The great thing was our nature expedition of last week. Sick and tired of the big city we had to escape to another life. Therefore we chose the HuangShan mountains a few hundred kilometres from here. It's a very famous mountain where the Taoist monks went in retreat, building monasteries on mountain tops where not many people dared to follow them. It was said to be quite a dangerous climb and good hiking shoes where needed. (Elias didn't have any so we tried to buy some 45's, but you know how that goes, we didn't succeed). So, we were getting ready for some hiking in the mountain wild nature. We managed to get a ticket for the right bus, with the help of a paper with guidelines from a Chinese friend. It's still very difficult to have conversations more then hello – hello, nice to meet you. Still sign language most of the time.
Once arrived at HuangShan, it's obvious the place is very touristic. We've just arrived for ten seconds, or there he is next to us: Mr; Cheng. Hello, Where you from? I have a restaurant here, and if you want I can arrange accommodation and transport for you. Je parle français aussi un peu. Typical tourism businessman, and you notice that it's not high season. However he was a very nice man, and meeting somebody who speaks English, especially when you're a bit lost in unknown places, is always a relief. So we tried to get all the information we needed and he managed to convince us to eat at his restaurant and then he would drop us off at the foot of the mountain. Full service. He proposed to arrange accommodation on the top, we kindly refused and said we would sleep under the stars, what seemed to surprise him. Anyhow, if one of you will ever one day make it to HuangShan and need some help, he asked to recommend him to our friends, so...
We were taking off from the east side of the mountain, and that proved to be a good choice. I.t was the most quiet side of the mountain, because most of the Chinese and other tourists star halfway the hill and the rest goes straight to the top by cable car. A big disappointment was that the whole track was made of stairs, stairs until the top... thousands and thousands of stairs. The infrastructure of the mountains was very well suited for the Chinese mass tourism. And some carriers along the tracks, carrying all the supply to the top like beer and food, but also construction materials and even people! Lifelong respect to the carriers of HuangShan mountains, some individuals carrying at least 60 kg, 800m up the mountain... No wonder everything was so expensive on the top, at least six times more expensive. But we stayed out of the mainstream circuit the first day. We had everything to spend the night in isolation on the calm side of the mountain. First, a visit to the nine dragon waterfalls and a very short dive before the guards, to whom we had asked if we could swim but they said no, a bit later came to pick us out of the water when we tried. Then, we went higher to find a resting place for the night. Next to the river we found the perfect spot. Exhausted because of an early start of the day with almost no sleep Edward fell asleep on a rock next to the water, at eight o'clock in the evening, for the first time since long. After a break at eleven and resettlement to a more strategic place deeper in the forest that Elias had chosen, the night went on with good sleep, undisturbed except by some nature sounds and unidentified insects. Fantastic!
Next morning, we wake up with the sun, and after enjoying a fruity breakfast we hit the stairs again. After being made 300 Yuan lighter by the ticket office we start the final climb to the top. The sign at the entrance reads “Enjoying the view or walking, you will have to choose”. That sets the mood. But the view is really worth it. The horde of Chinese tourists climbing the stairs with us definitely also knew it. Below you find some pictures that will give a much better description of what we experienced up there than I could ever put in words.
Expecting rain and some problems with Edwards' knee made us decide to reach the village in the valley again by the evening. Edward even had to take the cable car the last part of the descent due to physical malfunctioning of the knee. But the whole walk was definitely worth it and I still feel all the stairs in my legs. We slept in a small kind of hostel, and Saturday morning we made a little excursion to the monkey valley (of course everything arranged thanks to our friend simon). There are a lot of monkeys gathering around a watching platform where they are being fed. They had a wonderful lazy life there.
Too soon, it was time to leave to Megapolis again, but not without newly found energy...
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