The mountain's lesson

Part 3

Vithoon Pungprasert

The Nation

 We pushed north towards Dechen, the northernmost Tibetan town in Yunnan, a town of some 20,000 people in the embrace of a mountain's folds. Right in front of us was the Meili range, which the Tibetans call the Khabadkars.

 Its highest peak, Khabadkar-po - Kawa Karpo to the Chinese - rises to 6,740 metres above sea level and is one of 13 prominent summits in the range.

 Khabadkar-po remains unclimbed despite a series of attempts by local and foreign climbers since 1902. A bid in 1991 by a Japanese-Chinese team ended in tragedy: All 17 team members were killed in a huge avalanche.

 There are now 17 cement stupas on the mountain, erected as memorials.

 Local people in the villages nearby interpret this tragedy as the mountain gods' revenge against intruders.

For Tibetans, who regard it as a sacred mountain, these unsuccessful climbing attempts are explained by a local belief that the mountain is guarded by gods who wish to maintain its virginity.

 The Chinese government has banned further attempts.

 Many Tibetans at least once in their lives try to visit two sacred places. One is the Jokhang in Lhasa, "the St Peter's Basilica of Tibetan Buddhism".

 The other is Khabadkar-po, where most are content to make a pilgrimage on foot around its lower circumference. They come once every 12 years, during the Year of the Sheep, to pray to the gods of the mountains.

 The pilgrims take between 10 and 14 days to circumnavigate the mountain's girth, following a well-trodden trail and camping each evening in the snow. Some even crawl the distance on hands and knees.

 Near Khabadkar-po is the Lancang River, as the Chinese call the Mekong. The locals call its five sweeping turns of direction the Crescent Bends.

 You see the snow-capped peaks above and the Lancang below and begin to realise that the river comes from those mountains, where the ice and snow melt to create a little stream that grows into a mighty river.

 Next to the highest peak is the Lady peak, known as Miancimu, shooting to 6,054 metres and considered Khabadkar-po's majestic wife.

 Beyond we saw two other rivers, the Jinsha, otherwise known as the Yangtze, and the Nu - the Salween, flowing to Burma.

 The three rivers come together in parallel before branching out in different directions to serve the needs of millions of people further downstream.

 The 13 peaks are their guardians. The Tibetans call them "the 13 princesses", protecting the three rivers for the benefit of the masses.

 Standing here, I felt that the mountains were unconquerable, symbolic of the mighty power of Mother Nature.

 We were just journalists trying to understand the local ways and convey some insights to our readers and viewers. We were stunned by what is a fact of life here: Man can never conquer everything in nature - it is nature that controls our survival.

 Man needs to adapt to survive in nature.

The TV series "Mekong … the Untamed" is on Channel 9 every Monday at 10.15pm.