5,6,7,8 July- Cayon of Taigan

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July 5th - Cayons of Taigan- Dia 15
We kept on traveling and managed to hitch a ride in a milk/yogurt truck. We barely managed to fit, two of us had to be sharing one seat. At one section of the road there was a police check ahead and the truck driver stopped a few hundred meters from it. Started talking Chinese with Bean. Anxiously Leo and I asked Bean to translate. Bean then told us that Leo and I had to get off the car and walk through the police check to prevent the truck driver from getting fined, since it illegal to seat two on one seat. We quickly got off the car and started walking, greeting the cops with a "NIHAO" and passing through. Getting farther away from the police check we look back and see that the truck has still not gone through. Finally the truck passes through and picks us up. Bean then tells us that the cops had actually seen Leo and I get off the car, resulting in a fine of around 100 yuan (25 canadian dollars) which we split evenly. First encounter with the police in China, they are not easily fooled.
A couple of more hitchhikes, nothing too exciting to write about.
The last 90km before arriving we hopped on a small SUV for a really cheap fare. We where getting really close and the air was cleaning up beautifully. No more pollution ?
20km left!...BAM. We hit a car. Fuck. It was an extremely minor accident, just a few scratches. But now we where standing in the middle of the road, close but to far away to walk. Luckily a big bus drives by and we manage to get on it.
I never would have guessed that Chinese people drove so badly and recklessly before coming to China.
I forget everything once we start driving through the Cayons of Taigan. Vertical limestone faces everywhere, most of them unclimbed, untouched. What a beauty. Maybe in the future I can come back with a climbing partner, unfortunately no climbing partners in this trip. The place looked really similar to the Cayons of my hometown, Monterrey, except much more greener.
The bus drops us off in the entrance of a national park, Taxus Chinesis Gorge. A place we wanted to explore and sleep in the following day. For now we just wanted to eat some more noodles for dinner ? and find a place to sleep next to the river, which flows through the cayon
Before that though, Bean really wanted to fly his drone and take a few aerial photos. With little GPS signal he proceeds with the flight. Mid-fight he starts realizing he is loosing control over his Drone. "Guys I am not controlling it anymore" Bean says as the Drone comes crushing down on an extremely vegetated and steep hill. Non of us wanted to take the risk of looking for it so Bean ended up paying a local to go fetch it for him. Success! ?

July 6th -Taxus Chinesis Gorge- Dia 16
I wake a bit earlier then everyone else. Last night we had successfully managed to find a place to camp next to the river. Not too private, since we where situated next to a road. But the road was barely used and only a couple of cars passed through it at night.
Exited to finally be close to a clean water source I strip my clothes off and wash myself in a nice crystalline pool. Delicious and refreshing.
We spent the morning buying the food we needed for the rest of the day in the national park. We bought more alcohol for our little stove and most importantly a couple of hard boiled eggs, ramen noodles and fresh buns to eat at night. All equipped and ready we walked in. There where a lot of stairs and with the big packs on it was hard. After a couple of hours of walking between lush green mountains and vertical rock walls we started talking about finding a place to camp. The places we had visited where to touristy to set up the tent. We needed to leave the mapped trails and explore something for ourselves. We left the main trail and following a faint trail headed farther up the mountain side. They had told us that this mountain had many snakes so we carried a stick to scratch the weeds and bushes in front of us (to scare any possible snake lurking between them). It was humid and after 20 minutes of walking we were drenched with sweat, had a couple of scratches and had lost the visible faint trail. After trying other possible faint trails we gave up and decided to head back, agreeing that it was going to be impossible to find a campingspot up high. We had to go down low, to the valley, to find a descent spot next to the river.
After descending, we cross through a huge man-made reservoir of water. It had the shape of a lake but the feeling of a cenote, since it became deep from one moment to another and you could never tell how deep it actually was.
I had to go in, to sweaty to reject such an opportunity to be fresh again. I jump in. Feeling nervous since there was a sign that sayed "No playing in the water" and since Bean and Leo did not want to jump in with me. I keep on swimming, gathering more courage. Then I forget the sign that sayed "No playing in the water", forget what might be beneath my feet. I enjoy myself. The cold water, the loneliness and the whole reservoir for myself ? After, I do manage to convince Leo and Bean to jump in with me at least for a minute or two.
Fresh, we pack up and start walking upstream, through a dirt road. The dirt road disappears and we find ourselves walking through the rock bed of a river. Getting away from tourists and the sounds of construction workers paving a new road. We are invited with new sounds and new kinds of birds. A memorable transition.
Once we find a sufficiently flat surface to camp on we drop our bags and agree on heading farther upstream, into the wild, without our packs. To explore a bit more and make use of the daylight. We see some gorgeous birds with incredibly long tails. I scare a huge snake which slithers into the grass. Once tired we lay on some smooth rocks to listen and see our surroundings. So many butterflies, landing on us..thinking we are flowers.
Back where we dropped our bags we set up the tent and manage to successfully light up a fire. We boil water with the use of the hot embers. And prepare a modified Ramen where we add an egg to the soup ? and with the buns warmed over the fire we are more then satisfied.
Leonardo and Bean go inside the tent while I stay a bit longer outside. Burning the rest of the wood we had picked up and drinking the mint tea we prepared with the mint leaves we found nearby. Relaxed I suddenly listen to something moving between the bushes. The thought of wolves rushes into my mind, since the locals had told us of packs of wolves living in the cayon. Panicked I listen more closely and again hear the bushes move. Something was close by. I quickly stand and run to the tent, to find myself in an imaginary shelter close to my friends. All of us inside the tent we listen more closely. Nothing. Leonardo takes his phone out and we start looking for facts about wolves. I never imagined to learn so much about wolves that night jajaja. From how to fight them, to your chance of surviving. And most interestingly about the recent reintroduction of wolves and cougars to the park we where currently on ?. Throughout all of this we did manage to hear some noises, some tumbling rocks as something moved through the night.

July 7th- Taigan Cayon - Dia 17
We walked the rest of the park we where currently in.
We walked up uncountable stairs and since we did not have any breakfast decided to buy an iced pop to fill up our empty stomachs. We also stopped by a pool of water which was being fed by a natural spring which we of course showered in. Having everyone stare at you while you do it makes it a bit weird. Getting used to it though. We also filtered some water and prepared to head out to finish the rest of the park.
The last section was a ladder system descending a narrow cayon with water pools everywhere. It really reminded me of the cayons I have visited in Mexico. Except the Chinese made it much more touristy and all the pools are fenced out so there is no jumping into them. Beautiful walking through regardless.
I'm impressed by Taxus Chinesis Gorge Park. At the beginning it seemed it was going to be filled with tourists since the visiting season is just starting. But everything was empty and we managed to find momens to secluded ourselves from the tourists ?
Once out of the park we imedietly look for a place to eat. It was 3pm already and the only thing we had eaten that day was the iced pop. We where exhausted and about to devour anything. We went for our usual meal knowing it would fill us up. The good old noodle soup with many buns. After the meal we felt extremely tired and lazy. We spent a lot of time doing nothing, trying to lift our energy and digest.
We left the restaurant and hitchhiked to the next park which was only 10km away. Arriving at the next park at 6pm we decide to camp outside, to prevent paying the entrance fee. After a while of walking and getting kicked out of someones land we find a good flat place to camp. Settling there for the rest of the night and not putting the rain tarp on the tent, since we thought it was not going to rain on us. Oh were we wrong about that.

July 8th - To the Yellow River! - Dia 18
Woken up at 1am by the feeling of rain hitting my face. Leonardo wakes up exactly at the same time. We quickly realize that it's raining outside and that we had never put the rain tarp on the tent! Half asleep we set up the rain tarp, wet ourselves and jump back into the tent. Took a while to sleep after that.
It rained all night, the first good rainfall since we started the trip. Hopefully it does not mean the Monsoon season has arrived. Camping in the rain is not the funnest. Everything gets wet and damped, and after a couple of days everything smells and you can't really find a descent dry piece of clothing. Good thing that the rain stopped in the morning.
Today we traveled a lot, we hitchhiked all day with the goal set for the Hukou waterfalls in the yellow river.
After significant progress we arrive at a small city called Anze. Here we realize we won't make it all the way to the Hukou waterfalls today. Deciding to have dinner and camp around the city instead . Feeling tired of the usual noodles we order 4 different dishes and share them all. What a good idea and realization that noodles are not the only option ?
The clouds above start darkening, and we realize it will start raining again. Quickly we pay for dinner and head up a small mountain with many flights of stairs leading to a temple and a big lighted up statue. Looking desperately for somewhere to camp rain drops start dropping from the sky. We seek shelter under a pine tree as the rain intensifies.
We wait for the rain to stop. Now completely drenched and realizing the rain would continue on for a while we walk towards a temple we saw on our way up. Luckily the building had a long roof which we took permanent shelter under, hoping the security would not kick us out. What a night!

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