Yu's footprint

I still remember the journey from Hong Kong to Macao many years ago. Since Macao came back to China in 1999, it became a popular place that gathered thousands of tourists and gamblers from all over the world. We were on a small ship at that moment, my mother, my grandma and I. It was a windy morning. With the curiosity to a former colony, with the ambition to be a millionaire in casino, a load of people crowded on the deck, nobody preferred to be the last one to find the “ new continent ”. I cared about nothing. I just hold up the railing and felt sick. The sea was quite unstable, which gave me a strong feeling that I was sitting in a roller coaster. I threw up again and again, and that was only what I could remember. I didn't know how we got to the harbor, how we passed the customhouse. That was an exhausted memory of my childhood.

It was a way of journey. Tourists cannot always be very comfortable. Travelers are not that kind of person who are lying in the first-class carriage, drinking brandy and making their journey like staying at home. This is not the way I want.

I traveled to Lugu Lake in this February. The whole journey proved a theory: only took a risk can you approach the beauty.

It was an incredible way. Not only the unrivalled scenery around the whole journey ---- fabulous Jinsha River, elaborate terrace, primitive villages ---- made it unbelievable, but also the all dangers we met made this journey unforgettable.

When we passed a stoney road near the Jinsha River, my imagination was still floating above the perfect panorama right before my eyes, suddenly the bus driver shouted: “ Take care of the dropping stones! ” I realized there was a big slope full of stones stood by the road, outside of my window. The bus stopped, the driver calmly asked all passengers sitting on the right side of the bus paid attention to the dropping stones. “ You’d better move away from the window. ” We carefully passed the slope, as slowly as we could. I gazed at the stones deadly, thought if there was a boulder dropping on my window, I had no way to escape. Hallelujah we made it! The driver was a good guy. He didn’t tell us there was a bus being destroyed recently by the slope until we passed it. He also didn’t tell us it was only the beginning.

After spending nearly 40 minutes in a garage (one of our tires refused to work any more and ended its life), more than an hour in a Sichuan restaurant, we started a brand new way. Our bus carried us, and played as a climber towards the mountainous area. The bus zigzagged on the zigzag roads, this made me feel sleepy. I was quite familiar with the mountainous terrain of Yunnan, nothing made me worried, so I decided to close my eyes. Two women from Taiwan on the same bus screamed all the way, they might believe it was a fatal journey. Their extreme fear led the bus driver pressed the throttle with all his strength, he hoped to use this way to prove it was just a piece of cake. I fell asleep with confidence. When I felt the bus nearly walked haltingly, I opened my eyes. Was it a dream? I almost couldn’t see anything outside of the window. We were surrounded by the deep fog! Everyone on the bus fell into a terrible still, including the women from Taiwan. We fumbled the road with the driver, like Madam Curie fumbled her way in chemistry. My gosh! If I died here, I even didn’t know where it was!

Finally, with triumphal smile, our captain broke through the fog. Oh captain, my captain! But obviously, this was not the worst thing. On the contrary, far more than the worst.

As the elevation was higher, the weather was worse. In the end, it even began to snow. Some natives on the bus cried happily: it was the first snow in the year. Usually it was considered to be a symbol of good harvest. But I couldn’t be happy. The road was covered with ice, and what made things worse was that, we were moving down from slopes! At the top of a steepest slope, our captain could not bear our shouting any longer, he stopped the bus, and shouted back: “ You, all of you, get off, walk ahead and wait there! ” We dared not to disobey, and soon I treaded on the soft snow. Nice feeling! When I nearly forgot the danger we faced just now, something came into my vision ---- a rushing bus! Our captain crazily steered his ship passing by his distrustful crew with mocking smile. Wow!

When we arrived at Lugu Lake, everything was in the dark. It was not a nightmare, it was the most exciting dream I’ve ever had. We took 8 hours on the way. Eight hours to cross 300km!

When I sat in a pub near the lake in that deep night, I felt really happy. What a risk I took! And what amazing scenery right before my eyes! I still alive, what a euphoria and sensation in my heart!

way to Lugu Lake