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Everybody Has a Story: The right attitude can turn bad luck into good

By Barbara Rogers, Amboy
Published: October 17, 2018, 6:02am

It was October 2005. While visiting in Yinchuan, Ninxia, in northern China, I had an unexpected opportunity to travel to Inner Mongolia. The invitation was from Karen, a visiting teacher from Wales whom I had recently met while walking in a local park. Of course I said yes, and in eager anticipation we soon boarded an overnight train for a 9 1/2 -hour ride to Hohhot, the capital and cultural center of Inner Mongolia, where our adventure in riding waves of good luck and bad luck began.

Actually, that is where our bad luck began. The tour guide Karen had arranged for us was nowhere to be found, and neither of us spoke the dialect here. In confusion, we wandered to a sidewalk cafe for tea and dumplings while mulling over our options.

Good luck! I noticed a line of taxis, and we walked among them until we found an English speaker who was able to take us to a tourist office. There we were able to convey that we just wanted to enjoy typical local culture programs. After much bargaining and haggling, we grudgingly agreed to an overpriced offer so we wouldn’t waste the entire day there.

The agent arranged a small car, also overpriced, that took us for an hour over good paved roads then for 20 kilometers over bumpy, dusty, dirt roads to Guyang, where he had reserved an overnight yurt and there was to be a tourist presentation. More bad luck: The presentation was over, and the entertainers were leaving! We sadly mingled among them as they were packing up, when a young man asked if we would like to ride the horses that we were admiring. We eagerly agreed and, with our newfound good luck, passed the afternoon riding through grassland and dry river beds. When we approached a small adobe home tucked into a valley, an elderly lady, with exaggerated pantomimes, invited us in for tea. Served with goat milk and delicious pastries, it was very welcome good luck after the dusty ride and fortified us for our return ride to the yurt.

But back at the yurt, it was bad luck again. Dinner time was past, and the only cafe had closed. I sadly retired to the yurt, but adventurous Karen went exploring. Soon she excitedly returned and asked if I was interested in a motorbike ride through the grassland. Good luck again! We each mounted behind young hosts and rode for an hour until we arrived at a windy hilltop for an expansive view of barren, rolling hills as far as the eye could see. There was an ovoo there (that’s a large pile of stones with fluttering flags tied to sticks). We could place small stones or objects there for good luck or for wishes granted, our host explained. Some consider it a shrine for ancestral worship, or simply a landmark. He admitted it was also a nice place, in these barren hills, to hide behind for a lovers’ kiss!

Back on the motorbikes, we were cresting one hilltop when I was shocked to notice two more motor bikes at the crest of a hill beside ours! With another shock, I realized they were our own shadows, casting a perfect image of our ride! Then suddenly, another awe-inspiring sight: A brilliant sun was setting on one side of us while simultaneously, a huge full moon was rising on the other. It took my breath away that we had the good luck to be caught in this exhilarating experience. We were very silent as we returned to the cold yurt for a dream-filled night.

But, bad luck again the next morning when our arranged ride back to Hohhot did not arrive. Were we stranded? No, good luck arrived in the form of a young lady from Sweden whom Karen had met while exploring the day before. She offered us a ride in her rented van, and we spent that day exploring the fantastic museums, temples and pubs of Hohhot before another overnight train back to Yinchuan.

By being adaptive, our bad luck often turned to good luck, enabling us to enjoy many things not on our agenda: beautiful scenery and friendly people.


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