Fellow Virtual Travelers,
A belated happy May 1st from China! We are late-afternoon on Friday here and this area has experienced a huge influx of Chinese tourists due to the May 1st, Labor Day three-day national holiday.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists are now wandering the byways of Wudang Mountain! We made a valiant effort yesterday to reach the Golden Summit, catching a ride at 7 am with a truck and driver down the mountain and then up another road to the cable car that brings you closer to the base of the Jin Ding Temple area, which is the Golden Summit.
Once we got off the cable car, we blended in with hundreds of tourists and quickly realized that even if we hiked up to the summit (about an hour's hike up the mountain from the end of the cable car), we would not be able to get usable photographs because of all of the people. So once again, we realize that with the changes in China over the last decade, we will never again be able to get the kind of photographs that we took on our 2002 Sacred Mountain Expedition!
So we abandoned our plan to visit the Golden Summit and climbed another peak instead! Here are some details about Jin Ding:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/home/2011-07/11/content_12878171.htm
After photographing the surrounding peaks and valleys, we walked back down the mountain to our hotel. We say walked, but let us clarify! From the top of the mountain at Tianzhu Peak (also the Golden Summit), it was about four hours of stairs, both up and down. This included 1,500 feet in elevation change! The sign said 4.5 km, but it felt a lot farther! Anita is once again famous in China and had to pose with numerous people along the way! Once as we headed down a long stairway, Anita saw a small boy, maybe 5 years old, trooping and stomping his way up the stairs. About 20 feet away from us, he looked up, saw Anita, his eyes opened wide in surprise and he fell backwards into his mother who was behind him! What a story he'll have to tell to his friends!
We've been trying to wear clothes more than one day in a row to save on the amount of laundry, but today's clean clothes were, well, sopping wet. We turned in two small bags of laundry to Mrs. Yang, the owner of our hotel and favorite restaurant, who charges 5 yuan for each shirt or pants. There are no washing machines up here - all laundry is done by hand and then hung out to dry. Then we washed out socks etc. and hung them in our room on parachute cord that we strung from the window curtain rod to the clothes cabinet door on the other side of the room.
Today, May 2nd, it was supposed to rain, but is just overcast so far. The air is quite hazy so isn't a good day for much photography. There are still thousands of tourists around here for the holiday. We're trying to let our legs catch up from the workout yesterday, so are hanging around the parking lot area and hotel. Did some shopping, though each shop along the way pretty much carries the same items.
Today is the day to buy our train tickets back to Shanghai, as you can't buy them until 7 days before your intended travel. Victor is in town at the base of the mountain and arranging for that train trip, heading us toward home. We're also doing an accounting of expenses and funds to be sure that we'll have enough Chinese currency to make it out of the country.
Took an outdoor break and walked about five minutes down the mountain road to get some photos over looking the Purple Cloud Temple. Gorgeous!
Blessings,
Dennis&Anita