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Published: September 22nd 2008
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Our last day in Chengdu involved nothing more than recovering from our massages and treating ourselves to the Sichuanese delicacy: "HotPot".
(For those who are uneducated in the ways of HotPot, please see the text at the end of the blog)
Now anyone who has even met Dave, will know of his love for this dish. Penny's first HotPot however nearly ended in disaster. A piece of beef slipped from the hold of her chopsticks and splashed scolding hot chilli oil into her eye. As if that wasn't bad enough, the insuing panic caused her to suck a sprig of Sichuan Peppercorns (similar to the regular type but with spicy and narcotic undertones) down the wrong hole. Her entire throat tingled and numbed, tears streaked her flushed cheeks, her body began to tremor and she was sure she was choking to death. Thanks to Dave's logic and calming powers, Pen recovered... eventually.
Soon the chilli in the eyeball was long forgotten, and the addictive pull of Sichuan Pepper had her back in HotPot action before her hands had even stopped shaking. (Interestingly, the waiters didn't even bat an eyelid over the whole ordeal. It must be a regular occurance!)
What should have been a 2-hour busride to Emei Shan (Mt. Emei) took over four, due to some idiot's brainwave to dig a massive hole on a major bus and truck route.
A day trip to Le Shan took us to marvel at "Da Fo" or Grand Buddha. At 71m tall, he does have a lot of presence, but after half an hour or so of happy snapping and fighting the Chinese tourists, we were bored and moved on.
Emei Shan is a commanding 3100m in height and is a 3-day hike. So Dave decided it could be done in two. We started our ascent not long after the roosters outside our hotel window signalled the start of the day. We were setting a good pace and this was supported by the "Suggested hiking times". After this however, the stairs may or may not have become steeper but our rate was more akin to 'Snails Pace' than anything else.
As the sun was heading west, the stairs kept on coming. Penny, with her creaky knees and still feeling some residual effects from her ordeal in Beijing, found the going extremely tough, despite being fuelled this time by the
nutritious benefits of canned eel and dried yak meat. She attributed this to her lungs being poisoned by all the Chinese Pollution (like smoking 10 packs a day).
All in all, we hiked 10 hours and 27km of continuous stair-master action.
Think about it peoples.......That's longer than you sitting at your desk at work on a regular day.
10hours, 27km!!!!!!!
Upon reaching the summit, we found ourselves in aeroplane territory, looking out over a sea of clouds. Yet another mountain-top sunrise experience.
Pen opted for the busride back down the mountain. Dave trudged on complete 60km in 2 days. At the halfway mark of Dave's descent, he decided that his walking stick could serve more purpose as a weapon fending off hungry packs of Macaques than as a walking aid. Dave and his belongings escaped intact, a lot luckier than a few fellow hikers he met along the way who had their water bottles stolen and bags ripped by the little buggers.
Tomorrow we head to Chongqing for 3 glorious days at the 'Home of Hotpot'
Hot Pot -
Born in Chongqing Province from poor fisherman wanting to give their stale meals a bit
of kick, HotPot is now widely regarded as Sichuan and Chongqing's favourite dish. No wonder with cases emerging in the 1990's where the HotPot broth was infused with Opium.
It is eaten year-round with the chilli helping to eleviate the regions humidity.
It involves a table with a hole cut into the middle, a gas burner underneath and a large bowl (placed in the hole in the table and over the burner) filled with a broth made of chilli, Sichuan peppers, more chilli, chilli oil, a splash of water and of course, more chilli.
After dunking a variety of meats and vegetables into the now boiling broth to cook away, the food is removed with a ladle and dipped into a small personal bowl containing Sesame Oil, Rice Vinegar and crushed Garlic before being eaten. The infused chilli is so intense it rivals any cartoon character with steam blowing out of his/her earholes.
HotPot is one of those meals you either love of hate, especially with the chilli sensation not ending at the dinner table.
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Sarah & Daisy UK
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Thanks for the tip off!
Well, Penny and Dave, if I ever get round to taking a 'Round the World' trip, I guess I will save quite a bit of money by missing out China, which I think I would definitely do having tagged along on your trip - I feel violated and I haven't even left my armchair ... so thanks! Enjoy India xxx