Huangshan

My banter in Hangzhou can’t have been that bad as Dawn decided to accompany me to Huangshan. It was late by the time we got to the town of Tunxi about 100km from the mountain. It’s not the nicest of towns, it’s full of tacky hotels on the outskirts and the old town hasn’t preserved much of its oldness. The hostel we stayed in had no character, couches were put in the corridors and there was not a sociable common area. The next day we had a bus trip to a town called Tang Kou where we put all the things we wouldn’t need into one bag and left it at a restaurant for 5 kuai before taking another bus to the foot of Huangshan. We charged up the mountain at some pace. It was 6.5km up steep steps and we done it in no time. My shirt was soaking. It was really foggy and getting dark by the time we approached the designated camping space. We didn’t want to pay to camp as we had already paid 230 kuai just to get in the park so we turned back and camped under a pagoda. It was a wise move. There was a thunderstorm half of the night and the designated camping spot would have been a swimming pool. I felt a bit sorry for Dawn as I had a mummy sleeping bag and she just wrapped up in all the clothes she decided to take with her. She said she was ok. I think she still slept better than me. The concrete floor was pretty cold.

We got woken up by two guys who shone their torches in our tent. We assumed they were wardens and they’d make us move during a thunderstorm. I made up a lie about not making it up in time. It turns out they were tourists who were trying to make it to the top for a friend’s birthday party. That’s dedication. We gave them some almond biscuits and they disappeared up the steps. I hope for their sake the batteries didn’t run out of their torches. It was a horrendous thunderstorm. There were also water carriers passing us through the night with supplies for the various hotels and food stands dotted around the summit. I vowed I wouldn’t bargain for goods having seen what the guys went through to get the produce up the mountain. That must be one of the toughest jobs I’ve witnessed.

It was really foggy when we awoke and got to the top. I was tempted to bargain after the initial disbelief that the drinking water was about 8 times higher than super market prices. Apart from Dawn getting savagely attacked by a monkey the morning was pretty uneventful. There were a few interesting sites as we plodded along through the clouds.

 I love the contrast in facial expressions

The monkey that mauled Dawns leg.

Chinese couples like to put padlocks with their names engraved on the tops of mountains.

When the weather finally improved it was absolutely jaw dropping. Huangshan is unbelievable. No amount of photos no matter how high the resolution of the camera would do this place justice. The light changes within seconds transforming the views as the clouds sweep up and down the crevices at a phenomenal pace. It’s like a dream world. I’m not surprised that James Cameron got the inspiration for the floating mountains in Avatar from this place. The cliff faces seem to appear from nowhere. It is stunning. The paths away from where the bulk of tourists go are often sticking out of the cliff edges. It’s just lumps of concrete bolted onto the side of cliffs. It’s probably extremely unsafe but the views make it worthwhile.

Been there, done that, got the skidmarks on the pants to prove it.

Where's Wally?

Unfortunately the place isn’t mapped out well and we couldn’t find a sheltered place to sleep at night. Luckily it wasn’t pouring with rain but the tent still got wet. I ended up vomiting in the night. I got a bit homesick for the first time. I fantasised about a Sunday roast with my family, having banter then going to sleep in a dry bed with a comfy mattress with no mosquitos in sight. I thought a lot about my last month in Scotland. Some freshly baked bread, salami, salad and a variety of cheeses would have gone down a treat. Having Dawn to keep me company really helped. If I’d been on my own I reckon I’d have struggled to snap out of it.

Come 6am and I felt fine. The sky was clear at sunrise and the views were spectacular. The mist soon rose up the mountain and by 7am visibility was back to a few metres. We decided to get down for some egg fried rice at decent prices passing loads of people carrying heavy loads up the mountain as we descended. Going up and down stairs all day really gives your thighs and calves a good workout. In the 40 odd hours we were up the mountain we probably had 6 hours of good visibility but those 6 hours made it all worthwhile. 

We got lost near Tangkou and couldn’t find the restaurant that kept our bags. We didn’t have breakfast until lunchtime. Dawn went back to Hangzhou and I got a bus to Tunxi with the hope of getting a bus to Wuyuan from there. The bus took a different route around the villages of Hongcun and Xidi. I was tempted to ask the driver to stop and I’d walk around them for a week or so. I’ve got the Chinese song I like written down. I got a different version written down for me by shopkeepers in Tunxi but the bus played the version I really like. I went around the whole bus saying ‘what is this’ and pointing to my ear and the speaker before someone wrote it down for me. Unfortunately both of the daily busses to Wuyuan had gone and I had to stay in Tunxi again. I got a different hostel which is much better. Having a homely hostel makes the town seem much nicer. I dried out all my wet things and felt really good about life in general. I listened to Breaking The Chain by Fleetwood Mac and some Mumford and Sons. Unfortunately I was violently sick in Tunxi and had to stay two nights there before heading south. I don’t know what caused it, never mind.