Today we headed back to the bus station and caught the public bus to Hua Shan Mountain. The Chinese seem to have perfected the art of extracting as much money from your wallet as possible - there was an entrance fee to the mountain, you had to get a bus up the hair pin mountain road, and then a further ticket was required to ride the cable car! That having been said it was certainly worth the fees!!
Hua Shan mountain has INCREDIBLE scenery - towering, vertical cliffs. The path up the mountain is paved with chains and many, many steps....the only place I have yet found that surpasses the number of stairs at Chamrong in Nepal. The climb was extremely tough on the old leg muscles and creaky ankles...however, we managed to make it up under the time specified in the guidebook and overtaking lots of groups. In places you had to climb vertical steps, carved into the rocks while pulling yourself up on chains - no mean feat! The top of the mountain afforded incredible views and a cold beer. After lunch we headed on to the Dragon's Ridge, the Heavenly Ladder and Wutong Peak.
At three o'clock we had to start heading down and decided to take the cable car. This proved to be quite the adrenaline rush as the car suddenly steeply veers down the mountain. The views are incredible and the 10 minutes it takes to reach the base is an added bonus!! We managed to link up to a bus which took us back to Xi'an after a 40 minute wait. The longer distance private busses here wait until they are full before setting out on the journey!
Once back in Xi'an feeling a little weary we opted to eat in the hostel cafe and watch a movie for the evening! It was a brilliant day ; )
Friday, 6 May 2011
Day 24 - Beijing to Xi'an
Up very early this morning to get out to the airport and catch our flight to Xi'an. Xi'an is a lovely city with old town walls , a bell and drum tower. We are staying in the youth hostel here which is very impressive, lovely rooms, lots of information on how to get to various tourist locations and activities every night. It even has a roof top sitting area!
After some comfort food at Pizza Hut we rented bikes and cycled up on the city wall. It was great being able to look down on the city - even though it was a little hot in the 35 degrees plus heat we managed to get all the way round the walls!! A beer half way round helped with the dehydration!
After some comfort food at Pizza Hut we rented bikes and cycled up on the city wall. It was great being able to look down on the city - even though it was a little hot in the 35 degrees plus heat we managed to get all the way round the walls!! A beer half way round helped with the dehydration!
Day 23 - Beijing The Summer Palace
Today Cameron and I set off on local transport to go to the Summer Palace. It is very tricky navigating in China due to the language etc. so even if you get the bus or train with the right number it might not be going in the right direction! And sometimes you aren't too sure if you have arrived if all the signs are in Chinese characters! However, we managed to get where we wanted in the end.
The Summer Palace was lovely. It was set on a lake with lots of bridges, pagoda type buildings and beautiful gardens. We rented a paddle boat for an hour and toured the lake - lots of fun. Despite the crowds this was a very peaceful serene setting.
In the evening we met Laura Lee and her boyfriend Ryan for a meal of Peking Duck. The last time we were at this restaurant the duck wasn't going to be ready for 45 minutes so we had opted for other dishes. Tonight we were in luck. You eat the duck with the chinese version of tortillas, and vegetables. It was very good! (See Cam's blog for more details!)
The Summer Palace was lovely. It was set on a lake with lots of bridges, pagoda type buildings and beautiful gardens. We rented a paddle boat for an hour and toured the lake - lots of fun. Despite the crowds this was a very peaceful serene setting.
In the evening we met Laura Lee and her boyfriend Ryan for a meal of Peking Duck. The last time we were at this restaurant the duck wasn't going to be ready for 45 minutes so we had opted for other dishes. Tonight we were in luck. You eat the duck with the chinese version of tortillas, and vegetables. It was very good! (See Cam's blog for more details!)
Day 22 - Beijing The Forbidden Palace
Up and off to the Forbidden Palace this morning before Colin has to catch his flight home. There were huge line-ups for tickets, but once we got inside the Forbidden Palace is so huge that it didn't seem crowded at all. It is basically a series of courtyards and buildings. The gardens were beautiful.
Once Colin had left to get his flight, Cameron and I went down a local (narrow, old street) to get some noodles. It was interesting ordering as I wasn't quite sure what was in the dish - but it was very good. The restaurant was on the edge of the night market which has a multitude of fear factor dishes, lizards and scorpions on a stick for example.
Once Colin had left to get his flight, Cameron and I went down a local (narrow, old street) to get some noodles. It was interesting ordering as I wasn't quite sure what was in the dish - but it was very good. The restaurant was on the edge of the night market which has a multitude of fear factor dishes, lizards and scorpions on a stick for example.
Day 21 - Beijing
As Colin is flying home tomorrow we decided to go to another section of the great wall. The Chinese really have impressive tourist sites. The trail to the wall was beautifully paved. It was nice to see so many Chinese families of three generations enjoying the holiday together. This section of the wall was very impressive. We could see it stretching over the hill tops for miles. Unfortunately there was a big queue for the slide down the hill and we didn't have enough time to do that. On the way down Colin started bargaining with the locals for tee-shirts etc.- hilarious to see a Scotsman and determined store owners each cheerfully trying to out do the other - people were even video taping the event!
Day 20 To Beijing
This morning Paul took us to the local market. We a treat for the senses this experience was. We got to see chicken feet, various indistinguishable cuts of meat and local vegetables. We tried a meat dumpling which was very good.
We met Cameron in his classroom and watched his students running around the track as a prelude to graphing the results. Mr. Adam even raced against his fellow teacher. It was awesome to see Cameron teaching - he is so patient with his students. We took us to see his biology lab too which was very interesting.
This evening we flew to Beijing.
We met Cameron in his classroom and watched his students running around the track as a prelude to graphing the results. Mr. Adam even raced against his fellow teacher. It was awesome to see Cameron teaching - he is so patient with his students. We took us to see his biology lab too which was very interesting.
This evening we flew to Beijing.
Day 19 - Dang Dong
Yesterday we found a waitress in a coffee shop who could speak English and we asked her to write the Chinese characters for the Great Wall of China so we could go and visit the section which is near here. We found a taxi and asked if he would take us - which he agreed to but he said he would not wait. This was a little unnerving to say the least as the site was 20km away and we had to meet our driver at the hotel at 2pm. However, Colin dug out the mandarin phrase book and by the time we had got there managed to ask in Mandarin and he agreed.
What a great way to spend my birthday! We did a speed hike of this section of the wall as we only had an hour. It was pretty impressive with watch towers, lots of stairs and awesome views. The river acts as a border between China and North Korea and at one point here is only a meter thick....however you are warned against trying to cross it in all the guide books.
Once we were back in Dandong we went to get coffee and had some great waffles before meeting the driver and a speedy (far too speedy!!) trip back to the Maple Leaf School! We went out for a birthday dinner with Kristen, Paul and a friend which was lots of fun.
What a great way to spend my birthday! We did a speed hike of this section of the wall as we only had an hour. It was pretty impressive with watch towers, lots of stairs and awesome views. The river acts as a border between China and North Korea and at one point here is only a meter thick....however you are warned against trying to cross it in all the guide books.
Once we were back in Dandong we went to get coffee and had some great waffles before meeting the driver and a speedy (far too speedy!!) trip back to the Maple Leaf School! We went out for a birthday dinner with Kristen, Paul and a friend which was lots of fun.
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