So how did we end up wanting to go to Huashan Mountain? Lynn Spreadbury’s email. Lynn is my world traveler friend extraordinaire and she sent a joke on a few months ago with some funky pics of these planks on a cliff you could climb on the side of a mountain. It was a joke, but under the picture it said that this pic was taken in China. After I tried to get more info, Lynn hunted down exactly what and where they were and voila: it ended up on our to-do list. You will also see a pic on the very bottom of the blog as our first entry where I posted it, I think.
It looked quite inviting for a little adrenaline junkie like me and like something I could add on top of my skydiving, bungee jumping etc. I sent the email on to C&M (my fellow travelers) and they were both in agreement that we should check it out.
So fast forward a few months and here we are: we had wanted to get there on our own and planned an overnighter on the mountain (they have hostels), but we really had very little time and decided to take a tour. We were told that the rest of the tour would be Chinese but that the tour guide would speak some English. Good enough, we signed up.
Well, the tour was completely Chinese, so that we were exposed to some of the usual excited chatter on the 2 hour drive, some pushing and shoving and the obligatory stop at a merchant’s on an organized tour. Whether it is a factory, store, or other....tours always stop somewhere and want you to buy something. This time it was a Chinese medicine presentation. But again: Chinese only...so that did not help. Michelle and I had our worst bathroom experience in China yet after wanting to use the facilities there.....when looking for the bathrooms, the urine smell from the men’s bathroom should have given things away. The women’s bathroom was also filthy with stalls about 4 feet high (remember: I am 6 feet tall..). Most stalls missed the front door except the 2 Michelle and I used. We did our usual with the squat toilets: pull up every single piece of clothing so that nothing dare touches anything on the ground, try to keep your elbows or anything which could could potentially touch the walls close to your body and get out as quickly as possible: then douse yourself with hand sanitizer. brrrr....
The mountain was really pretty and we decided to take the cable car halfway up in order to have 3 or 4 hours to climb the top peaks before coming down. Chelsea had not been feeling well on the bus ride and things were getting worse as we took our ride up. Once we started climbing a few minutes, she decided that it would be best for her to sit and rest and let us go on alone. Too bad as we had really looked forward to this hike, but she felt nauseous and dizzy: not a good combo for a hot, steep climb up a mountain. Michelle and I joined what seemed like thousands of other tourists all around the mountain (all Chinese with the exception of about 30 or so westerners we saw) and climbed towards all the highest points and peaks we could find. It was exhausting. We thought the 888 steps up Moon Hill in Yangshuo were tough a few days ago and our calves were still tight from that climb: well, this was likely thousands of steps chiseled into the mountain and steps built up steep cliffs. It was a crazy hard climb. We were drenched, had to rest often and made our way past the crowds efficiently as we had learned quickly that the polite Canadian “excuse me” way does not cut it in this country. There are just too many people so the people here learned to be more aggressive when it comes to making your way though crowds and line-ups. That is how most of us explain the shoving and pushing here which is a bit of a zinger when you are first exposed to it. We tried to fit in with swift passing of others on the stairs on left or right and a few “nudges” and got all the paths done we wanted to do. We did finally make it to what they call the cliffhanger on the side of the South peaks, which was the highest at about 2100 meters. We took a narrow path with a simple chain on the side and ended up being faced with a woman trying to charge money (she had a wad of it in her hand) to go straight down on some wires and then along same planks we couldn’t even see from where we were ( as per the pics I had seen). I started pondering the safety and maturity level of wanting to climb this thing (how many lectures would I get later...), when I saw another westerner arguing with the lady trying to use his own ropes from his mountain climbing gear. Then he said : your stuff is not safe, your ropes are not safe.....hmmm. He looked like he knew what he was doing. Michelle was not keen on this adventure, so I did the mature thing: I passed. It just didn’t give me good vibes at all.
We climbed back down to get Chelsea who was very happy to see us after spending a few hours stretched out in a hard spot surrounded by noisy crowds and joined the rest of the tour for the drive home.
I had a moment of fame in the parking lot when a girl asked me something in Chinese and said “camera”. I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her, but it turned out she wanted her pic taken with me. We all stand out due to the fact that we are westerners but my height augments that interest. I have never felt so observed in my life. Eyes are always on us and you can be assured to make eye contact with most people even if you are walking and looking into a bus or Tuktuk. We are almost famous here, it seems!
We could not wait to get into a shower and dry clothes after sweating up a storm during our climb. Took it easy in the evening after some sushi (well, something close to it) for Michelle and myself and a nap for Chelsea. Great day, the sights were beautiful and it was amazing to see that someone put all of these paths onto a mountain. The locks you will see in the pics can be purchased on the way up and you can get them engraved right then and there with something and then you put it somewhere on the mountain along many of its chains. It is supposed to bring luck...many things here are supposed to bring luck, it seems. Lots of tradition and beliefs, which is really interesting.
Tomorrow we have a day of sightseeing before catching an evening flight to Beijing for our last leg of the trip.
Wow - you actually made it there!! That's awesome!!
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