A Walk in the Park

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On our recent trip to Jiuzhai Valley, I was surprised when Yashoda announced that we would be able to get up really early in the morning and spend the whole day in the national park. I wondered how on earth this would be possible, but I agreed to be one of the early birds who would give it a go.



With tickets in hand, we waved goodbye to Yashoda at 7:30 am and headed for a bus, which would take us to the top-most point of the park from where we would be able to walk, or use the shuttle bus service to move from one lake to the next.



The whole park is dotted with the most incredible lakes of all sizes, glittering with crystal clear water of the most amazing colours. Walking between the trees, listening to the sounds of many types of birds and the gurgling of the rushing water as it moves from lake to lake, sometimes cascading over breath-taking and beautiful waterfalls, made me forget about how far I was walking. It was only the pangs of hunger that made me realize I had already spent half the day walking. And we had only seen a little less than half of the park.



After lunch the challenge was to see as much of the park as possible before we had to head back to the entrance to meet the rest of the group at 4:30 pm. And this meant more walking, but what an amazing walk in the park it was.





Arlene

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