The worst thing about trying to see the sunrise is having to get up to watch the damn thing! We went to bed early and I was asleep around 11 but the guys I met the night before persuaded us that instead of going to the nearby sunrise viewing spot war should walk to the higher 'Brightness peak', for a better view, this was however 2km or so around the mountain back the way we had walked yesterday!
The sunrise was at 5.30-6 so we got up at 4am and met up outside at 4.30 and set off. The guys had walked the way yesterday so we initially trusted them, five minutes later it turned out they had no idea how to get there and so it was down to us, luckily I remembered the way and led us back, the guys helping with the girls bags so early in the morning, we stopped for breakfast half way back in a dense fog in the pitch black, the cloud cover was low, a bad sign. We arrived at the peak around 5.30 so had an hour or so to wait before the sunrise and as we sat near the peak in the cold and waited more and more people came. This was not high season but by 6 there were an easy 100people in this tiny area alone, let alone the many other such more accessible spots! The guys the night before had joked about seeing only people's head if we arrived late, now I knew they weren't joking!
W sat around together and chatted, sharing snacks and breakfast and making jokes about how sad we would be as we gradually accepted that it just wasn't going to happen, I also took the chance to take some amusing pictures of all the Chinese people swaddled in many layers and sleeping bags looking confused at me in my tshirt and hoody!
The appointed time came and went and the dense swirling cloud cover increased in hue but never cleared to let us see the sunrise, again! It seems sunrises and sunsets are the hardest thing to see in china! The guys we met had to leave then to catch their tour, we stayed another 20 minutes as people left to let the mountain clear and in the hopes that the sun would burn the mist off, no such luck, and left a bit later without seeing it, next time!
Walking on we walked in e direction we had come from with the intention of climbing the highest peak of the mountain which we had skirted around the day before on account of the girls being pretty damn tired! Today war got to the path split and ate a second late breakfast and looked at the beautiful clouds rushing down the mountain next to us and in the occasional gaps we got a sing of the cloud sheathed peaks surrounding us, but the sea looks best when it sinks and leaves you standing above it, not from inside like we were! We thought hard about whether or not there was in any point hitting the highest point in such thick cloud but decided in the end that if we didn't we hadn't really 'climbed' huangshan, just looked at it!
We set off up and got some great pictures of the cloud covered trail with very few people so early in the morning, as we climbed higher th mist didn't abate and we summited to a small disk of rock with way too many people on all trying to take pictures with the top stone in typical Chinese style, we three all dived in for a quick picture and then got the hell back down! We climbed in the opposite direction than most, with a nicer incline and a very steep descent, mostly stairs still but at a 90 degree angle and with some very long drops! I was ok if cautious but poor Yuki was very scared, but to her due held up very well! Mina however was loving it! Crazy girl! The way down was however so busy, with us stuck in a queue to get down behind fifty others climbing down, and with hands going past us on the way up! Down tiny and narrow steps it was very dangerous, I'm surprised there are not more accidents! When we got back onto the main path we met even more tour groups with megaphones heading hundreds of Chinese tourists this way and that, we stopped to let one past and watched six different groups all clumped together trudge past with different guides shouting the same silly stories through their megaphones as loud as they can, ruining the peaceful feel a bit, thank god they hadn't all gone for the highest peak!
We made it down to the cable car station around 10 and decided to head down as we had already been climbing for a good few hours, and hadn't slept much the night before, the girls especially were also pretty tired for the first mountain climb!
We went to be cable car and were the only people going down, we walked past signs for 2 hours from here, one hour, right up to the car, with a constant stream of Chinese going the other way, and straight onto the car down. We were however a little sad, the day before was clear and beautiful, today misty and beautiful, but no sunrise and no cloud sea...
We sat in the cable car in the mist seeing little except cars going the other way appearing suddenly out of the mist until suddenly we dropped below the cloud and out into a cloud free section! There below us writhing like waves on the sea was a dense layer of cloud whipping in the wind as it ebbed and flowed against the sides of the mountain, the cloud sea! Just as we were leaving the mountain decided to show us its most famous sight! We took pictures as best we could through the glass as there were no opening windows but I didn't mind, we got to see it, and for a chance to photograph it I will have to go back!!
As we neared the bottom we passed out of the cloud break and back into the cloudy morning below but very happy to have seen it looking so beautiful.
When we got off the cable car we still had to walk 200meters or so to the bus station and the way back, the whole way we walked past a sea of people, at least 5 to 8 people wide and over two hundreds meters of continual people, men woman and children all waiting for the cable car up to the top, I took pictures as I walked and its just a sea of people and faces, amazing. When we reached the end of the line I asked how long they had to wait, they said around three hours from end to end! Around the same as walking!! And there are three different cable cars around the mountain all equally busy!! Thousands upon thousands climbing the mountain every day! And this wasn't even high season!!
We walked past the sea of faces and out to the bus and got a ticket back to the village we stayed in the night before, arriving there we just stepped off when a minibus to tunxi, the nearest city and the place with the bus to ningbo arrived, we jumped on and headed back, getting dropped off at the bus station an hour later, I had a nap on the bus and so arrived feeling refreshed but desperately in need of a shower!
We saw a nice looking 'fashion hotel' nearby and went to ask, they were very friendly and discounted their premier rooms to 160rmb a night, and £16 a night seemed ok for a nice room and the rooms were nice, very nice, with a lovely looking walk in shower with a huge shower head and that really sold it for us! We got two rooms and wasted no time in splitting up for a much needed shower, I felt sorry for the poor girl in the lift with us three! After a shower we regrouped feeling much more human and went down to reception. Asking about bus tickets they offered to help us sort it and asking about somewhere to eat, the second important task they said to get a taxi to the old street for 70p, which sounded like a good plan!
We got to the old street and wandered around for a while before stopping for some food at a cheapest place, the food was tasty and a much needed proper meal with rice and all after more than a day of snacks and junk food, I missed real food but on the mountain it was just too expensive!
Afterwards the third order of business was a coffee shop, a latte followed by mina and i going for a Bombay Safire and tonic as a reward for a hard few days work! We walked through the old street but it was pretty much the same as all the old streets in china except for a predominance of paint brushes and calligraphy equipment, a local speciality! The only thing we picked up was a set of UNO cards! Something I hadn't seen much in china, for a reasonable 15rmb.
After walking around the town we went back to the hotel and looked around for something for dinner, unfortunately we didn't find anything that looked great and Yuki really fancied KFC, so we grabbed a taxi downtown and back just to go and pickup some KFC and some beers and had KFC, some local stuffed pancake type things and drank beer whilst playing UNO until bed time! A very long day when I eventually slept at 11 but really good fun, and ready for the trip back tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment