1629 Chapter 19

The following account takes place more than half a day later. After Rabha had lost his mind, the young man led Luodan along the path to where the Tibetans were boarding the boat. Near the shore, the surface of the lake was frozen solid, making it feel no different from land when stepped on. However, as they moved toward the center of the lake, the ice became thinner, and at the last moment, as one foot stepped down, a chilling crackling sound of breaking ice echoed beneath them.

They had no choice but to walk along the edge of the lake. This large lake had a particularly strange shape; in fact, it was difficult to understand what it was without viewing it from a high altitude. The entire surface of the lake resembled a giant fan, with one part being fan-shaped and the other part forming a very deep valley, creating a long, narrow handle. In such a cold area at this altitude, one would expect the entire lake surface to be uniformly frozen. How could the center of this lake be in such a condition?

They followed the long handle of the fan for at least four or five hours before finally making their way around. At this point, the young man understood why they needed a boat because, with one, this distance would only take a few minutes to cover.

After rounding the fan-shaped section, they encountered a narrow lake surface bordered by cliffs covered in white snow. Although the lake surface was narrow, it appeared quite wide. They continued walking inward, almost until dark, reaching the end of the canyon when they suddenly noticed something unusual ahead.

At the end of the canyon, a temple was surprisingly built in mid-air. As a student of architecture, I could almost immediately envision the structure used for it. It must have employed many large beams connected to the cliffs on both sides, with vertical pillars extending into the lake and anchored to the lakebed, upon which the temple was constructed.

It was a typical lama temple, quite ancient, built from black Himalayan stone, standing at least seven stories high, with the first floor equivalent to two and a half regular floors. This lama temple resembled a dam, blocking the entire canyon. The lake surface lay beneath the temple, elevated more than three stories high, with many beams below, upon which numerous small wooden boats were resting.

As the young man walked beneath the lama temple and looked ahead, he saw the lake surface extending forward without an end in sight. Among the wooden boats resting on the beams, one boat had a layer of new ice formed on it, while some areas remained quite damp.

The young man instructed Luodan and Rabha to wait aside while he climbed up onto the beams, inching his way upward. Indeed, he discovered an entrance beneath the temple, but it was blocked by a wooden board. He pushed against it, but it seemed to be weighed down by something heavy and wouldn’t budge.

Not willing to give up, the young man stepped back, took a deep breath, then forcefully pressed against the wooden door. With all his strength in his shoulder, silently, he managed to push the wooden door upward.

It should be noted that it is very difficult for one person to exert force upward, so lifting and carrying weights are two completely different challenges. For one person to lift something is quite hard because the upward motion is not something we often practice, meaning the muscles used for lifting upward do not get exercised.

However, the young man’s arms were clearly well-exercised, as he slowly pushed the wooden door open. He later described that upon entering through the door, he saw a stone weighing over two hundred pounds pressing against it.

He rolled himself through the door and found a storage room, a place for making, repairing, and storing food and materials. The young man looked around and saw a lot of charcoal, wood, food supplies, and some unknown meat hanging from the beams.

Lamas are allowed to eat meat.

The meat was frozen solid, as if it were stone; there was no concept of air-drying here. As long as there was moisture, it would turn into “Himalayan stone” within minutes of being hung up.

There was a significant amount of meat, and in the light filtering through the cracks in the stone walls, the young man found a staircase leading further up. It was a straight wooden ladder going up and down. He climbed carefully, and upon reaching the next level, he immediately smelled a rich scent of Tibetan incense.

On the upper level, various types of felt were hanging, and there were many charcoal stoves between the felt, making the entire room very warm. It was unclear whether they were drying the felt or using it to maintain the temperature in the room.