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If you win over Huashan,
you live in peace for life! | | | |
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| The scary stairs of Huashan! |
At 5am I was awaken by the staff attendant. I thought I'd reached but she was calling for the other to alight. Then, the two on the upper berth started chatting. Then, a lady boarded to our berth and started talking on the phone so loud I could hear in my dreamland. I eventually woke myself up at 7am! I washed up and got ready. At 8am, we reached the Hua Shan station.
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| Five peaks of Huashan! |
As usual, I tried to avoid all those who approached asking for transport. I thought I could find the bus stop where the proper minivans operate. I walked up further and thought of asking a food stall owner.
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| The 80-degree stairs! |
The lady next to her answered it was at the same place I came from. Feeling skeptical, I decided to go further to check it out instead, and that was a big mistake! I went further and further but no bus stop could be found. Didn't want to go back embarrassed, I asked an elder walking along the way. He told me I could hail for the minivans anywhere.
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| Resting cheekily at West Peak! |
He confirmed we were talking about the same minivans when he said the ride was rmb3 as expected. So I decided to stop and wait. In seconds, a car pulled over and asked if I wanted to take his ride for rmb20. Since I knew that was the usual price and I saw he had a passenger as well, I hopped in. He started to ask me about accommodation and told me stuffs like I should climb at night to see the sunrise. I knew he wanted to send me to a hotel. I lied that I had already booked and paid for one at the mountain.
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| Huashan great view! |
Feeling not very happy, he began to make demands. Telling me to pay him now, and leave the car faster because there would be policeman. He said we had reached but I found the place didn’t seem very right. It was also supposed to be roughly a 30minutes ride, but we had only travelled for some 15minutes or so. I could have not paid him! Since I didn't know the place, I had to alight. I dropped off some vegetables from my bun and dirtied his car. He ordered me sternly to clean it up. Actually, I didn’t did it deliberately, but I wished I had and left the car with the whole bun on his face!!
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| More Huashan great view! |
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| This is how you dry your socks! |
When I asked the staff at the gate, the taxi driver indeed dropped me off 2km away from my destination! I kept my cool and only had myself to blame. If I was smart enough, I could have asked him to drive further up for me to ask around before I pay him. In fact, I should not had board his car in the first place, but a proper taxi!!
I walked for a short while along the main road hoping to hop on to a minivan. Instead, a local cab stopped and offered the ride for rmb10. They sent me to the foot of the mountain where the ascend start.
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| Another Huashan great view! |
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| Yet again Huashan great view! |
It was 8:46am at 405m a.s.l. The first few kilometres was pretty relaxing following along a crystal clear river. Felt like jumping in again. Probably on my way back. The weather was cooling. Saw a lot of beautiful butterflies and heard many nice bird chirping!
Met a local from Xi'an and a French who were traveling alone as well. Soon the road got steeper and steeper until I reached two sections of the path where the stairs were like 80 degrees!! I could basically see the steps right in front of my face!!
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| North Peak's crowd! |
These two stretches were the toughest, after which were more stairs. The view was really beautiful that I kept taking pictures as I went up.
Hua Shan was very clean and well organized. The paths were all well-signed. The tourist service points (selling food and drinks) along the way up were all numbered with the price of items clearly displayed.
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| Still another Huashan great view! |
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| Fish head look-alike stone! |
Around 3hours and 15min later, I reached the summit of North Peak at 1614m. There were many tourists. More opportunities for more photos! After satisfied taking all the pictures, I stopped for lunch. Thought I bought a bowl of hot noodle, but it was a cold dish instead. And the drumstick was cold too. Still hungry like a wolf, I bought another instant noodle and a hotdog, together with a coke! Total damage was 48rmb.
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Told you not too stand too far!
See how small you are in
the picture now, Ms Bottle! |
After the heavy meal, I hardly could move! I sat under the hot sun for a rest but couldn’t wait to go again. Met and chat with a Canadian there.
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| Yet another Huashan great view! |
I avoided the crowed for a short while but there were too many people on the way up.
Heard a lot of Cantonese speaking tourists, just like Taishan! Yesterday, I read about the danger of hiking at Huashan on the internet. Now, there were no more such dangerous paths. With the new stairs built, they had closed all such roads and turned them into attractions instead. Tourists paid rmb30 to use the safety feature provided to experience the thrill!
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| World first mating room!! |
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| Yes! It's Huashan great view! |
Reached theWest Peak one and a half hour later. Checked into the dorm room at the West Peak hostel. Since it was just 2:30pm, I lied at the summit for a rest. Could had suntan up there but I forgotten my suntan lotion!
There were lots of old trees around the peaks! Some was 300years old, 500, 600, 800 and there was even one I saw was 1300 years old!!
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| The 1300 years old tree! |
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| Amazing view from Huashan! |
Still a lot of time to kill, I decided to cover the Center Peak as well today. On the way, I came to a deserted hotel. Saw a bowl of onions in front of the entrance. I wondered if that was to prevent the vampires inside from coming out!!
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| Still an amazing view from Huashan! |
It was so noisy the whole day up in the mountain. People were shouting everywhere for no good reasons! About half an hour later, I reached the quiet Center Peak. It was a good spot to enjoy the view! Along the way back to the West Peak, I got to enjoy the silence again.
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More amazing view
from Huashan! |
Around 4:30pm, I was back. I dried my socks outside and brought my lonely planet to the summit to read up on the next destination. Chatted with a young staff at the West Peak. Wang Jin Peng was only 19 but had worked for 5 years at Shenzhen before he came back to his home town.
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| Another amazing view from Huashan! |
By 5pm, the peak started to get quieter. Around 6 it started to get chilly. Another staff resting there had a music player, and it was nice to have Qi Qin’s (齐秦) song for accompany!
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| The famous pose at Huashan! |
At 7pm, my stomach sounded the alarm. I went down to have an instant noodle with an egg and a sausage for dinner. Met a young couple from somewhere near Harbin! They drove all the way here!
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| Sunset at West Peak! |
At the dorm room, I met another guy staying together as well. He was a hair stylist from Shanxi. The place didn't look like having a shower room. My nightmare was confirmed by the staff shortly.
I went back to the summit and waited for sunset. Unfortunately, the view was mostly covered by the clouds. It wasn't anything fantastic. Took a couple of pictures and went back to the dorm. Chat with the guys for a while until 3 more new guests came in.
After finishing my blog, I went to bed at 10pm.
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