On Top Of The World

Well, I did it. There are many things I'm doing in China. Some are are things I'm doing because I'm in a particular town. Some are in towns I'm visiting because the thing is there. And a small number of things are why I did this trip the way I have. Okay, it isn't my main reason for coming to China, but it is certainly something that drove me to keep free time available. And I kind of went out on a limb to make this happen. The logistical issues nearly made me give up. You can't buy tickets for different towns and even checking schedules and availability can be fraught. I did get help, but even so there were a lot of dice thrown and they fell in my favour.

I took a train to Nanjing from Suzhou because I had worked out the connections were much better to Huang Shan from there. I had been led to believe there was a daytime bus to HS, but not from the bus station I went to, and they had no information about others, so I walked back to the railway station and caught the slow day sleeper train. Thankfully (although not surprisingly, given off-peak) I found a room at a good hotel there. Bought my ticket on to Shanghai for tomorrow and caught a bus/taxi combo to the foot of the mountain. There I eschewed (love that word) the cable car in favour of walking the 7km to a hotel (that I hadn't booked, but I was by now almost swaggering with confidence). Lesson number 476 from this trip: if the Lonely Planet guide describes something as "hard" then they are referring to young, fit, slim people rather than overweight desk jockeys. There was a clue I should have picked up on, in that the Great Wall walk I did was described as "can be traversed without too much difficulty". Even allowing for the fact that they meant summer rather than snowed and slippy, I should have known better. Nonetheless, I have made it to the top of Mount Huangshan. And (for the first time) it is supposed to be misty. When I get my own machine back online I'll put some piccies up, but they won't match the reality, especially after the exhausting climb. My, but this beer tastes good (even though know it isn't - it reminds me of one of the worse Finnish beers).

But I feel worthy and good and the sights are splendid. Going down simply must be easier (it is described as "harder" going up compared to today's run) and then I get a break in Tangkou before I catch the night train to Shanghai. I will then do very little for a bit, I think. Even though a day trip to Hangzhou is appealing.