Day 10 - The road to Huashan

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Not much to report. After a debate on whether or not skip Huashan and head straight to Xian, we put it to vote and decided to stick to the original schedule as Huashan has some of the best views in the whole of China. First things first, we headed straight for the nearest mechanic to fix the puncture on my back right wheel. Turns out a one inch nail had found it's way into my Yokohama. Deciding to save the spare wheel for the road ahead, the mechanic patched up the small puncture with parrafin and a tyre bandage. Then off again through the mountain twisties to Huashan.

It was drizzling with rain when we arrived at 3:00pm, so we decided to put off the daunting climb up the mountain until the next day. Sin, Stel T., and Ying Chu have decided to do the climb before sunrise, so after a quick meal at the nearby food markets, a stop by the local pastry shop, and our daily routine of getting ripped off by locals (this time Stel showed amazing bartering skills by buying three pairs of rock climbing gloves for 10 kuai from an elderly lady only to find the same gloves in a supermarket for sale at 1.5 kuai each) we all headed back to our hotel for an early night. Lili, Lao Liu and myself are skipping the climb, and will take the bus and cable car up to meet the brave young souls near the top. It is said that this is one of the toughest climbs in China and involves hanging off a tiny cliff face ledge. Not only am I petrified of heights, my calves are still burning from the Taishan trek, so I am gracefully (or intelligently) wimping out of this one.

The three brave souls have set their alarm for 3:00am ! Mine is set for 6:30am.

Please note that the photos thus far on this blog are from my trusty Leica DX 5, but I am sure that both Sin and Stel T have even better photos waiting to be posted. We will be posting them at the end of the trip.

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