ASIAN ALPINE E-NEWS
Issue No 6 5. April 2020

Caravan from Source of Irrawaddy to Deep Gorge Country, Autumn 2003

C0NTENTS
Dhaula Dhar, India

Harish Kapadia

Source of Irrawaddy to Deep Gorge Country

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Page 2 ~ 9

Tamotsu Nakamura Page 10 ~ 38

Dhaula Dhar-Himachal Pradesh
INDIA
Dear Tom san,There are some good developments due “Corona Virus Lock Down” of all industries, all flights, trains andmotor vehicles all over the world especially in India. For examples suddenly mountain ranges near Mumbai
are clear and visible from a great distance. But the best view is from plains of Punjab, looking at the Dhaula
Dhar Range far away. Similarly, many Himalayan Ranges of Kumaun and Garhwal are at present visible
from the plains faraway.
I attach some details and photos of my visits to the Dhaula Dhar when air was free of pollution.
I hope looking at this, government and people here will keep air pollution free and the Himalaya will
be protected.
I would request you to consider the following good news- I hope it reaches people to keep air clean. The
Dhaula Dhar Range on Himachal Pradesh has cleared of pollution and the view of peaks are seen again,
almost a generation late. These ranges were the seen by the British as they were seen from their Army
Cantonments. Last many decades they were hidden behind industrial pollution, now “Corona lock down”
has cleared the view. Many are asking me if this view is genuine? This is what I wrote.
Pictures of viewing of the Himalayan Range, Dhaula Dhar – from Punjab plains are posted at many places.
Wonderful site and absolutely true. You can identify peaks also. This is not fake news, but great news ofclean air, and a call to us to wake up and keep it that way.
This range rises from plains of Punjab without any intervening local lower range like the Shivaliks, in allother parts of the Himalaya.
This range was always seen from the plains before we made air polluted. In fact, this view gave this range
its name- DHAULA DHAR – the white ridge. In all other parts of the Himalayan Range one has to travel byroads for at least 200 km to reach high mountains. Here in about 50 km of travel, from train station ofPathankot or airport at Gaggal, one can reach quite higher up above, say Dharamsala or Dalhousie, andclimb up to its crest to climb or cross passes. this is most accessible range of the Himalaya and nearest to
towns.
I have climbed in this range often and we say reverse- sunsets over Punjab Plains from the range. Few
details of my climbs there almost 30 years ago and pictures are attached.
This is great development and information to climbers will help to preserve the clean air—specially Indians.
Warm regards
Harish Kapadia

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The Dhaula Dhar Range
Sir Francis Younghusband Dharamsala on 30 April 1884 on his first Himalayan trip. He wasyoung and with the exuberance of “a would be famous” explorer. Many after him were to find thewonders behind those walls. These walls, rising from the plains of Punjab, can be a climbers’
playground. The white snow line on them gives its name, the ‘white ridge’, as seen from the plainsof Kangra and Punjab.
Based at the Dharamsala cantonment, Major H.D. Minchinton climbed regularly in the range,from 1902 to 1909 with a style which is rarely possible now-a-days.
However Major Minchinton was finally killed while descending 11‘Mon’ on 3 June 1927, peak isnear the Indrahar Pass and not climbed much later.
Peak ‘Mon’ is named after General Money of the erstwhile1st Gurkhas and the Dhaula Dhar
‘Matterhorn’ is ‘“Monarch of the Glen” still awaiting climbers. The chief difficulty is its
inaccessibility.’In the past decades I (Harish Kapadia) have visited the Dhauladhar range many times for aquick visit. Not being in the army or stationed at the cantonment nearby, I had to travel fromMumbai, extending the week-end scrambles into week long climbing trips.
These trips generally went as follows: tart on a Friday: a fast train ride to Pathankot (1900 km
and 28 hrs) from Mumbai and a 4-hour bus ride (52 km) to Dharamsala (McLeodgunj), where weusually arrived on a Saturday afternoon. After momoes and beer we walked up to the Triund
Forest hut (2900 m) for the night. Next day (via Laka, 3050 m) we’d climb up halfway up to theIndrahar jot (4420 m, Mon pass), which we reached the day after.
From a camp at 4300 m on the north of the pass many scrambles around are possible.
Towards the north is Camel peak, with its distinct hump. Two-Gun (4469 m) are twins with domes,
Dromedary Slab peak and Arthur’s Seat (4691 m) are other peaks of prominence. A serrated ridge
called, ‘Arthur’s Foot Stools’ is inviting. All these are day-long climbs from the camp at the pass.
Towards the south, Cairn and Mon (4610 m) are challenging heights. Going across the valley
Christmas peak (4686 m), Toral peak (4483 m) and others are accessible. Sometimes weapproached the pass via Chamba and Kuarsi in a 3-day trek. ‘Dhauladhar Matterhorn’ has two of
the highest summits of the range at 4971 m and 4906 m. All these peaks are of moderate difficulty
if approached from the high camp in the north. But from the south they will provide a formidable
challenge. Till late June the snow and ice, on the southern slopes specially, will provide the mostopportune training ground for hard climbs.
If you are willing to take your chances, you can climb a dozen peaks from Monday to Friday,
and descend to McLeodgunj for beer, momoes and sunset from the balcony on Saturday. A latetrain on Saturday and back home for work on Monday morning with a week of satisfying climbing
under your belt.
The pleasures of a Dhauladhar sunset over the Punjab plains is breathtaking. Once I saw a
flock of Siberian cranes flying over the range in perfect symmetry. They were on their way to theannual sojourn in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai. I was tempted to join them. If that were possible,
I would have climbed more peaks and crossed many more passes in three-day trips instead ofweek long outings!
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Though the climbing opportunities here are plenty, till today very little has been done, rather
unfortunately. J.O.M. Roberts, in vain, forecasted in 1937. He wrote:
The Dhaula Dhar has, I feel sure, a big future before it is in the history of Himalayan
mountaineering; for here is an ideal and very accessible training-ground. Although
there are no big glaciers, there are snow-climbs in plenty before the monsoon breaks
and scores of first-class rock-climbs, especially on the Dharamsala side. Even a
party of Munich experts with hammers, drills, pitons, and other ironmongery, would
take some time before they solved the problems presented by the faces of ‘Two-Gun
Peak’-‘the Mon’, and the Dharamsala ‘Matterhorn’.
The prophecy of J.O.M. Roberts has not come true even to a small degree. Perhaps big names
and heights still dominate over the feelings for ‘real’ enjoyment. Anyway, for us Dhauladhar wascertainly the playground we looked forward to. As General Bruce said, “Au revior, Chamba! Given
health and strength, if I don’t come back, as Brer Rabbit remarked, ‘bust me right side inwards.’”
Clearing of the air and views of Dhaula Dhars from a great distance is great development andinformation to climbers will help to preserve the clean air and attract them to climb there.

The highest peak of Dhaula Dhar

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Dhaula Dhar range viewed from Punjab at least 100km away in straight line

Famous temple of Bharmour with Dhaula Dhar behind
4Harish Kapadia on summit of Jalsu Peak in winter of 1990

Indrahar Pass and Mon Peak
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Gun Peak

Trekkers in Dhaula Dhar in winter of 1994

Indrahar Pass and Mon Peak

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Named – Foot Stool seen from Indrahar Pass

On Jalsu Pass – Dhaula Dhar
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Temple of Dalai Lama at McLeoganji and Mon Peak behind

View of Kishtwar from Dhaula Dhar
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SOURCE OF THE IRRAWADDY RIVER
AND
DEEP GORGE COUNTRY
In the Steps of Frederic M. Bailey and Frank Kingdon-Ward
Journey Autumn 2003

Tamotsu (Tom) Nakamura“If you travel north-westwards from Yakalo (Yangjing), you meet with snow
peaks at every turn, growing ever more lofty. There is a perfect botanist
paradise in that mountainous and little-known country beyond the source of
Irrawaddy.”(From Chian to Khamti Long, Frank Kingdon-Ward, Edward Arnold, London
1924)

Rulong Xueshan 5525m (left) south face
Source of Irrawaddy River (Drung Jiang) in southeast Tibet
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Zayul Qu (1)Zayul Qu (2)View to N from Rishu La 4720m, source of Irrawaddy River (Drung Jiang)
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The main objectives of our journey are:
1. Looking for mountains of the source of the Irrawaddy River in Southeast Tibet
2. Comparing Bailey’s footsteps and his observation on the situation in those day
3. Crossing of the five rivers: Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong & Yangtze
4. Gathering current information on the isolated borderlands: Ridong and Menkung
5. Having a view of the unknown peaks, Mukong Xueshan in Baxoila Ling range
6. Travelling together with pilgrims round the sacred Kawagebo in the year of sheep

Kangruma 6011m south face unclimbed from Rishu La (4720m)
Baxioila Ling
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Caravan descending from Rishu La
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It had been a long incubating idea for us, to trace the footsteps of two great explorers Frederic. M. Bailey in1911 and Frank Kingdon-Ward in 1911~13.
Bailey is the first westerner to have crossed the gorge country and reached Assam of India from China. Our
plan was to enter the source of the Irrawaddy from forbidden Zayul County in SE Tibet adjacent to theborder with Arnachal Pradesh of India and north Myanmar, and then traverse the three river gorges of theupper Salween, Mekong and Yangtze rivers.
The main objectives were a quest for mountains in the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River and unveiling of
unknown glaciated snow peaks over 6000m in the heart of the Baxoila Ling range. We departed from Deqen
of Yunnan in end May. Before arriving at Zayul, however, we came to know our travel agent had not
obtained a special permit for us to travel through the area strictly prohibited to foreigners. An illegal entry
caused a serious trouble. The Public Security Bureau arrested us near Lhasa. The Chinese authorities
imposed on us a tremendous amount of penalty.
But a dream for the source of the Irrawaddy has never faded out. I resumed the hatching of my plan to visit
the forbidden country in spite of notorious epidemic-SARS prevalent in China. With the result, in thesummer of 2003 we were granted a permit from the Army and Public Security Bureau for our projectedroute.

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Rulong Xueshan 5525m south face unclimbed source of Irrawaddy River

Caravan marching down to Ridong, upper Irrawaddy River (Drung Jiang)
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The Headwaters of the Irrawaddy River
The Irrawaddy River, which is one of the great rivers in Asia, runs from the extreme north of Myanmar andfrom the Hengduan Mountains in West China generally southward and empties into the Andaman Sea. The
Irrawaddy’s sources separate to two rivers, the Mali Kha in the west and the Nmai Kha in the east, whichrises in Southeat Tibet of China.
They flow parallel southward to unite at the junction 45km north of Myitkyina (“near great water) of
Myanmar. Irrawaddy means “a river of elephant” in Hindu language. An overall river length is 2150km. It
ranks the 12th among the world 50 large rivers if the river length, whole area of river basin and annual
discharge at river mouth are taken into account totally. An annual discharge of the Irrawaddy is the 10thlargest in the world.
Nmai Kha changes its name to Drung Jiang (Jiang is “river”) in China. A river length of the Drung Jiang is
178.6km, 86.9km in Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and 91.7km in Yunnan Province. In the east bank,Baxoila Ling range of 4000 – 5000m forms a watershed with Nu Jiang (Salween River). In the west,
Dandalika range of 3600 – 4000m, which is the China-Myanmar border, forms a watershed with Mali Kha.
Valleys are deep and mountains are high. The region is an isolated gorge country.

Upper Irrawaddy River (Drung Jiang) near Ridong
Nmai Kha is longer than Mali Kha in terms of river length. Therefore, if we define the one true source of
the Irrawaddy, the entitlement has to be honored to Nmai Kha and consequently it should be understoodthat the source is located in the headwaters of Drung Jiang which is the mainstream of Nmai Kha.
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So, where is the true source?
Drung Jiang separates into two major streams, northeastward and northwestward, at E: 98°05’ 24” & N:
28°17’ 37” in Zayul County of TAR, only 8km far to the China-Myanmar border. The east river is Ridong
He (He is “river”) and the west river is Jida Qu (Qu is “water”). Jida Qu changes its name to Gada Qu above
Jida village.
Which is the mainstream to the true source, Ridong He or Jida Qu / Gada Qu? Published information andmy observations that I witnessed during my journey in October 2003 would hopefully help us to make aright approach to the issue that might be controversial.
I have two books on the rivers of China, International Rivers of China and Chinese Water System

Dictionary, both of which have been published in China, but there is a contradiction in between the twobooks on the source of the Irrawaddy.
The former describes that Nmai Kha (Drung Jiang) is the main steam of the Irrawaddy, it rises from theeastern slope of Mt. Raiala (5298m) in Baxoila Ling range of Zayul County, and that the river is called
Ridong He, the east river flowing down through Ridong village. The latter says that the main upper streamof Drung Jiang is Jida Qu, the west river and it rises from mountains of Baxoila Ling in Chubagong districtof Zayul County.
We must pay attention to those who entered the region in early times too. As far as I know, the explorers
who made an access with an interest in geography were only three, Jacques Bacot (1909), F. M. Bailey(1911), and Frank Kingdon-Ward (1930-31).
Although no specific records such as accurate maps and photographs to verify the true source are available,
their observations are invaluable even today. The following is a narrative of F. M. Bailey’s journey in 1911.
“It was this valley that the French traveller M. Bacot had come down two years previously. He is of opinion
that the stream down which he came is the main source of the Irrawaddy. Below is Baco’s map.

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The true source of a river of the size and importance of the Irrawaddy is a matter of considerable interest.
The account of M. Bacot’s journey was published in La Geographie on April 15th and had not been seen byme when I reached this point on June 18th. Never dreaming that there could be any doubt that I was
following up the main valley, I did not pay particular attention to the stream coming in from the northwhich M. Bacot believed to be the larger river. Had I recognized the importance of this I would have paid
some attention to the size of these two streams and might have measured the amount of water in each.
Captain Frank Kingdon Ward and Lord Cranbrook ascended from Burma and, coming thus from the south,
reached to within three days of my road at Ridong. In his book, Plant Hunter’s Paradise, Captain Kingdon
Ward, by comparing the size of the streams where he saw them, came to conclusion that those rising
between the two passes the Tsong La and the Zhasha La (Nakamura’s Rishu La.) contained more water
than those rising east of Tsong La. This is also my opinion. These streams are also further from the mainriver, as can be seen from the map.” (China -Tibet -Assam, A Journey 1911, Lt. Col. F. M. Bailey, Jonathan
Cape, London 1945)

As is seen above, Bacot thought that the headwaters of Ridong He was the source of the Irrawaddy River,
Bailey and Kingdon-Ward concluded that the Jida Qu – Gada Qu led to the true source. Kingdon-Wardentered from Burma having crossed Namni La and was stationed at Jida village near Jida Qu(Kingdon-Ward’s Lokong Chu), but did not reach Ridong He (Kingdon-Ward’s Kalaw Chu). He must not be10able to compare water discharges of the two rivers. A question remains.
In 1993 a young American came with a French photographer and Chinese interpreter to quest and go down
Drung Jiang. They were arrested at Ridong and expelled after detention of several days at the China
Peoples Liberation Army’s garrison. At that time the American accessed to a glaciated mountain in thesource, but his description is very ambiguous, as no maps and photographs are attached in his book, Yak

Butter & Black Tea, A Journey into Forbidden China, Wade Brackenbury, North Carolina, 1997.
Which should be the true source, the headwaters of Ridong He or that of Jida Qu – Gada Qu? Since nodetailed survey report of the Chinese authority rests with me, I am unable to come to conclusion. In closing,
however, I mention my personal opinion on this issue. The headwaters of both the Ridong He and Jida Qu –Gada Qu are located close to each other within only 18km from east to west according to the Russian
topographical map of 1:200,000. Both of them rise from untrodden mountains 5200 – 5500m of Baxoila Ling
and run southward. Such factors as the northernmost location and the shortest distance to the watershedsof three rivers of Lohit (Brahmaptra), Irrawaddy and Salween might possibly be taken into considerationfor evaluation. If the said standard was accepted, mountains of a peak called Rulong Xueshan 5525m andrange to a peak 5240m in the headwaters of Jida Qu – Gada Qu could be recognized to be the true source of
the Irrawaddy. The source is located northernmost among others and closest to the junction of the threewatersheds.

Zayul to the Lohit (Brahmaputra)・Irrawaddy Divide
On October 8, 2003 we left Rawu (3900m) early morning for Dema La 48020m, a pass on Lohit-Tsangpo
Divide which is a gateway to Zayul County in the southernmost corner of Tibet. Rawu is a base to enter theKangri Garpo East where magnificent Ruoni 6882m, Kingdon-Ward’s Chombo that remains as the highest
unclimbed peak in East Tibet and is dominant so proudly. The other untouched 6000m summits are
ranging from Ruoni to northwest. They are breathtakingly stunning.
The landscape changes on the watershed. To the west a colorless Tibetan plateau spreads while to the easta U-shape valley, headwaters of the Lohit River, the upper Brahmaptura River (Chinese name: Zayul Qu –Sang Qu) appear. Now we entered Zayul, a forbidden country strictly controlled to foreigners. Along Sang
Qu we drove down a valley of yellow autumn leaves and beautiful conifer trees to a junction with an old
trade path that leads to Yunnan province. We organized our horse caravan in a village named Sanju(3090m) and departed with 11 horses and Tibetan muleteers. We spent the first night in a grazing hut of
Minchi (3635m) at which F. M. Bailey arrived at on June 20,1911. Here at Minchi a stream came in fromthe northeast, up which is a pass, the Ti La. The trail crosses the Salween (Nu Jiang) near Gula and reachZayi (Dayul) – Zogong. It was down this valley that A.K. (Krishna) had travelled in 1882. Bailey we are a
few days to be on the tracks of this careful and reliable explorer.
At Minchi the trails separate to the southeast to the Rishu La (Bailey’s Zhasha La) then to Ridong and thenortheast to the Ti La 4764m. The both are old and current main trade routes. To follow the Bailey’sfootsteps we ascended a valley partly forming deep gorge in lower part to the Rishu La 4730m, atop which
we could stand on October 12 after having camped at a pasture Qongchung 4180m. When Bailey passed, by
the roadside blue, probably Meconopsis horridula, and yellow poppies were growing. We thanked Gods for11allowing me to reach the Rishu La closely adjacent to the headwaters of the Irrawaddy. The surroundings
were of brown color with snow patches but no snow on the trail. To the NWN beyond the valley namelessveiled 6011m peak of Baxoika Ling came into sight. To the north Yangbayisum 6005 m could have been
seen, had yhe ranges in front not interrupted the view. To the south a rocky mountain range on the
China-Myanmar border was seen intermittently. These would be some 5500m peaks. There wererhododendrons on the both side of the pass. These reached the summit on the eastern side. Bailey wrote
with an emotion “I crossed the Irrawaddy-Brahmaputra watershed at the Zhasha La (15,600 feet), five andhalf miles from Dokong. I was now getting within distant touch of India.”
The southeastern side is a valley flowing down to the mainstream of the source of the Irrawaddy. Eighthours caravan descending along the valley took us a junction with the mainstream 5km away from the pass.
We found a turquoise blue clear water of 15 – 30 meters width running down north to south from theheadwaters among a glaciated snow mountain in the left and a challenging rock peak in the right. It was
the source of the Irrawaddy (Chinese name: Drung Jiang). Our muleteers called the snow peak as Rulong
Xueshan (snowy mountain) that is 9km north from a point where we were. According to the Russian
topographical map 1:200,000 the height is 5525m above sea level. The mainstream separates to two
headwaters, one goes up directly to the col between two peaks and the other goes around the rock peak ofsome 5200m to the eastern valley. The latter was felt to have longer distance though the headwaters wereout of sight as they were behind a ridge. I picked up small stones for my friend. We set up tents on a
pasture at 4040m a few kilometers up Dokong.

Caravan near Tsong La
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On the following day we left the mainstream called Gada Qu (river) and entered a tributary toward theTsong La 4460m on the watershed of Gada Qu and Ridong He (river), which we crossed on October 14. The
pass is wide and flat. Two large caravans of 20 – 30 horses crossed the pass. They were carrying fertilizer,
rice and dairy live stocks from Zayul to Ridong. From the Tsong La we descended to a beautiful circularlake of 140 meters in diameter. The trail went down gradually among dwarf junipers, rhododendrons andwillows, and then tall junipers and firs. The whole impressed us as if it was an artificial feature in a parkto which a gardener had given great thought.
On October 16, we continued descending and visited a small lamasary with no monk. When Bailey came, alama from Sera Monastery in Lhasa was there. We passed a confluence with the main river of Ridong He.
The down stream forms a deep gorge and the blue water was raging down fiercely through primeval conifer
forest for some distance. After the gorge, the valley became wide and open with many yaks grazed by
Tibetans. We were now near Ridong village.
In 1909 J. Baco came down to Rodong He after having crossed a pass of 5300m on the Irrawaddy-Salween
Divide from east to west. He claimed that the headwaters through which be had passed was the true sourceof the Irrawaddy. However, comparizon of his map and the Russian map tells us that the stream that hetraced is a tributary of the Ridong He east of the mainstream which might possibly lead to the headwaters
mentioned in International Rivers in China. As pointed out by Bailey, the Baco’s maps are incomplete andnot helpful.

Village of Ridong
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Isolated Remote Lands – Ridong and Mengkung
Ridong village (above photo) is located on the fertile and well-cultivated terrace of the Ridong He. Wechanged horses and muleteers there. Our most concern was a garrison stationed by the frontier guard of
the China People’s Liberation Army. We recollected the case that an American and a French were arrested
at Ridong in 1993. Fortunately, nothing happened on us. Ten young solders were Han and Tibetan, Bai,
Nashi and Manchurian minorities. They were cheerful and showed no hostility. We questioned to villagers
whether any other foreigners than the American and French have come to Ridong in recent years. The
answers were “no”.
On October 17, 2003 in a caravan of ten horses and three muleteers we marched to the east toward Tsama
La 4710m on the Irrawaddy-Salween Divide. We left the Ridong He and ascended a forested valley. The last
800m in height to the pass were a very steep and difficult trail mixed with rocks and lower shrubs. When
we reached the summit, Mukong Xueshan 6005 in the north had already been covered with clouds. Bailey
committed a mistake on the stream he had seen. He described as follows:“Owing to bad weather and untrustworthy information, I am unable to say for certain whether the No La
or Tsema La is on the Salween-Irrawaddy watershed. From the Tsema La I saw that the stream which I
had crossed between the two passes. I could not see the actual river, and the people could not tell me
whether this flowed east to the Salween or west to the Irrawaddy: It seemed to me most probable that thisstream flowed to the Irrawaddy. I have made it so on my map, but it is still an open question which remains
to be cleared up.”
The fact is that the said stream is flowing to the Salween, not to the Irrawaddy. On the following day wecrossed the No La 4269m, where many pilgrims were resting. They were on the way back home to Baxoi
County north of Zayul after the circumnavigation of the holy mountain, Kawagebo 6740m. From the pass
we could have a glimpse of the main peak and large glacier of Mukong Xueshan massif.

Tibetan pilgrims taking a rest near Tsema La
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Menkung, isolated village – Kingdon-ward and Bailey near-missed in 1911
On October 19 we arrived at Menkung and stayed two nights at a Tibetan house. To visit Menkung was mylong-cherished desire. It has been a center of the history and culture of Tsawarong district. The village of
Menkung (2200 – 2350m) is located on the large terraces 300m high above the Salween (Nu Jiang). “Tsawa”
means warm, that is, Tsawarong is a warm place.
Fields are elaborately cultivated and water supply system is well constructed. Barley, wheat, corn, wallnuts, apricots, apples and pomegranates ripen. People are polite, decent and hospitable. More than 100
families – 1,700 villagers live. There is a primary school of the 1st – 6th grade. Pupils are more than 170.
By a curious coincidence Kingdon-Ward arrived at Menkung two days after Bailey had left. Menkung was aplace for which Kingdon-Ward had been looking too. In 1913 he tried again to visit Menkung, but Chinese
officials did not give him a permit.
The highlight during our stay was an interview with 100 years old man named Paima. He is the oldest in
Tsawarong. The questions and answers are as below:
Nakamura: How many children and grandchildren do you have?
Paima: 6 daughters, 27 grandchildren and so many to the 5th generation.

Nakamura: Did you meet foreigners when you were a child?
Paima: I did not meet, but heard that foreigners came here and stayed..
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Granddaughter

Hundred years old man in Menkung

Nakamura: Did you travel to the remote places? Where did you go?
Paima: When I was 20s years old, I visited two places. One was a holy temple of
Buddhism in Shaanxi Province and the other was India, which was a sacred land for Tibetans
called “Monkey mountain” near Kalingpon. By an order of High Lama (Living Buddha) of the
Mengkung Monastery I went to India via Lhasa.
The purposes of the travel were a pilgrimage to the holy place and trade business too. I carried
Chinese silver coins and musk to India and brought back tobacco to Lijiang in Yunnan. I
travelled to lower Zayul too.

Nakamura: Would you please talk about slaves.
Paima: I employed slaves in a trip to India. All of them were Tibetan slaves.

Nakamura: Did you remember that aircraft of the Allied Forces crushed to mountains of the Salween valley
during the World War II?
Paima: Yes, I heard that several aircraft met accidents and crushed.

Menkung used to be a center for the slave trades a century ago. Bailey found many slaves of a dwarf race16

who had been brought from a country of the lower Salween, seven days’ journey south of Menkung. One of
the women had a tattooed face. They might be Nu or Lisu and the tattooed must be Drung, but at present
no such minority people live in Menkung. In these days younger generations do not know the slavery andold people keep silent.
Kingdon-Ward described in his narrative of the journey in 1913 “To return to Tsawarong. I have asked
myself it is that the men of Kam are so highly civilized in this dour land, and the answer I found was,because they are great travelers; their horizon is unbounded. They go far into China to trade, and far into
Tibet to worship. They see other civilizations – China, India, even Burma. They are a pastoral people whohave settled down to an agricultural life without ever losing their nomadic instinct.”(The Mystery Rivers of Tibet, Seeley Service, London 1923)

West Development Drive and End of Journey
On October 21, 2003 we said good-by to the villagers of Menkung and descended to a suspension bridge(1920m) over the Salween with 7 mules and 2 muleteers. A half-day toil of the march to south took us to
Zhanang (2100m), which is located on a flat terrace 200m high above the left bank of the Salween.
It is a district center of Tsawarong and an important crossroad of the traffic. Bailey described that It was
the duty of the Trana (Zhanang) ‘ula’ – horses and muleteers for transport – to take them to Menkung andthat these ‘ula’ boundaries adhered to in those days, although we could do without changing our horses at
Zhanang. When I came in 1996, there were only several Tibetan houses, a local government office and asmall lamasary. The upper villages towards Tondu La were more populated.

Zhanang, a center of Tsawarong
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The current s even years have been rapidly changing this village to a township and a base for the West
Development Drive being launched by the Chinese government. The newly built street was a hive ofpilgrims and trade caravans. Sometimes the report of blasting echoed over the valley. The vehicle road is
now under construction from Baihanlu to Zhanang along the Salween, a distance of about 75km as thecraw flies. The two-third has already been completed. The road is planned to reach Zogong along Wi Qu.
Our original itinerary was to march down a trail to Baihanlu – Gongshan of Yunnan. But the trail was
impassable as the construction work was in full swing. It was so dangerous for horse caravans that there
was no other alternative than continuing our trek along Wi Qu to the north to Pitu, Beda La and Yangjing,which followed exactly the footsteps of Bailey and Kingdon-Ward.

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Unknown Chagelazi 6146m view from Meili pilgrimage route

Mukong Xueshan North 6005m east face, unclimbed
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Mukong Xueshan South 6000m (left), North (6005m) E face west of Yu Qu

Geuzong massif 5800m peaks west of Yu Qu
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We should have met Mr. John Nankervis, President of the New Zealand Alpine Club at Zhanag. But wepassed one day earlier. His party entered a branch valley from Longpu to the western side of PK6509 and
Kawagebo 6740m, the main summit of Meili Xhueshan. Their objective was not a reconnaissance of
Kawagebo as they abided by that promise.
They climbed the low (eastern) peak of Bungxung Laka as shown on the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology
map. John wrote to me “Our trip was very enjoyable. A negative factor for us was the huge amount of
rubbish left on the trail by pilgrims. Of course, this was an auspicious year when there were many morepilgrims than usual”. 2003 was the year of sheep of the twelve horary signs when Kawagebo was born.
More than ten times pilgrims went around the holy mountain Kawagebo for worship on this happy occasion
that comes every twelve years.

Holy unclimbed Kawagebo 6740m E face, highest summit of Meili Xueshan
We spent overnight not at Zhanag but in a hamlet of Longpu, three hours march along a valley to north.
Mr. Nicholas B. Clinch camped there in 1993 and I also did in 1996.
On October 22 we departed from Longpu and ascended to Tondu La 3352m through thickly forested withfirs and tall prickly oaks near the summit, from which we had a fine view of the Salween flowing south.
Spurs on either side and up north caused the Wi Qu river to twist about forming extraordinary bends thatforce Wi Qu to flow in S-shape without diverting it from its general southerly direction.
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Most beautiful summit, Mianzimu 6054m E face, Meili Xueshan

Jiajiren-an (Five Crowns Peaks) 5470m east face, Meili Xueshan
22Beautiful streams of Yu Qu, trails towards Pitu
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Breathtaking Yu Qu deep gorge flowing to Salween River (Nu Jiang)24

Colorful prayer flags at Tong La
We descended and now entered the heart of the deep gorge country. The Wi Qu gorge north of Tondu La is alandscape of natural wonder, the most magnificent and breathtaking. For the following two days wemarched horizontally along a trail 300m high above the right bank of Wi Qu, crossed Tong La 3270m andthen through beautiful valley got to Pitu 3170m, another rich place of Tsawarong. The ruin of large
monastery was impressive. It must be destroyed by the Red Army at the Cultural Revolution in 1966 – 75.

Pilgrims at Pitu
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Pilgrims crossing a cantilever bridge over Yu Qu
On October 25 the weather changed. We left Wi Qu from Pitu and crossed Beda La 4540m on the
Salween-Mekong Divide to Yanjing. If it had not been snowing, we could have a panorama of 5700 – 5800m
glaciated rock and snow peaks from Beda La over the beautiful valley of Wi Qu to the west.
We stayed at Tsong-ze (2880m). On the following day, the last day of our caravan, we visited the monasteryof Lagong about 1000m high straightly up above the salt wells of the Mekong in Yangjing 70 lamas are inservice there at present. This monastery was destructed by the Chinese in 1907, many of the monks killed.
It was ruined when Bailey and Edger came in 1911.
Yangjing was the end of our journey for the new discovery in the autumn 2003. The Gods favored us.
Finally, we could have a look of the magnificent views of Damyon massifs. This region is totally closed toforeigners and therefore climbing permits would never be obtained.
It was lucky to be able to accomplish a complete traverse of the source of Irrawaddy~Salween~Mekong,heart of the Gorge Country to our entire satisfaction

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Yanjing village (above) and Mekong salt wells at Yanjing (below)
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Damyon massif E face seen from Hong La on the Mekong-Yangtse Divide

Unclimbed Damyon main 6324n east SE face seen from near Yanjing town28

********************************************************************************
Members Tamotsu Nakamura (Leader 68) and Tsuyoshi Nagai (70)
Guide: Shaohong Cheng, (Tibetan 31)
Interpreter: Guo en Qiao, (Han 24)
Cook: Asong (Tibetan female 40)
Itinerary & Weather 2003 (Height in meter)
Oct 3: Rain, Kunming 1890 (air)– Shangri La/Zhongdian 3220(car) – Deqen
Oct 5: Cloudy, Deqen (car) – Yangjing Hot Spring 2390
Oct 6: Cloudy, Yangjing Hot Spring (car) – Zogong 3720
Oct 7: Fine, Zogon (car) – Baxoi 3300
Oct 8: Fine/cloudy, Baxoi (car) – Rawu 3900 – Dema La 4802 – Sanju 3090

17 days horse caravan: Sanju to Yangjing
Oct 10: Rain, Sanju – Mingqi Pasture 3635
Oct 11: Cloudy/fine, Mingqi – Chonchung Pasture 4170
Oct 12: Fine, Chongchung – Rishu La 4730 – Bruechua 4040
Oct 13: Fine, Bruechua – Jiangkong 3995
Oct 14: Fine, Jiangkong – Tsong La 4460 – Zhalung 4020
Oct 15: Fine, Zhalung – Be-an Pasture 3780
Oct 16: Fine, Be-an – Ridong 3560
Oct 17: Fine, Ridong – Tsama La 4710 – Camp 4020
Oct 18: Fine/cloudy, Camp – No La 4269 – Camp 3120
Oct 19: Cloudy/fine, Camp – Mengkung 2200
Oct 21: Fine, Mengkung – Zhanang 2100 – Rongpu 2560
Oct 22: Fine/cloudy, Rongpu – Tondu La 3352 – Gebu 2460
Oct 23: Cloudy, Gebu – Wobo 2730 – Radoun 2880
Oct 24: Fine/Cloudy, Radoun – Tong La 3270 – Pitu 3170
Oct 25: Cloudy/snowing, Pitu – Beda La 4540 – Tsongqu 2880
Oct 26: Cloudy/rain, Tsongqu – Lagong Monastery – 3480 – Jada 2440 –Yangjing 2700 (car) – Yangjing Hot Spring
Oct 27: Yangjing Hot Spring (car) – Deqen
Oct 28: Deqen (car) – Shangri La (air) - Kunming

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