理塘！理塘！俠客，氂牛肉和撞球！
兩天前，打折渚（康定）陽光燦爛，零下4度。然後烏雲湧來，空氣更加稀薄，更加冰冷。Two days before this, it was sunny and a mild -4 degrees in Dartsendo (Kangding). Then clouds rolled in, and air felt thinner and colder.
我們發現下一班到理塘的汽車由於暴風雪取消了，剩下的就要到明天才發車，氣候條件又不適合騎車。尤其是要爬坡兩天才能到山口。Once we found that the onward bus to Litang had been cancelled due to blizzard and another one may leave the next day, conditions ahead seemed too dangerous to cycle. Especially that it takes two days to reach the top of the mountain pass.
於是我們就坐車吧，坐車出康定，希望天氣好，318線上的285公里道路一路順風。So here we are, busing out of Dartsendo and hoping that fairer days await beyond the notorious 285 kilometers of G318.
一路爬坡到山口（4410米），山路迴旋沒完沒了，但路況卻很好。
Up to the first mountain pass (4,410m) other than the relentless incline the road conditions are quite good.
我們過了新都橋，每一公里都看見自行車騎友們在路標上留下信息。司機停下來裝防滑鏈。這真讓人放心。Then we pass Xinduqiao (3440m) ，every KM we see cyclist messages left on the road markers. Our driver stops to fit the wheels with winter chains. Very encouraging indeed.
這裡是喜馬拉雅山的邊緣，一天之內可見四季、
Such are the fringes of the Himalayas, where you can often experience all four seasons in one day.
第二座山口（4659米）將塔公草原和多霧，繁茂的八美峽谷隔在後面。大地的神奇構造展現出來，山脈彷彿是從天穹中降臨，而不是從大地上湧起的。藏地高原的美景讓人窒息。
The second pass (4,659m) marks a very clear distinction between the vast grasslands of Ta Gong or the misty, forested gorges of Ba Mei. Everything has been replaced by tectonic creations, with mountains looking more like they have been thrown from the sky, rather than pushed from the earth. The view towards the high Tibetan plateau takes our breath away.
儘管道路看起來很嚇人，令人頭暈地在山脈間盤旋，但路上並不是只有我們。
As crazy as this road may be, carving through the most dizzying of peaks, we are not alone.
還有解放軍的車隊，緩慢地爬坡。有一個車隊有超過50輛汽車！我們問為什麼這裡有這麼多汽車，他們說這是因為有新兵在做駕駛練習，還有不少車輛載著給養去西藏。There are PLA army convoys, slowly climbing up. One line must have nearly 50 trucks! We ask why there is so many truks up here, and they say they could be fresh recruits on driving practice, with a number of vehicles carrying supplies to Tibet.
再向上，有一段路正在維修，讓整個路都停止了。我們三個小時候才開動，司機大吼道理塘！理塘！確保沒有把乘客落在山上。
Further up, a section of asphalt has been maintained, bringing the entire traffic to a halt. We only get moving again 3 hours later and the driver starts shouting Litang! Litang! to make sure none of us got lost on the mountain.
我們在日落時分到了理塘。我們在G318上走了15個小時，還不算壞。要是全靠騎車，那就遙遙無期了。
We finally arrive in Litang in the dead of the night. We』ve been on the G318 for 15 hours. Not so bad. Pedalling our way here would have been a Sisyphean delusion.
毫不意外，由於坐了一天汽車，晚上我們不得不縮在電熱毯被窩裡取暖，寫點小日記。
Unsurprisingly, because of the intensity of the bus ride, the night doesn』t progress much further than climbing under the electric blanket to escape the cold and writing this.
我們住在梅朵的布達拉客棧。她是個藏族人，在這個季節沒幾家賓館向遊人開放。早上起來發現她雙頰通紅，在洗衣服，她腳下夜裡已經結了一層厚厚的冰。沒錯，沒必要否認，此刻正是大冬天。
We are bunking at Medok』s Potala Inn. She is Tibetan and one of the few local business owners who support the thin trickle of visitors to the area. In the morning we find her rosy-cheeked and doing laundry right on the sidewalk which sparkles with a robust layer of frost formed overnight. And just like that, there』s no denying it any-longer. Winter is here.
理塘海拔4014米，大山環抱。
Litang sits at 4,014m, hemmed in on all sides by huge mountains.
這座城市很有西部片的風格，圍繞著一兩條主幹道-店鋪大門敞開，裡面放著馬鞍子和牛仔的裝備。
This is a Wild West sort of town, clustered around one or two main streets– with open-fronted shops stocked with horse rigs and cowboy gear
還有市場——游牧的康巴人在這裡買賣巨大的酥油。氂牛是這裡的核心副食：有氂牛肉包子，氂牛肉餅，就像中國內地的大餅一樣，還有氂牛肉湯。我們厚顏無恥地狼吞虎咽，氂牛這寶貝，不管是活著，還是做成食物，都棒極了！
– and the market – where nomadic Khambas are shopping or selling huge blocks of yak butter. Yak is the staple here: we find yak burgers, yak meat pies similar to the Dabing pancake from China proper, and yak soup, of course. We are shamelessly happy to wolf down an animal we find adorable either dead or alive.
市場里大塊的氂牛肉啊！
Yak carcasses hanging in Litang』s market.
理塘是藏族游牧人往來之地。女人們穿著厚厚的羊毛長袍，系著腰帶，頭髮在頭頂盤成一圈，還捆著紅色的絲帶。
Litang is the turf of Tibetan nomads.The women wear thick woollen tunics with sashes and their hair is literally wrapped upon their heads in a single massive braid with interlacing red ribbons.
男人很硬漢，腰間掛著刀，盤著巨大的英雄結，牛仔帽下面全是手工打造的銀質珠寶頭飾，閃閃發亮。看著他們騎著摩托車橫衝直撞，就讓人想唱《黃金三鏢客》的主題曲。
The men are gruff, with large daggers attached to their belt and with a mass of long, braided hair adorned in handcrafted silver jewellery bristling underneath cowboy hats. To watch them dart through town on motorcycles makes me whistle the theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.、
Whenever a break is due, we find the men in the back of the market, shooting pool.
只要到了休息時間，男人們總是會在菜市場後面打撞球。
藏族孩子衣衫隨意，大大咧咧，面孔紅潤。我們透過一頭牛的腹腔對視。我都忘了沒心沒肺地大笑是多麼輕鬆，活著就好。我一定會想念這些面頰通紅的小壞蛋的。Tibetan kids are a rag-tag troupe of ruddy faced tykes. We make eye contact across a yak carcass. Sparks fly right away. I have forgotten how liberating is to laugh for no reason, just happy to be alive. We』re gonna miss these cheeky bastards, for sure.
這個孩子吃奶奶做的麵條長大，我想他一定惱火極了。This little dude is growing up with his nana』s noodle soup and just as fussy I』m sure
大家都很熱情，見面就喊」扎西德勒「，藏語中這是問好的意思，即便我們到了理塘的邊緣。這個地方很不一般，我們原本以為，除了《國家地理》雜誌中的圖片以外，這樣的地方已經不存在了呢。
Everyone is super-friendly, yelling 「tashi delek」 (hello in Tibetan), even when we reach the fringes of Litang. This is a very different world, one that neither of us thought still existed outside the issues of National Geographic.
城市的北邊是理塘寺，是這個地區最大的寺院，有數百僧人。寺院巨大的中庭可以俯瞰壯闊的草原景色。
On the north end of town we find the Litang Chode Monastery, the region』s largest, with several hundred resident monks. The huge yard allows a stupendous view towards the mountains.
寺院裡面金碧輝煌。要知道，歷代達賴喇嘛都是被」發現「而非」選中「的，所以理塘這個地方居然是兩任達賴喇嘛的故鄉（7世和10世），的確令人驚嘆。
Inside it』s lavishly decorated. Considering that the Dalai Lamas are not 「chosen」, but 「found」, I find it remarkable that Litang was the birth place of two Dalai Lamas – the 7th and 10th.
寺院1580年始建，還有些藏族人是徒步走過來，還要朝聖去拉薩的。赫爾佐格曾經對這個題材拍過一部紀錄片。
This monastery has been in use since 1580, There are Tibetans who WALK here , on their way to Lhasa. Herzog made a hypnotic documentary about that.
在寺院的高處山頭，左邊，還有天葬場，風馬旗飛揚，天葬這個儀式在蒙古國有些地方也存在。
Up on the hills behind the monastery, to the left, Tibetan prayer flags mark a site for sky burial. This ritual is also observed in parts of Mongolia.
理塘陽光燦爛。我能明白，為什麼人們可以坐在這裡，讓平靜的能量流過，忘卻了時間。說老實話，我也不想走。
The place is soaked in sun. I can see how one could just sit here, let this calm energy sift through and forget about time. Frankly, I see no reason to go.
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