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Published: September 13th 2009
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After settling into Hangzhou for two weeks, I decided I need to go visit the surrounding area and get out of dodge (my trip to shanghai the weekend prior does not count because I have been there before, haha my blog my rules). So my friend and I head to a mountain town called Moganshan. Moganshan was created as a cool getaway for Shanghai residents during the hot summers. From Hangzhou, it was only a 40 minute bus ride followed by a 30 minute taxi ride which made this destination extremely easy to get to.
We arrive at the top of the mountain and find two options for lodging: $13 a night for room with hot water only 1 hour a day or $40 for a nicer hotel with hot water all day. I don't mind cold water but my buddy and the staff at the main lodge said the nicer hotel was the way to go. Turns out it was a great decision because the showers there were the best I have experienced in ALL of Asia.
Moganshan is known for being a relaxing place with an abundance of hiking trails. My buddy and I decide to do
the main scenic route to see views of the valley below. We were there in the middle of the week and the mountain top was pretty much empty, which allowed us to have a "spirit guide" for our journey. The managers of the lodge (the lodge is the main center of the mountain where western food is served, and great coffee, and where travelers can get info about activities on the mountain) had two dogs, and apparently they love to follow foreigners on their hiking endeavors. One of the dogs, Momo, decided to accompany us on our first hike. We thought this was great because we knew the dog would know how to get home in case we got lost. So we started out on an easy hike to just go around the ridge of the mountain and get some nice views of the valley below. There was some fun stuff along the way like a swinging bridge and a glass overhang that allowed you to look straight down into the valley (quite scary). Unfortunately, our spirit guide was scared away by the swinging bridge, and Momo turned back to the lodge leaving my buddy and I without a guide
for the remainder of the hike. Luckily, we made it back to the lodge without any problem and lots of good photos, which I will post as soon as I get them from my friend... I forgot to bring my camera!!!
That night, the lodge suggested that we go to this little restaurant and get the chicken soup. We ordered the chicken soup, and when it arrived on our table, it was literally a chicken in soup. Everything including the head and feet were still on the chicken, which was a first for me. The broth however rivals any chicken broth that I have ever had... which is saying a lot from all Jewish mothers that have made me their chicken soup. It was so much food that the restaurant owners asked if we wanted them to hold the chicken for the next day and they would mix it with some noodles. So we let them wrap it up and bid our goodbye to the fowl meal until the next day.
The next morning after having eggs and great coffee for breakfast at the lodge, we set out on the valley hike. We decided to take the other
dog, Rufus, because of Memo’s cowardness of the previous day. The great thing about hiking down to a valley from a mountain top is that it the first part is all downhill (although obviously whatever you walk down, you eventually have to walk back up, but me being me, didn't worry about this on the pleasant trip down). So I enjoyed a nice walk down the mountain. Halfway down the mountain the forest changed from the regular boring trees to bamboo, which was really beautiful. The villagers below were harvesting the bamboo, and had marked the trees to be cut with Chinese characters. It was just amazing to see how the bamboo industry worked from the front lines (pics will be up soon!!).
Besides the smell of bamboo, there was another familiar smell in the forest. Spending the last four years in San Francisco, specifically the Tenderloin, I learned to pick up the distinct smell of marijuana. This bamboo forest had tons of wild marijuana growing right off the trail, only in China.
After the bamboo and marijuana forest, we came upon the village in the valley. They had a tea plantation as well as many rice paddies.
Photo 7
Our First Spirit Guide, who is scared of heights We walked along the base of the valley for about an hour and had to protect Rufus from some of the more vicious dogs. Eventually, we came upon what would be the way back up to the top of the mountain. An old Chinese lady tried to convince us that it was too difficult and she would hire a car for us to take. We did not heed her warning and up the mountain we went. Now I have hiked on several continents on many mountains in all types of conditions and have survived. However, this mountain almost ended me. Maybe I am not in the best shape but this hill was extremely steep and my heart rate was up to about 190 at one point. But we kept on moving forward and gradually made it up the mountain and survived to tell the tail.
We went back to the hotel for one of those great showers and then got part two of chicken meal, which was just as good as the night before. After one more cup of coffee (there are no coffee shops near me), we head back to Hangzhou. It was a great little trip, and
I will definitely be heading back there soon.
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