If you personally know me (you probably wouldn't wish that), you will come to know one way or another that when I pack, I pack literally almost everything. This woman is specialized in bringing 50-75kg luggage containing various foods and beauty products from Thailand to China every year (for personal use only, not for commercial), so trust me I do know how to pack things in terms of quantity. So when it came to less quantity, more quality, I literally didn't have a clue.
First, I would need a bigger backpack. The Lululemon backpack that I always used barely had enough space for my previous 2-week trips in Yunnan and Sichuan. Probably, it was about time to buy a real decent backpack. BUT that would mean that I would have to spend around 2,000 RMB for it. I wasn't sure whether I could spare that amount of money at the moment coz I was not sure how much this whole trip would cost me. I desperately hoped that it would not cost me more than 20,000 RMB at most (please T_T). So, buying a new backpack now was out of the question. Then, how could I get a backpack without buying it? Borrowing one, of course. But from whom?
I looked around me. None of my friends and colleagues seemed to be interested in backpacking. There were one colleague that liked hiking though, but I wasn't sure that she would have any huge backpacks for me to borrow. Anyway, I asked her about the backpack, and she said she didn't have one. I asked whether she knew anyone who might have one. I wanted to borrow and perhaps give some money in return (otherwise I would feel guilty borrowing the backpack for free for a long time). She said she didn't know anyone who had it. My hope was shattered. Oh what should I do now?
I came back home and talked about this problem with my Chinese flatmates. Amazingly, my flatmate said that she knew someone who could lend me the backpack that I wanted. My hope was rising high again. Still, she wasn't sure. She had to ask her friend first.
She contacted her friend and told me that her friend had the backpack and agreed to lend it to me (WOOHOO!!!). I was really really happy to hear that. She gave me his number and told me to contact her friend about the backpack. Actually I was hoping that she would help arrange the meetup and things for me as it would be better to contact her friend through her, but she said that she was busy with her pre-MBA-exam tuition class.
I got her friend's number from my pre-MBA flatmate and asked my hiking colleague to help contact the guy. The guy first said that I could go get the backpack from his place on 28 Aug. Then later, he changed the date to 3 Sep as his friend wanted to borrow the backpack from him before that. He also asked whether I needed something else. I asked Jeff whether we needed the tent for our Amnye Machen kora. Jeff said that he would buy a new tent from Taobao for us two, but I probably would have to bring my own sleeping bag and mattress. I asked the guy whether he also had it. He agreed to let me borrow them from him, but he would probably need to ask me to pay some money. I accepted it.
On 3 Sep, my flatmates and I went to his place to get the stuff. It turned out that he had many backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, and mattress. I was amazed at what I saw. Seriously, he could open a shop selling it. The guy himself was also very friendly although he couldn't speak English, but I could feel from the way he spoke to my flatmates. His apartment was also very huge. It could fit 50 people in his living room! I personally had no clue about camping and trekking equipment, so I called Jeff and asked him which one to choose. I chose his warmest sleeping bag (-10 C min), the inflatable mattress and the 50L orange backpack. I paid him 130 RMB for the three items. He showed me how to use each item and even gave us ice creams (WOW!!).
I already got the rest of the required equipments for hiking, so I thought I should be okay.
Jacket with fleece >> I only have the wind-proof one, but not water-proof. Goretex is a lot better.
Hiking stick
Hiking socks
Knee support >> for my left knee
Ankle support >> for my flat feet
Hiking shoes >> all worn out
Hiking pants >> I only have a thin layer one
Gloves
Beanie
Torchlight >> headlight is better if you have
Not a hiking expert myself, I made do of whatever available in my closet.
Oh boy, I would learn an important lesson from this trip.
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