触摸乞力马扎罗的雪

乞力马扎罗山(Kilimanjaro)是非洲最高的山脉,名副其实的非洲之巅。海明威在小说《乞力马扎罗的雪》中称其为上帝的神殿。我们要登顶的Uhuru峰并不十分陡峭,飞机上看像一顶圆帽,覆盖着冰川和积雪。有好几条登山路线可以选择,我选了路途比较艰险,但景色最美的线路,叫马切姆(Machame)。马切姆路线景色的美,在于其自下而上,要经历各种不同地貌,有人总结为平原地带、森林地带、荒原地带、沙漠地带、主峰地带。这个分类是没错,但本人走下来,宁可将其分为热带雨林、高山草甸、石块旷野和赤道冰川四种地貌。不同地貌之间,没有明显的界限,但差异颇大,各具特色,耐人寻味。     

青海玉树州囊谦县两处盐场调查概况

<正>囊谦县是青海玉树藏族自治州最南面的一个县,可谓青海省的"南大门",总面积12,741平方千米,下辖1镇9乡,县政府驻香达镇,人口6.1万人。囊谦县在地质上属于唐古拉山褶皱区,地貌以山地、高山草甸土为主,属澜沧江水系。境内气候较温和湿润,每年的降水量在465~658毫米,动植物和矿产旅游资源非常丰富。囊谦县的卤水资源(红盐)储量很丰富,开采历史也很悠久。在2009年开展的第三次全国文物普     

世界高城理塘

翻过去,就是天堂。318国道离开雅江县城,七弯八拐,翻过海拔4718米的卡子拉山垭口,就进入了川藏南线最柔性的段落。山体突然变得舒缓起来,黑夜留下的积雪残留在山顶,融化的雪水在阳光照射下闪闪发亮。茫茫草野,牛羊星群一样漂移在永恒的寂静之上。高山草甸的色彩和光影,有如伊戈利图画的世界。偶尔可以见到炊烟袅袅的毡包、森林和开着蓝色花朵的龙胆草。除了高压线塔、气喘吁吁的汽车和摩托,几乎没有其它文明迹象。这片位于林线和雪线之间的草甸,属于牦牛部落的传统家园,地理学称其为亚高山和高山草甸,牧人们叫它夏牧场。     

羌塘巴岭：野生动物和当地居民之间

深蓝的其香错湖,静静地卧在那里,在午后阳光的照耀下,泛着粼粼波光。当车辆停在巴岭乡乡政府大院之后,经历了大半天颠簸运动的我们,被这静静的蓝色安抚,至少消去了心中的疲惫。这是我第一次来到巴岭乡,但却并不陌生于眼前的景象。就像羌塘众多星罗棋布的乡一样,政府大院所在的地方     

深入秘境,探访巴拉格宗的圣洁天域

<正>不久前翻阅到一本关于巴拉格宗的摄影集,那时我甚至还从未听说过这个地名。从此巴拉格宗就成了心中的一个意象,神山、峡谷、河流、飞瀑、村庄、原始森林、玛尼堆……带着原     

天山:离海最远的绿岛

天山,沿着纬线展开它的雄姿,被誉为"全球最大的纬向山系"。实际上,它是一把展开的"剪刀",剪刀口截留了西风带来的水汽,于是大陆中央最干旱的地区赫然出现了巨大的"绿岛",它成为大陆各角落人们交流物资和思想的桥梁。     

喀拉峻——库尔德宁生命交响曲

消融的积雪为伊犁河谷补充丰沛的雪水,"湿岛"效应为喀拉峻—库尔德宁带来足够的水汽与适宜的气温。从5月开始,这片神奇的土地逐步迎来色彩最丰富的季节。亚高山草甸的鲜花逐渐盛放,不远处阴坡里的雪岭云杉林依旧青翠欲滴点缀山间。丰富的物种以各自的姿态在这里繁衍生息。     

格拉达 杜鹃灼灼的高山草甸

全世界800多种杜鹃花里中国就有500多种,其中大多数分布在横断山脉。每年春夏之交,高山杜鹃漫山遍野,色彩缤纷,只能以"怒放"一词来形容。常在滇西北晃荡的我,见识过高比参天松树的杜鹃林,漫游过有着音乐般优美名字的各色高山     

七月,寻梦神秘的空中花园

<正>我从远方赶来赴你一面之约,与你相逢于生命中最灿烂的一刻!——生如夏花听说夏季的小五台是绝美的,听说山顶上是大片绿油油的高山草甸,听说那草甸上遍地是盛开的金莲花,听说那儿是一座神秘的空中花园。说它是空中花园,因为它位于海拔2800多米的高山之巅;说它神秘,因为它养成于太行山脉的纵深之处,人未识。在那儿,是不是还     

Body Rainbow

Chapter Four The next morning, Phubu was awoken up by a group of monkeys fighting over peas and barley in the field. It was broad daylight. The long calls of the so-called ＂slow birds＂ came from afar. Phubu looked over to the bed to check on Phnmo and saw her sitting cross-legged and chanting sutras. Phumo saw him get up, so she got off the bed, took out a handful of dried apricots, opened the door, and threw them to the monkeys who, instead of running away when they saw her, came up to her chattering. Fearing that they would climb up and steal things, Phubu drew them away. The morning sun rose from the mountains by the Nujiang River in the east. After a good night＇s sleep, Phumo felt much better and had a nice breakfast. After the sun had reached the whole valley, they set out. Phubu carefully dowsed the fire in the stove and cleaned the Tsampa crumbs off the stove. He made sure everything was in order before leaving after fastening the door to prevent those cunning monkeys from entering and making a mess there. Having finished this, Phubu then put the ladder away in the barn on the ground floor to shield it from sun and rain, put the bags on his back and ran after Phumo. Other than a short fur jacket, Phubu was dressed in modern Chinese-style clothes that were more convenient for walking, but Phumo did not want to give up her a cumbersome long dress. Phubu was determined to make her put on the pants he prepared for her once they reach the paved road, otherwise when they start prostrating, she would most likely trip over her long dress, and bave a nasty fall. Phubu soon caught up with Phumo. She walked rather briskly through the forest with a stick picked up from by the road. They breathed in deeply the fresh air of the forest in the morning.., and gained strength from it. Phumo said, ＂Now I＇m feeling much better. I want to start prostrating.＂ Phubu objected, ＂Wait a minute. Haven＇t we already agreed on it？ We don＇t prostrate on Dosenla Mountain. The mountaintop is covered with snow now. It is hard to find a spot to spend the night up there. We＇d better get to the township today.＂ Phumo thought for a while, and agreed. They crossed the forest and climbed up to an alpine meadow. On a gentle slope facing the sun, lots of marmots were standing straight, basking in the sunshine. When the two of them got close, the marmots quickly jumped back into their burrows. Phumo and Phubu carefully avoided the holes on the snow-covered ground, and reached the mountaintop. Dosenla Mountain has a long ridge. The peak in the east is called Dosen and the one sitting five kilometres to the west is Doshong. Once they were on Dosen, a strong west wind blew straight at them. Phumo staggered, Phubu held her, and they rested in the sheltered side by the Mani stones on the peak. Phubu took out his thermos, a gift from a Chinese friend of his in Lhasa. He poured hot tea into the cap, and they enjoyed the heart-warming drink. Phumo took out the prayer banners from their luggage and was about to hang them with other prayer banners on the peak. Phubu stopped her, ＂We＇ll be passing by many mountains. If you start hanging them now, we won＇t have enough for later.＂ ＂I＇ll leave them at the right places. There＇s no such thing as ＇not enough＇.＂ Phumo replied. Phubu had no choice but to help Phumo hang the banners in the strong wind. ＂Let＇s not hang the wind-horse banners here, at least wait until we get to Doshong.＂Phubu said. ＂OK.＂Phumo strode forth. The small path from Dosen to Doshong winds along the high mountain ridge. If looked at from afar, Phumo and Phubu were like two moving exclamation marks. Then some ellipsis points appeared behind them. Those were the three sons of Gar Phuntsok of Sengo Village. They went up the mountain to collect logs, and were now coming back down. They were going to build new houses in the winter. ＂A hard trip, isn＇t it？＂ said Sonam, Gar Phuntsok＇s eldest son, when he caught up with them. Phubu didn＇t react, so Phumo answered in haste, ＂No problem＂ Not knowing what else to say, she asked, ＂Carrying logs＂ ＂Yep,＂ Sonam said, ＂Patri and his company have gone for over two months. What kept you so long＂ Sonam and his brothers had been working at their county seat; they did not know what was going on in the village. ＂We just finished the farm work at home.＂ Phumo replied. Sonata and his brothers were famous for their good looks in the village. They got that from their beautiful mother. Sonam used to be Phumo＇s childhood sweetheart, a fact the narrow-minded Phubu had never let go. The Sonam brothers were all married and had children now, but rumour had it that they were getting a divorce, because their wife was a tough woman who ran a tight ship