walk up the stairs to our destination – Five-Colored Lake, 4,600m.

Shortly before arriving the destination, I took this image of the bight moon above the mountain range, and Chenrezig Peak in short distance ahead.