Hua who? Shan of course!

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Hua shan was an overnight trip away from Xian, 2 hrs by public train or 3 hrs returning via congested motorway network (more later!)
We left our large packs at the not so ritzy train station hotel (this was for a quick getaway on our return to the lovely moated and walled city of Xian) at 7.30am Saturday morning and headed across the road to the train station, tickets purchased by Jordan and costing only 20 yuan one way. After a long wait, we pushed our way through the gates, and eventually boarded the train. It was 'every man for themselves' and I am having to learn to get pushy and not hold back, as the locals do do! The trainh trip was less than 2 hrs and we made it to Hua shan town at the base of this holy Taoist mountain with the help of some shady taxi drivers - one was green with 'taxi' on top, the other was some dodgy toyota starlet circa 1982 with tinted windows and spoiler. It would be a complete picture should we have had some bling to wear, p diddy on the stereo, and a pregnant 14 yr old in the back seat. But we had to be content with 3 crammed in the back and tall Joseph hitting the roof in the suicide (i.e. front) seat.

damn this shift key, what is it with chinese shift keys that keep sticking??

So the hike was something else. We all contemplated what lay before us but nothingt compares to 7 km of uphill struggles, on occasions vertical slopes that we had to climb up via a series of 'ladders'. It rained from about midday, 1 hr in to the trek, with misty skies and fog hindering any chance we had of photography. There was a danger however more sinister than the weather lurking in these parts though..........the Chinese tourist species that travels in groups with brightly coloured ponchos and unprepared walking gear of jeans and high heels. They did not do the hard graft like we 8 crazy Intrepid folk.....they got to North peak by the aid of a gondola (100 yuan up, 60 yuan down) and hence the track beyond that was mad. i was thankful for the respite though, step after step after step getting narrower and dangerous by the step gets tedious....yes i know this is a summit trek, but i did wonder if i was actually on holiday after all! BY the time we arrived to the hotel hua hua shan on the summit it was nigh time for food and warmth, except it was very basic facilities up here. One shitter (aka toilet block), no rinsing facilities, just lather and spit (teeth) and as for warmth or cleanliness, no one bothers. The chill of wet walking got to me and I had a brief wash in 20 mL of water (bowl of) in the lovely shitter surrounds of a concrete rectulangar hole and small vestibule away from outdoor eyes. Fun. Followed by copious carbs and not much else, was a nice end to the day. The others gradually got pissed on te few remaining beers and 45% alcoholic rice wine, while I was my usual consistent self.

Some card playing later and it was bed time for an early rise today at 6.30am. I slept strainght through which was okay given the number of snorers in our group. the sunrise was not visible, but we had a neat time taking time lapse photos and keeping warm in huddles with the -3 celcius with wind chill thrown in temperatures. I got hassled for a photo from these two guys who had obviously never seen a foreigner like me before, coming from far west province near Tibet. WE headed down to cable car and took the funicular to base, where we endured a tourist bus ride, taxi ride (civilised this time), long bus ride passing a roadside funeral complete with fireworks, and a tuk tuk type motorised vehicle that is surely dangerous got us to the hotel again - they test it on us tourists I am certain......!

The novelty of being stared at is something I will never get used to, whether I am in the park watching kiddies with bottomless pants do their business on the footpath, walking down main street towards the bell tower with 10000+ others, watching man get their hair cut by the bridge entering the city, buying staemed buns in south gate or muslim quarter, seeking bargains at local shops having sales or fruit stalls.....you get the idea.

Well is time I headed to the train station for some food and the train northwards to Beijing. Am looking forwards to keyboards where the shift keys actually work, Olympic park visit (if I can wrangle it...), cheap knock offs of games t shirts and stuff, and the obligatory palace, T square and hutongs of old beijing.....watch this space.
Pauline

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Photos

hua shan
unawares of the 7km staircase before us, we had huge smiles on our faces...

Xian city wall
intent on securing a photo of running towards a camera, this fit Xian'ite was very conscious of air quality...

Terracotta Warrior
approx age 2500 yrs

hua shan taxi
taking a dodgy toyota starlet circa 1900 taxi to Hua Shan. Note the pregnent teenager in the back seet (bling and P diddy out of view)

Xian transport
this motorised tin can got us from the bus to train station