{"id":331,"date":"2013-08-22T10:29:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-22T10:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/?p=331"},"modified":"2024-08-05T09:24:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T09:24:17","slug":"mekong-expedition-july-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/?p=331","title":{"rendered":"Mekong expedition – July 12"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We walk. We follow the Gaodepu and aim for its head below Mount Jifu: the source of the Mekong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We make our way through a wetland, finding our footing on hummocks. It isn\u2019t difficult, just tiring after a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Further up the ground becomes more solid, consisting of stones and pebbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impatience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pass the spot where I turned around last year. After I got home, it seemed on Google Earth to be 140 meters or so away from where the river starts. Indeed a little further on we get to this Tibetan style marker of the Mekong\u2019s source. Source?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Disappointment<\/strong>. No glacier, no spring, no pool where water flows from. Instead the lower part of a rocky slope. Here and there tiny streams can still be seen trickling down between the stones. We move higher up and find a first patch of melting ice, and yet higher up a second patch. Feels more like it. We shoot our source pictures. But now we see the edge of the glacier, high above us still. Luciano hesitates: \u2018That is at least another hour\u2019. But I can\u2019t turn around now. We start climbing again. Soon it is my turn to hesitate. I feel uneasy on this steep slope of loose stones, slip a few times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Look for bigger stones and keep walking\u2019, says Luciano. That\u2019s what I do. From then on I am not aware of anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am sitting at the foot of the glacier. I think the final climb has taken me five minutes. I remember nothing. Luciano says it has been about forty, with several short breaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My GPS reads N 33.45.677, E 94.40.562, altitude 5.374 meters. This is the highest source of the Mekong at the head of its longest branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Weather has been good to us today. Hail and rain when we descend, but mild this time. My shoes leak, I didn\u2019t  use them in wet conditions for a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We walk. We follow the Gaodepu and aim for its head below Mount Jifu: the source of the Mekong. We make our way through a wetland, finding our footing on hummocks. It isn\u2019t difficult, just tiring after a while. Further up the ground becomes more solid, consisting of stones and pebbles. Impatience. We pass the … Continue reading “Mekong expedition – July 12”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,156],"tags":[16,38,41,46],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chin-eng","category-mekong-english","tag-china","tag-gaodepu","tag-mekong-source","tag-mount-jifu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":333,"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions\/333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pieterblog.rdeman.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}