I left checked my bag in and I checked myself out. I took the bus to the railway station where I was to take a bus to the sacred mountain of Hua Shan (sacred to the Taoists if anyone was wondering). Anyways, I got there, I found the bus and as I walked on the bus driver said no.
The bus was full.
It left and I had to wait nearly two hours until the next one was full. Eventually we were on the road and after two hours of driving we had reached the town of Hua Shan. We were dropped off at the West Gate of the park with much jibberish in Chinese. I spotted two travelers and went to see if they spoke English. They did. One of them was from the UK, and one was from Australia. From then on we went up the mountain together.
We entered a Taoist Temple and walked through it. Behind the temple was the path leading up the mountain. At the gate of the park we were all able to save some money with our student cards. From that point on the climbing got harder and harder. It started with a ramp that went on forever, and then when it got steeper it switched to stairs that went on foreverer. It is amazing that these people looked at these mountains of sheer cliff faces and said "I think we should make a path up here." We joked that the monks back in the day used to have contests to see who could build little shrines in the stupidest places. We saw some shrines where you would have to climb tracts of vertical rock to get there. Several times we had to ascend staircases where we relied very very heavily on the chain railings provided for us. It was however, incredible.
It was a cloudy day which made the view a little less spectacular, but it made the climb bearable. Almost.
After about two and a half hours we reached the North Peak (the lowest of them all). We could have spent the night there for 60 RMB, but we wanted to see the sun rise from the East Peak and did not want to have to hike in the dark. So, we continued on our way. We continued up Heaven's Ladder which is a vertical stretch more like a ladder than a staircase, then we went on the Blue Dragon Ridge. If you stepped out of the railings that must have been only one metre apart it would be a long long ride to the bottom. Continuing we made it to the Central Peak, and then further along towards the East Peak. There was another ladder called the Cloud Ladder which was way longer but not as sketchy as Heaven's Ladder, and then we were near the top. We found the Peak and then a while later we found the Hotel. Very basic accomodations for 100 RMB, and they would not negotiate. I guess that makes sense when you see that all of the resources and food and drinks are brought up manually by people carrying bundles with sticks.
We went to bed and it was a mediocre sleep at best. One interesting thing we learned is that the sheets are cleaned once every 10 days. You could also pay an extra 190 RMB to switch to a room where the sheets are cleaned every five. Great.
At 5 am we were on the East Peak waiting for the sun to rise. We did not see all of the glorious colours as one would expect since it took soo long for the sun to get over the layer of pollution, but when it did, it was beautiful.
For the next 5 hours we continued hiking. Down the East Peak and up the South Peak. I was able to ring a big mother of a bell and then we went across the Plank Path, which is just some planks hammered into the side of the mountain with a several hundred metre drop off the side. You are harnessed in, but I would not trust the safety system with my weight... I got photos. It was wild. The worst part was when we realized that we had to go back the way we came when people were coming the opposite direction. That was tricky indeed.
After that we made it to the top of the West Peak, and then back down through the Central Peak and to the North Peak. Once we made it there we were thoroughly exhausted. We took the cable car to the East Gate, and then by bus and taxi we made it to the bus. The bus of course left right when we got there so we had to wait for it to fill.
Eventually it did and two hours later we were back in Xi'an.
Now I am here. My train leaves in 5 hours.
Ye haw.
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