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 After having a bad luck with our last bargain, that morning we started with a piece of good fortune. It seemed as if we had a chance to buy a yak. It would cost us $300-350. After a long time bargain we paid $350 and 200 yuans for a nice gray heifer. The heifer had got her name. It was "Pomyatuha", or "Walking Food".  |
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 VOLKOV:
Of course, $375 was very expensive for us, but it was a good decision to
buy the yak. It was a radical problem solving with meat and its transportation.
It took us 4 or 5 hours to cross the snow pass. The yak was stubborn. She
made three big guys wear out flouncing different ways, so that Volodya
Jirakovskiy fell down the notch and hurt his face. He got medical treatment.
The yak calmed down and started moving through the stones rather quickly.
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We passed through the pass and saw a magnificent canyon. There were a vast flat bottom washed down by the river, bluff walls of 2km high, and no flora, only rocks. It was a fantastic scene (just like from a science fiction movie) and nothing similar to the Himalayas. After the pass there was the first serious crossing waiting for us. Thank God, the water level in the river wasn't so high. Probably the weather in the mountains was cold enough not to let the glacier melt. To find fords we had to rely on our own intuition. The stream was powerful there, and creeks changed river-beds very often. The passing was a success, and we were sure to get to the base camp. |
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VOLKOV:
In fact, it was hard to overestimate the things we'd done that day. We
talked about that very seldom, but one question always bothered us since
we had started from Togliatti. That question was the water level. Usually
at that time of the year the water level is too high and in fact the approach
to the mountain is blocked, but we were lucky. By that time we had got
over the first crossing. In fact, the problem whether there would be the
expedition or not had been solved. Compared to that the fact that the cameleers
"forgot" to transport Victor Kolesnichenko was nothing, although Ivan had
to rebuke Mr. Hu. |
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