Chasing Nadiya

Dream 2: Of Adventure

“Dreams are hidden wishes. They thrive in secret, sacred places and crawl out when you sleep.”

-          N

 My first stop was China. The journal had tiny little Chinese flags covering the first quarter of the pages as well as cut out images from travel magazines of all the food and entertainment. She was so cute. Nadiya had written in a careful script ‘Go to Qínmiǎn to make wishes that come true’. This was followed by pages upon pages of cut up maps and arrows, confusing acronyms and quotes on wishes.

There was also a picture of her when she was younger sitting in front of this huge statue of a lion. She was dressed in a summer dress and smiling shyly, her thick brown hair pulled into two messy pig tails. When had she visited China? She looked around seven in the picture, so probably before we’d met. Decidedly curious, I debated what I would find there. This was starting to feel like it was a real adventure.

Predictably once I’d bought my plane ticket and waited around for my flight to get called, I’d fallen asleep and missed out on sitting in the cramped death trap for 18 hours. There were some benefits to endless laziness. As I stepped wearily into the actual airport in Nei Mongol, I stared as people milled about me on their business. There were a lot less people than I expected.

Readjusting the strap on my back I realised just how bad an idea it had been to procrastinate on my Intro to Mandarin courses. All the signs, warnings and even the ads were in ‘chinese’. Everyone I spoke to would look at me like a leper once I started speaking English to them. This is the universe getting back at you, I thought warily as I moved towards the escalators. Or at least what I hoped were the escalators. The sign above them had an image of a man moving down something so...

At the head of the escal-stairs, I saw a familiar head of curly brown hair. Nadiya? Why did she still look like she did in the photo? I was too far away to be sure. Moving more frantically now, I sprinted down the stairs. When I reached the landing, I looked around again but there was no one there. Then I spotted the summer dress, the one from the picture.

Pushing past some angry locals, I reached out to grab the shoulder of the girl in her dress, when I was slammed to the side by a running teenager.

“Ow.”  Nadiya’s dress had disappeared.

“Hmph.” The tiny Asian girl that had run me over grumbled. She was surprising strong for such a small body. From head to toe she was covered in matching  outdoorsy camouflage gear, coupled with sturdy hiking boots and even small, hand-made tools. She looked up at the sign board telling when the plane was coming and then back at the watch on her wrist. Rather reluctantly, she offered her hand. “Foreigner should look.”

“I was looking! - wait you speak English?” I grabbed her hand and pulled myself up. This was my chance. “Hey, my name's Noah, and I’m looking for Quinn-man Temple.”

“Quinn-man....Qínmiǎn?” she said, pulling her hand away. “You look for Temple?” I had a feeling she wanted me to go away so she could continue running. She kind of reminded of one of the girls at my high school. They had the same cold, almond-shaped eyes, dark hair and round face.

“Yes, yes.” I bobbed my head frantically. “Do you know where it is?”

“Are alone?”

“Um, yes...” Why was that important?

“Then why did not plan three weeks in advance? If you go out, you should plan before.”

I was speechless. This stranger I’d barely met was already looking down on my trip! Just because I hadn’t actually planned how I was going to get anywhere, didn’t mean I wasn’t prepared. Planning bored me anyways; put me right to sleep.

“I wait for father. You come.” Giving me the stink-eye one last time, she turned and walked to another part of the brightly lit airport. “Father know what to do with dumb foreigner.”

“Gee, thanks.” I muttered. Sadly, she was my only hope of understanding anything here, I mean, who knew when I could find another bilingual person? “Wait, what’s your name?” I called after her, running to catch up.

“Nguyen An Ngũ.” After a pause she turned back and continued, “Ngũ is my primary name.”

When we got to the waiting area, she let out a little gasp and ran into the arms of some middle-aged man. Her father, or who I’d assumed was her father, was humongous. It was pretty funny to see the height difference between the two. He towered over her with some rather large muscles and a strong tan, and she was nearly swallowed in his embrace. They were dressed identically in the weird survival gear. Once they were apart, they started talking quickly in their language as I awkwardly stared at their interaction.

Clearing my throat loudly to get her attention, I shifted nervously on my feet. I’m not going to lie, I envied their relationship. My father and I had never been close and the past three years had just pulled us further and further apart.

Her father glared at me, until Ngũ explained something in what I could only think of as chinese. “Ah, the foreigner wants to go to Qínmiǎn Temple.”

I nodded happily. His English is even better than Ngũ’s. “I can pay you if you want.”

“How much?” Mr. Nguyen seems like an effective business man.

I pulled out the wad of bills I had earned through years and years of savings. I had been planning on using the money to buy a new computer, but this was a higher purpose. “Whatever will get me there.”

Her father smiled at the American dollars. “You are lucky. Ngũ and I work escorting into the mountain. If you wish to pay our fees, I think Ngũ would be happy to take you there.” Ngũ made a slight sound at that.

Wait a second – mountain? “Um, is the Temple on a mountain?” I stammered. How the heck was I supposed to climb a mountain?

“Cha, I do no plan.” Ngũ protested. “We plan before we-”

Unintentionally interrupting her, I yawned loudly.

“Ah, foreigner must be tired from their long journey.” Her father enthused, completely ignoring Ngũ’s protest. “Come with us, and you shall find a place to rest.”

Relieved, I smiled, grateful for his kindness.  “Thank you.” 

“Of course, you’re paying rent.”