OUR DRIVER UP THE MOUNTAIN WAS A MADMAN.
We drove no less than 40mph on bumpy little narrow mountain roads, and not only did we not slow down at the turns, we accelerated around the 90+ degree bends. Seriously. There were several turns where we'd speed up to what seemed at least 50mph - us, a bus of 25 people, a vehicle as tall as a school bus, around 180degree turns with radius R = busLength or sometimes even R = 0.5L ... it was crazy either way. Add to this that "staying in your own lane" and "driving patience" were concepts entirely foreign to our driver. The car horn was a signal to any and all people/small cars/bikes/goats/children on the road to GET OUT OF THE WAY, and we used the swerving tactic lavishly. Imagine: bus driver talking on cell phone, swerving around a car onto the opposite lane, a car 15 meters away coming toward us, driver honking with his other hand, all while driving a MANUAL shift bus. And for a 2-hour segment of time (out of the 5 hour drive), a cacophony of car honking constituted more than 75% of my soundtrack. I was sincerely afraid for my life.
Once we got there
It was raining. Out of 365/year, over 200 of them are rainy. Of the other 150ish days, only about 50 are sunny.
Walked for 45 minutes carrying our bookbags (which was all we brought) to our hotel. Stayed in hotel the rest of the day. Next morning, got up around 8am, ate breakfast, and trekked with our baggage to the next hotel, about 1.5 hours away. (I was completely expecting to stay in crappy little cabin things ... but both were actually 4-star hotels!)
Ate lunch, changed, and embarked for our second day "fun hike." Except, one problem. It was raining, incredibly foggy, and super windy. We could barely see 10m ahead of us, let alone sanely and safely complete a 6 hour hike.
mad steep stairs without railing. in the rain.
there was this slippery giant rock pathway, so the parents made everyone hold hands. notice the wind-blown puffy ponchos.
We got about 40 minutes in, and had to turn around because the paths with drop-off sides in the complete fog were "too dangerous" to walk. Plus, the rain was getting heavier and the ponchos were really not gonna cut it for the next 5 hours ...
For the rest of the day, we stayed in the hotel, watching CCTV, playing poker, and searching desperately for other time killers. For 8 straight hours.
We arranged to leave the mountain the next day (day 3) as we were only planning to stay 4 days anyway, but the weather didn't seem like it was going to get any better ... bummer.
The Next Morning
This is what we saw outside our hotel at 7am.
oh my god, we got one of the 50 clear, sunny, beautiful, non-rainy, non-foggy, non-windy days with "cloud seas" on Huang Shan. After immediately extending our hotels rooms by another day, we booked it for the long hike.
... We walked nearly 8 hours. Down windy paths, climbing steep steps, into valleys, back up to the peaks. The steps in "Xi Hai Da Xia Gu" (West Sea Valley) were the steepest things ever seen, and before you knew it, you'd be 200m above where you were a few steps ago. Besides Xi Hai Da Xia Gu, also hiked past Pai Yun Ting and Au Yu Feng.
I cannot begin to describe the vastness of Huang Shan.
Xi Hai
the famous "cloud seas" of Huang Shan.
Steep steps, narrow tunnels, and flowing waterfalls
How huge this place was with human size reference:
Sunset near hotel at 7:12pm
Good morning, Huang Shan
Right after sunrise
Leaving Huang Shan
Walked about 2 hours down the mountain, then caught the cable car.
Getting carried down the mountain by "ti jia zhi" people
Trying my hand at carrying luggage. No money for me though.
See Exhibit B. Man carrying 200 lbs of towels down the mountain to be washed, for maybe 100 yuan (~$14)
Had lunch at the bottom of the mountain, then hired a driver to take us to the bus stop. He brought us to his version of a "bus stop" - the side of the highway. The police came, we ran, the guy drove us to a gas station where the bus stopped to illegally pick us up. There weren't enough seats so some people sat on little stools in the aisle. 4 hours back to Nanjing.
Our bus stop. Yes, that is barbed wire, cement, and a road sign "291 km to Nanjing," next to the highway.
Goodbye, Huang Shan. See you again in a few years.
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