9 mountains - 23.5.11 (Day 6 - Shanxi Mt Hengshan 山西恒山)

Set my alarm at 6 but the bed held me tight for 20minutes more. Quickly got ready and went down to the dining room for breakfast.

I just ordered whatever the owner said. First came a slightly cold veggie, next some watery rice, and then two big buns. By now, I already advised the old lady to press the stop button, but she still generously stressed that I could top up anytime. Then, a slightly spicy veggie was served! I thought I could still manage these. But that was not all yet! No matter how many times I told them, the dishes kept coming!! Soon a boiled egg was served and finally two huge fried puff!! I thought I could keep my can drink but the staff sneakily opened up for me while I was busy trying to finish my meal. During my struggle, the two staffs would take turn to ask me if I need to refill my watery rice and the bun!! I asked if they usually eat that much as well and, they replied yes!!

I gave up finally and left the fried puffs untouched for them to keep. When the bill came, all these were just for rmb16!!! They were preparing for breakfast themselves as well. The boss offered me a ride to the bus station, and I almost tempted to take up but didnt want to interrupt his family mealtime.

I quickly went back to my room and opened the curtain, it was so sunny and hot outside that I had to take off all my cold wear and packed up again!! I checked out and gave the rmb40 deposit to the old lady at the counter as tips. Their service was great and sincere. The place was so clean and it was way worth more than that money!!

I rushed to the bus stop with 15min left!!! Made it on time and after just a short while, we hopped into the bus which was heading to Datong. Heng Shan was supposed to be along the way.
I noticed two taoists inside the bus!! And many of the rest were speaking in some language that didn't sounds like Chinese at all! After updating my over-due blog for a while, I dozed off.
When I awoke and saw the bus attendant, I asked how long more to Heng Shan. To my shock, he said the bus did not go there!! I tried to reason but obviously it was useless. At this time, my friend was calling me. I was conned by the restaurant owner!! I checked with a passenger next to me. When I told him my destination, he said there was a small town that I could switched bus. I thanked him and informed the bus attendant immediately.

I returned my friend's miss call and got another big shock of the day! He told me one of our friends in Hk received a phone call from a stranger asking for ransom for my release!!! I was amazed how the stranger could have my friend's contact and his relationship with me!

I reached the town, Yexian after 2.5 hours ride. I was then directed to the other bus which was again going to another town, Hunyuan, where I was told there were buses to Heng Shan. I was relieved to find out that the two taoists were going to my same destination too! At the bus stop, I met two Portugeses trying to get to Wutaishan! I think Domingos and Joanna were amazing. They speak no Chinese and yet ended up at this place!! They were from Datong, where they could have made it directly to Wutaishan actually. I tried to be the translators between them and the locals. They ended up taking a cab there. Joanna was working at Macao and I thought maybe we could meet up if I would go to Macao and we exchanged contacts.

View outside Xuankong temple

The short hike up to Heng Shan (Shanxi)

About half an hour later, the bus took off, and as usual when it was full. After 40minutes, we were dropped of half way to be transferred to another taxi driver who brought us to Xuankong temple! Appearing to be very nice (I'll tell you why I said "appearing" very soon), the taxi driver looked for buses for us to go to Heng Shan. The taoists decided to walk up. I should had followed them. There were no buses that go there at all!! Some bikers offered a staggering rmb150 for the round trip. Running out of options, I picked up the taxi driver's offer for rmb180!! I thought of reaching there and pay him some amount before informing him that I would not follow him back when I started the hike.

Temples at Heng Shan(Shanxi)

He lied that the cable car station was at the foot of the mountain, which in fact it was half the way instead. He lied that the trip to the foot of the mountain was 12km, which instead was only about 1km away!! He also lied that the hike to the peak from the cable car station was 3 hours which in fact it was less than an hour!! The 3 hours hike would be from the foot of the mountain.

On the way to the cable car station, we met the taoists from Huashan again. I said if we could picked them up without a cost since we were already on the way up! The taxi driver nodded and even claimed the taoists owned it to me!!
When we reached the cable car station, I paid him and thought of letting him know later that I would not follow his car back. I should had paid him lesser than rmb80!!

Taoists taking a break..

So the taoists and I walked up to the mountain together. He said he would be staying up at a temple and offered me to join him along! I thought why not the adventure and took this opportunity to call the taxi driver! He acted he could not hear me well and kept saying he would wait for me. I just sent him an sms instead!

Failing to hike up from the foot of the mountain, I was already pretty down and decided to let fate and the taoists decide my course for the rest of the day.

It was only a short hike to the highest point at 1777m. There was a path to the peak at 2016m but the gate was closed. I met two young guys there who sneaked in. I wanted to join them but I couldn't leave the taoists behind. There was actually a path that went all the to the town, Hunyuan. The map also showed there was a such a back road. I hoped the young guys managed to find all the way to the town.

Lake view from Heng Shan (Shanxi)

It was unfortunate that many of the people around these tourist spots would not tell you the hiking path because they wanted you to pay them for the ride up. Heng Shan at Shanxi, was even more so because the place was pretty deserted and less popular compared to the other mountains. But the taxi driver mentioned the entrance fee would be increased from rmb55 to rmb130 in June 2011!! This place was just a sea of hungry touting taxi drivers!!

The taoists were actually looking for their master. Unfortunately, the master was not in town. As a result, we did not have a place to stay and needed to descend.

View from the top of Heng Shan (Shanxi)

When we were back down to the cable car area, the taxi driver, who sent us up, saw us and shouted from afar!! He dared to ask for the money from the taoists!! He claimed they had not paid for the ride up!!! I was so pissed off and almost wanted to give him a taste of my Shaolin's tiger punch!! He still had the guts to say they had no trust. The male taoist was also very frustrated and created a scene!! One of the other taxi driver was trying to provoke the taoist and looked for a fight. A more reasonable taxi driver then walked up to us to offer rmb80 to send three of us down to the town. We bargained to rmb60. Imagined the rmb180 I would be paying for a rmb40 bucks job!! I had already paid double the amount to come up!

Soon, we realized the cab was actually hired entirely by another guy. The taxi driver collected rmb100 from this guy and rmb60 from us for a trip not more than 5km!! He was chicken enough to ask us not to tell this guy that he collected the money from us!! Along the way, he was still trying to give his grandmother reasons for such 6-stars-rated fares charged by the taxi drivers, while the rest of us just kept quiet in the car!!

The taoist was really a nice and sincere guy. He said if this would happened at Hua Shan, a report to the complaint department would had revoked the license of these touting taxi drivers!! He appreciated those foreigners who tour in China . He added that a lot more foreigners used to visit Hua Shan but the amount dropped significantly due to these few bad eggs!! The guy who came down with us was a very forgiving person too. The uncle told me he already knew the taxi driver would had collected money from us too.

At 3:35pm, we departed in a bus to Datong. Along the way, there was one whole stretch of trucks like 100m long going at 5km/h !!! In the fact, the trucks were covering both lanes of the road at times. I pitied those driving from the other side of the road! Surprisingly, they didn't honk the hell out of their frustration!!!

Due to the traffic congestion, we only reached Datong around 5:30pm. Took a public bus to the train station and departed with the taoists here! We exchanged contact. He gave me some advice on the traveling! He told me to look for him at his temple and offered that I could stay and eat there anytime for as long as I wanted!! I thanked him very much!

The ticket office was really testing the patience of the others including myself. Directing us from one new window to another and another. Initially I was in a line and after 5minutes or so, the counter closed, just like that!! I had to start a long queue all over again.

Finally when it was my turn, I couldn't get my desired tickets too. I thought I might as well just take whatever that comes my way!!

My 6-berth bunk!

My train was 11pm. It was 6:30pm. I walked to a noodle shop for my dinner and asked for an Internet cafe. The lady directed me. I passed by a nice looking hotel showing rmb60 for 3 hours outside the hotel. I checked in and the room was really nice and clean! After my wonderful shower, I was too lazy to go out for the Internet cafe. So I just sat on the bed watching CCTV5 while updating my blog until 10pm. I checked out and sat at the lounge till 10:30pm before I walked over to the train station. When it was time to board, everyone just ran for their lives to the train. I wondered what were the allocated seat numbers for!!

I was allocated the middle berth of the 6-berth coach. Unlike the 4-berth, there was no door and the space was tighter. There were two ladies in our berth. It was a lot noisier here. I wondered if I could sleep at all!!

9 mountains - 22.5.11 (Day 5 - Great Weather at Wutaishan's Highest Peak)

I wanted to wake up at 5am but Mr Freaking-cold-outside told me to stay put till 6 instead. I checked out immediately because if I could get to climb up the mountain on foot, I may not have enough time to come back. I was already prepared to settle with just the Dailou peak inside the small town, Taihuai, if I couldn’t find my way up to the peaks.

Worshipers queuing to Dailou's peak!

The path up was called Da Zhi Lu (Wisdom Road). At the entrance, I already saw many worshipers queuing at this hour. They would chant a few prayers, knelt before they walked three steps and do the same thing again. Along the way, there were many monks lying flat on their body as they walked up. Many were also hoping for donation from the tourists.

There was a temple at the top. I ate my prune and took some pictures before I went in for rmb8. That was probably the only temple that I stepped in at Wutaishan. This place was famous for temples and they were more than 20 of them here. Some tour guides told me that you have not been to Wutaishan if you have not visited some of the famous temples here!!

Today's weather was really good. The sky was clear and the sun was bright! The morning was very cold but it was better off now at 7:30am.

View from Dailou's peak

Stalls at Dailou's peak

I took the other path down where the cable chairlift took. There were people going up to the peak on horses! No wonder I met so many horse dung along the way down.

Some locals at North Peak

Temple at North Peak!

I bought some very nice and sweet dates when I reached the town again. Found the ticket office to the 5 peaks, hence the name Wutaishan (Five peak mountain)! Bought one for rmb70 to the highest peak, the North Peak! I was impressed that they limit the minivan to 8 persons only even though there were some extra seats left! The bus ride to the peak was about half
an hour! And I thought the bus would stop at some hiking path. The driver must be laughing in his heart. We passed through the East Peak. It was an 18km ride. The stretch from the East Peak to the north was like the Great Wall!

This is North Peak, the highest at Wutaishan!

View from North Peak!

The North Peak had great view. Ice patches were found there. It was windy and cold! I had 4 layers on top, 2 inner wears at the bottom, a bandana over my head and gloves on as well!! I asked a master there about the walking trail and he replied it was the same path as the car!

We stayed up there for half an hour. On the way back, I saw some local just sat on the middle of the road playing cards!! I felt rather disappointed for not being able to hike up. I decided to walk from the town to the East Peak instead, now that I knew the way!

Back at the ticket office where we departed, I had my late breakfast at a restaurant. My Kongpou chicken was good and seemed pretty popular too. A couple of patrons already checked out my dish and asked for the name!

Dairy milk anyone?!

Herd invasion!!

After my meal, I started my journey to the East Peak at 11am!! I had not really felt crazy in this trip until now. A car actually stopped to offer me a ride up! I reckon the main road might be the same as the hiking path since I could read signs that introduced the mountain along the way. Even met a man and a woman selling wild mushroom at the roadside!

Hike to Mt Doom!

Suntanning at East Peak, Wutaishan

After a tough 3 hours, I finally reached the East Peak’s gate. The final 3km stretch was like a journey to Mt Doom of Mordor. At one point, I couldn't resist and lied down to rest for a couple of minutes enjoying the sun light and the cool breeze!

For a total of 3 hours and 50 minutes, I managed one-piece at the East Peak!! I was half dead. Rested for about 15minutes and had some dates for lunch before I started exploring the area.

Great view from East Peak!

Another great view from East Peak!

At 3:30pm, I started my descend. On my way down, I met 4 hikers at different junctions!! The last one was a lady! They were amazing. They had started from South Peak, all the way to the west, north and coming to the east! It took them two days if I didn't hear wrongly. From north to east, it was about a 4-hours hike!! Probably they were going to Center Peak next to complete the 5 peaks at Wutaishan. I guessed the hiking path I saw earlier might led to the Center Peak. How I wish I could join them as well!! Yesterday, I couldn’t wait to leave this place. Now, I fell in love with Wutaishan!!

More great view from East Peak!

Yet another great view from East Peak!

I came back to the same grass patch to lie for a while. Back to the main road, many more offered me a ride down. First was a motorcyclist. Two hours later, a car came with the offer. There was also a car with 3 monks who stopped. But of course I declined them all nicely and thanked them very much! I felt so warm to have such gestures from the Chinese. =] But on a funny side, a bus driver offerred me 10rmb for the ride down when I was still quite near the peak. After I
declined, he added "zhi zi zhe mo zhi zi!!" (self-torturing), before droving off! =]

Still a great view from East Peak!

Yet still a great view from East Peak!

Passed by the herd again. We were on each side of our road. Again I was worried the one with the horn might launch an attack! I walked slowly, didn't dare to stare at them, but keeping an eye, just in case I need to run if I was assault! Two curious calves were checking out on me. They stopped walking. Turned their head back and almost wanted to join me, until their parents scolded them to move on!!

Around 6:45pm, I was back in town! The descend was 45mimutes faster. I was like a dead meat again. Didn't expect I would walked for more than 30km again after my Shikoku pilgrimage. I ascended 1000m in total from 1728m to 2728m a.s.l. for about 15km. The sun was so bright even at 5:40pm that I had really bad sunburn on my face!!

As a reward, I found a perfect hotel for only rmb60!! The place was very clean and new. The room was huge. The toilet was very clean and towel and toiletry were provided as well, just like a 3 star hotel!! I was so excited when the staff told me there were buses to Hengshan!! Very eagerly, I went to get the bus ticket right away! I asked around many times and got directed to various places. Until I finally saw the notice on one of the restaurant that said Hengshan!!  Very delighted, I bought the earliest ticket tomorrow morning at 7:40am!

There, I met the three ladies whom we came together from Taiyuan. They were leaving tomorrow as well. They invited me for dinner together, but I promised to eat at my hotel. We exchanged contact so that we could meet after meal.

I hurried back to my room for the badly needed hot shower. Along the way, I picked up some water and a small towel to clean my pants and bags.

I cleaned up my stuffs while waiting for the hot shower to heat up. After a refreshing bath, it was time for dinner. Since the owners seem pretty nice to offer me such a rate and were very helpful, I decided to eat at their restaurant as well, and it was the best meal so far. The local Shanxi pork was wonderful for only rmb20!! And the serving was huge!! To top up the icing, I even had a candle light dinner!!! The hotel went out of electricity before my meal was ready. Glad I had a company in the dark. The owner then brought some candles for me in the room. It was only 9:30pm. I called the ladies telling them I was too tired to pop by their place. Apparently, they had an electricity cut earlier as well at their hotel. Thought I could have a early rest, but soon the electricity came back and I couldn't helped but to turn the the LCD tv!! There wasn't CCTV5, but found a program on match-making. The contestants were pretty funny and so I was hooked till 11pm!

9 mountains - 21.5.11 (Day 4 - Mt Wutai 五台山)

So-so breakfast at Zhengzhou!

Had a good rest and woke up 5 min before 7. Cleaned up and went down to the hotel’s restaurant for my free breakfast. Packed up and checked out at 8. Bought some water and a cup noodle before boarding the train. It was full.

My dull morning was brighten up when I saw one of a female passenger singing with a self-adhesive microphone on her seat like she was performing a concert!!! I could understand how the people around her felt, especially the one sitting right next to the "singer"! Shortly later, the "music" stopped. I guessed the “organizer” terminated her contract prematurely!

It took 4 and a half hour to reach Taiyuan. From Shanghai to Shandong, I arrived at Taishan. Then, I came to Song Shan at Henan. And now, passing by Hebei, I reached the capital of Shanxi province, Taiyuan.

I quickly rushed to the long distance bus station since the last bus could be 2:30pm! When I was there, the staff told me Wutaishan buses travelled from the east bus station instead. I took a small cab ride and reached there just in time to catch the 2:10pm bus. Everyone was already waiting for me inside the bus.

All the buses in China were like pirate ships. So many stops. So many discussions between the passengers, as well as with the officers. The bus attendant asked if I wanted to take an offer of rmb150 for the entrance fee of rmb218.

At 6, I checked my watch which said 1572m a.s.l.!! I started to worry if they were bringing us to the mountain top. When we reached the entrance of the scenic area, all of us alighted to purchase our tickets. Some of passengers managed to go in without getting them as arranged with the bus attendant. But sooner later, the bus attendant was seen in discussion with the ticket officer. Then, a gangster looking guy with a smoke in his hand came into the bus and looked for those who did not buy the tickets and made sure they had one as well! Then, I saw the bus attendant and another ticket officer were kind of pushing each other looking for a fight, but a different officer separated them off. Obviously, the bus attendant wasn’t happy that he was embarrassed with his scheme wrecked!

Dailou's peak at Wutaishan!

Shortly after, we reached the small town, Taihuai, inside the Wutaishan scenic area. I tried to call my hotel which I had booked earlier yesterday. After struggling to understand what the hotel staff was trying to say initially, I eventually found out that their hotel was not at Taihuai!! Stranded alone, I just followed the bus attendant who brought me to a lodging for rmb120. I just took it since it was within my budget set for this trip. In fact, most of the tourists, if not all, who took the bus were brought to this lodging.

Wutaihan's Taihuai town

Since the hot water was only available from 8pm onwards, I walked around and tried to ask the way to hike up the peaks on foot. None could give a clear answer. Mainly also because they wanted you to take the bus up instead! It was a very cold night. The scenic area was actually mushroomed with lodging everywhere! Would had got the same quality room for half the price just a few meters away! After all the experience till now, I didn't like the place at all and couldn’t wait to get out of there tomorrow!

So-so carrot lamb soup dinner!

I walked over to the main road and saw an empty local restaurant. Had a carrot lamb soup. Nothing special but at least it helped to warm me up a bit. Wasn't feeling very good already. Started to have headache. I guessed it was the cold. Bought some grocery and went back straight to my room. Quickly had my shower and jumped right into my bed. The only good thing to cheer me up was the live tennis match final between Peng Shuai and the reigning world number 1 Worzniaki. The Chinese player was good and took the first set. In the second, the first two games were amazing! Both were trying to break each other serve, with game 2 going into 13 deuces!!

I was too headache to finish the game. Dozed off at 10pm and woke up briefly at 12am to see Peng being beaten! It was a pity that she lost!

9 mountains - 20.5.11 (Day 3 - Shaolin's Kungfu!)

Slept better last night. I was awaken by the train attendant 5min earlier than my alarm clock! Reached Zhengzhou at 6! I have another new problem today. My phone was left with 27% but as I wrote this I realized I had a spare battery =] silly me!!

Zhengzhou was big, the capital of Shanxi province. I followed the south exit which led to two paths. The left goes to the public bus, while the right showed long distance bus station. Since Shaolin temple was 80km away, I reckon right was the better choice.

Ticket to Shaolin's stardom!

The morning was great at 20degree. I was in short. I came to the bus station exit. A lady kindly asked me where I was heading to. When I told her, she was very nice and directed me to get the ticket from the front desk. I walked over. Got the next departure at 7am for 26rmb. There was still time for breakfast! I saw a shop with beef soup noodle for rmb12. The other beside it was a franchise! So happy for getting things done so smoothly this morning, I opted for the more expensive "Mr. Lee" restaurant. I always got mesmerized by the waitress and ordered a set meal with cold dish, though I hardly eat any!! Even if I do, I couldn't finish them since the main dish was already a huge serving noodle. I was wasting food again, when I couldn't get anyone around my table to take my share.

Quickly gulped down my coffee and headed to the waiting area looking for my bus. It was already there. I hopped in and waited happily. My watch said 7am but no sign of moving yet. 10min later nothing happened still. I started to worry if they were waiting to fill up the whole bus!!! There were still more than 10seats!! Finally at 7:21am, I was relief we set off!! Zhengzhou has a lot of huge billboard covering all the high buildings. Half an hour later, we were still in the town area. Soon, the bus driver assistant started making announcement!! I thought shit!! I had boarded the pirate ship!! Around 8:40am we were at Dengfeng, a small town 15km away from Shaolin temple. We reached the first tourist spot nearby and the bus attendant told me they will only be at Shaolin temple around 11am! I asked the bus driver and luckily there was another guy going there as well. The bus driver was very nice and brought us there directly! Along the short ride, I saw huge tree, interestingly, on the middle of the road!! FanYincheng was from Henan. We chatted and travelled the rest of the day together.

Round 1, fight!!

Kungfu training session!

After getting our 100rmb entrance tickets, we walked towards the main attraction, Shaolin temple! The whole area was like a training ground for different Wushu schools. We saw many students busy practicing their kungfu skills.

Yincheng told me recently there was a news circulating around the Internet that a Shaolin master was caught paying for sex! Of course Shaolin temple denied this!

Tombs at the Pagoda forest

The best of Shaolin Temple!

When we finally reached the temple, we snapped a picture of the legendary place! But once we got in, it was really a huge disappointment!! Didn’t even come close to any other of the famous temples in China. It was so commercialize that there was even modern song at the background while the monks chanted their prayer!! I didn’t see any training ground!! The place was so small, we took less than 10min to make a round. There were only souvenir and expensive bracelet selling all over the place. Yincheng was asking a monk for lessons for his 8-year-old son but the monk's replies didn't even seem very convincing that he knew well. Kind of a snobbish instead.

I left them two for a while to wander around, looking for the hotels but didn’t see any as mentioned in the Internet! I asked a young monk how to hike up the Shaoshi Shan, the hightest peak at Songshan. He was giving the direction very politely but surprisingly he suggested the cable car instead and said the hike up was very steep and not recommended.

Soon, I met up with Yincheng again and moved on. We passed through the Pagoda forest, where the ancient monks were buried. Took a few pictures and headed to the Shaoshi Shan.

Shifu with his great pose!

A lot of drivers insisted to drive us there for 10rmb but my hike buddy shoved them away. Once we got away from the crowd, another approached us for rmb3!! We hopped on and reached the hiking point. It was 10:45am when we started. At a rest point, we met a master with a nice beard and a dragon blade like the GuanYu's! I asked if I could take a picture of him. He even gave me a pose!! Along the way, we saw a lot of worms. And I realized I like to catch sight of wild birds!!! There was no telephone line up here.

Around 12pm, we reached the top where the cable car station was. The staff said it was the peak and guided us to the view point. We reached a food stall and stopped for a bowl of noodle. When we started our hike again, the weather turned very misty. Sadly, we couldn’t see much of the great view!

Disappointed at the misty day!

Mt Saoshi's view!

We met a rubbish collector and she told us that her monthly salary was only rmb550! We continued the hike up and down slope along the side of the mountain, reaching the highest point only at 1114m. The peak was 1545m instead. A staff said there was a way to reach the summit but only the locals did, to collect wild plants for Chinese medicine. There wasn't any built-up path like we were walking.

Along the way, we started to feel rain droplets. It wasn’t cold even up in the mountain. I was in short and t-shirt all day. Soon the droplets became light drizzle and made the steps slippery. Shaoshi Shan was a rocky mountain. Whenever opportunities arose, I tried to snap a shot of the scenery when the view got slightly clearer.

Path along the side of the mountain!

Rope bridge to heaven!

We crossed a rope bridge but the mist cover all the view! After about 1.5 hours of up and down slope, we finally reached a temple and started to go all the way downward. It was 2pm. It was only a half an hour walk to reach the foot of mountain, but the stairs were so steep and torturing to our knees!! At the car park, my local friend started to bargain with the minibus driver to bring us back to where we came from at the Shaolin temple’s entrance. They started to talk like they wanted a fight! We managed to pull down the price to 50 from 80rmb. In the car, they began to chat like a friend again instead!! Luckily we didn't have to walk. It was a very long way.

On the way, we saw a huge snake in the middle of the road!! We met two young Shaolin students and the driver was nice and picked them up to the same destination for only 5rmb each! My energy tank ran pretty low and dozed off for the rest of the journey.

More Mt Shaoshi's view!

Yet more Mt Shaoshi's view!

We reached the main parking lot at Shaolin temple’s entrance again and bought our minibus ticket back to Zhengzhou. As usual, they always wanted to fill up the bus, though many started to complain. 3:20pm was promised. We took off at 4pm instead.

Around 5:40pm we reached the city. Departed with Yincheng and headed to the train station. The ticket office was amazing. About 40 counters, all fully queued up!!

My initial plan was to stay at Shaolin temple for another day to join one of the school for kungfu class. However, it didn't seem they had any of such offers for a foreigner. Perhaps, some other schools had at the town of Dengfeng. So, I decided to go to my next destination tonight via Taiyuan.

But hiccup happened, I couldn't get the night train I wanted and bought the next morning train that reach Taiyuan at 1:30pm. After that I had another headache to look for a lodging to spend the night. I settled down at an Internet cafe to do some reading and searched for hotels but was so frustrated I couldn’t find any telephone numbers at all after one worthless hour. Worried it will get dark soon, I decided to walk around and check out the hotels instead. After trying 3 to 4 of them, none of those cheaper options accept foreigners!!! I ran out of choice and patience and settled down finally at one just next to the train station for the amount way double the budget I set for this trip! I could have saved on this if I was sharp enough to take the 12:40am train instead!

Quickly went up to my room and had a shower to cool off the tiring day. The room was huge with two single beds. It was already 8pm. I started to venture out for food. Want to try some local Henan food, but I ended up in one food stall I didn’t even know how to order. The food was filling and wasn't too bad but I could had found something better!

After my stomach was satisfied, I was toying with the idea to visit a pub!! The book recommended one jazz bar nearby but needed to catch a cab. But I still had some work to do to plan for my next destination!! I started to count the hours I have with my fingers, minus off the precious sleep that I needed most. The maths didn’t work out. I reluctantly abandon the thought and went back to my hotel obediently after wandering around the town for a short while.

At 12:30am, I was too sleepy and went to bed. It was a sound sleep!

9 mountains - 19.5.11 (Day 2 - Sunrise-less Taishan!)

It was really a challenge to fall asleep. Probably I still needed some time to tune my clock. At 4:10am, my alarm rang out loud. Struggled for a while before I started getting changed. Soon the staff came to wake everyone at 4:20am as promised.

Sunrise-less dejected look!

Waiting patiently for the sunrise!

After getting my share of the toilet, I still had to wait for the rest of the group to get ready. When many started to get impatient, the tour guide told us not to worry. He guaranteed we would get to see the sunrise. While waiting, I saw a few tents set up just outside the hotel!! Soon many gave up and moved on first. I followed suit since everyone was going the same direction.

Knitting in process..

Taishan heavenly stone steps!

When we all reached the viewing point, it was roughly the time for sunrise. Half an hour later, the sun was still hiding behind the cloudy sky. Many started to return to their lodging. I hung around enjoying the breeze, till I started to feel cold. Walked back to my bed dejected. It was 6am. I jumped right back to sleep for a solid 3.5hours!! Woke up to find a place for my breakfast. The area was already crowded again with many tour groups.

There was some competition going on. Some hikers in couple were wearing the running number on their shirts.

I decided to walk up to the pavilion on top for a better view while having my bread. Sweat up all the way only to have a couple of bites. After which, I had a very strong urge and rushed down to my lodging again for the toilet!

Wasn't hungry anymore, I started my descend at 10:40am. Stopped shortly for a watermelon.

Famous tree at Taishan

Huge incense!

There was no sun today. So, it was a cooling stroll down. Reached the middle point at 12pm and decided to eat something first. I realized the beef noodle was all the same up in the mountains!!

Natural my foot reflexology

My disciple from Taishan!

I already planned to go the western route. According to the map, it should be following the bus path. After getting some direction, I started strolling down the slope on the main road at 12:20pm. It was very relaxing since it was down slope all the way until I reached a jungle path. It looked promising and I decided to be adventurous. It wasn't too bad and I started to enjoy my walk. At least the view was better but the best part was getting away from the crowd. After some 10min or so I reached the main road again. Took a short break and saw some locals picking wild berries and vegetable. The lady told me something about the berries which I couldn't catch much of wha she said. She pointed up the tree. I told her I saw some over a corner. She replied those were not ripe yet. They directed me to the jungle path again. After a short while, I reached the main road once again and met the river. The water was very tempting. Quickly find my way down, I took off my boots and dipped into the freezing water!! Hardly could last for 10sec for each dip! Took some pictures and dried up to move on. My feet felt so refreshed and powered up.

Along the way, i saw a very beautiful bird with feather on the head. Before I could take out my camera, it flew off.

Check out the beers chilling in the pond!!

The swimmer was damn cool!

Soon I reached a bus stop and checked out the map there. I could follow a hiking trail from here all the way down! And so I went to Wuji temple. Crossed the Longevity Bridge. Passed the Black Dragon Pool, ventured through a bee hive and finally reached a dam! Down at the pool, I saw a couple having a dip too while enjoying some cold beer!! Wished I were there. The dam was huge and many were seen swimming! As I walked further down, I saw many were on the way up carrying tongs to fill them up with water!

Beehive and the owner!

At around 2:30pm, I eventually reached the town. Saw the main road which would lead to the railway station. Followed along for a while and came to an Internet cafe! Since I still have heaps of time before my train depart at 10:15pm, I spent an hour there checking out my next destination.

Taishan's Thor!!

After that I walked to the city centre hoping to look for a shopping centre with wifi access. Unfortunately, I had no luck. Got hungry and stopped at a noodle shop. It was not bad and the green tea was most refreshing. It was icy cold!!! After that, I went to get a towel to clean up in case I couldn't find a place to take a shower. Spent the next 1.5hours in the Internet cafe. It was really cheap in China for rmb2-3 an hour. Popped into a restaurant next door and glad I made that choice! Great dinner finally!! Local mushroom chicken. I think they cooked the whole chicken! The serving was so huge that I couldn’t finish my rice! Very tempted to drink beer when the owner asked me for the 2nd time. I noticed some patrons even bargained in the restaurant when paying the bill!! My rice was free!!

The uncle's private swimming pool!

I went back to the small lodging I asked earlier looking to get an hour rest and take a shower. However they didn't accept foreigners! I went to another wrong lodging before that and they didn't accept foreigners too.

I tried my luck at a big lodging which wanted rmb60 initially. I managed to bargain for 20rmb discount instead. Couldn't complain too much. The room with the toilet was clean and I get to use a towel as well. After my shower, there was still time for some update on NBA playoff on TV.

Half an hour before departure, I walked across to the train station. This train looked cleaner. It was from Qingdao all the way to Chengdu! I managed to get a lower berth but it seemed to be smaller than the upper berth! Planned my trip for tomorrow and knocked off to bed at 11pm. I tend to have this phobia of falling asleep now. I think only around 12am I started my dream!