As I write this blog, I’m running on about 3 hours of sleep – possibly 15 hours of sleep over the past 5 nights. Our 2-week fall break was undeniably the best vacation I have ever been on. The first week was program directed, where we visited several rural and ethnic minority villages in Yunnan province. We helped actual rice farmers till the land, explored Buddhist temples, and even ate Yak meat in Tibet! The activities for the second week were up to us to decide on; even though I could probably write pages about the eye-opening and unfamiliar places we visited, I’m limiting this blog post to our visits to a Buddhist Monastery, the Tiger Leaping Gorge, and the Great Wall.
Our transportation to a Buddhist Monastery up in the mountains of northern Yunnan had me praying for a safe trip. Remember how I said that Chinese drivers are nuts? They are actually crazy. The winding roads and the too-close-for-comfort edges on the mountainsides kept my eyes closed and my headphones in. I was getting more and more carsick by the minute. It’s funny that while our driver often drove on the wrong side of the road, didn’t check his rearview mirror, and ignored traffic signs, he almost got a ticket for not wearing his seatbelt. That’s some irony right there!
When we arrived at the gate of the monastery, the most daunting set of stairs greeted our eager faces (but queasy stomachs). I had to heave my entire luggage up a continuous flight steps. There were probably four different sections. We would climb maybe 500 steps, turn, and then gape in astonishment at the next set of 400 steps. The thin air at the intimidating height above sea level didn’t exactly help either! I thought I was going to die! I actually thought I was going to just stop breathing and tumble down the stairs! At least I was in a Buddhist Monastery – maybe the monks were praying for our safe journey.
This monastery was high up in the peaceful mountains of northern Yunnan. It was a place of worship and complete devotion to Buddhist practice. Although I wouldn’t describe this temple as lavish (in terms of its simple beauty), I still consider our visit a luxurious experience in regards to the sights we saw. The mountains and thick clouds embraced us in such a serene atmosphere; although we were very much secluded from any other civilization outside of the monastery, the mountains and waterfalls kept us company. The cliffs were in fact adorned with Buddha figures, memorials, and religious symbols.
We climbed a steep mountainous area that stretched far into the wispy clouds, where we discovered a nunnery, areas of worship, as well as a little old lady who’s sole purpose is to fight off monkeys from entering her residence. And let me tell you a little something about these monkeys. They were absolutely vicious. Of course they were the cutest things from afar, but when they got close enough to us, they followed us, no let me rephrase that, they hunted us… everywhere! It was so scary! At one point, there were at least 10 monkeys surrounding the entrance of the Monastery, preventing us from leaving. My director scared them away by hitting sticks (an amusing sight). However, one little brave soul scurried up to my friend Mara, looked in her bookbag, and stole her book. We were all screaming out of fear and excitement. It wasn’t until we reached the base of the mountain (1000 steps later) and were waiting in the van for our director, when an evil baby monkey climbed INTO our van, and stole all of our breakfast food – muffins, bread, and pastries. It was like Planet of the Apes came to life Chinese style.
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Out of every extraordinary memory and experience I have had in my entire life (okay yeah it’s a mere 20 years), I can honestly say that the Tiger Leaping Gorge takes the cake. This two-day 11-hour trail, my first hiking experience, took my breath away (no but actually it took my breath away). We were climbing so high up in the mountains that my sports-induced asthma screwed me over big time! Besides that though… the scenery was mesmerizing. This gorge is the largest and deepest in the world, far exceeding the Grand Canyon’s grandeur. Literally amongst the smoky clouds, we witnessed clouds forming out of thin air. Though the hike was probably one of the sweatier experiences of my life, it was the most rewarding nonetheless. Hiking the trail on the way to our first hostel, we were offered various treats such as bananas, snickers, and your casual marijuana. I was rather amused at how completely nonchalant selling a bag of weed was in China. Snickers became an overarching theme on the trip… we ate them for breakfast, for snacks, for a 4th meal—at least 5 a day. It became such a problem. I can thankfully say, though, that there were no women wearing heels on this hike (though sadly I can’t say the same for the Great Wall).
The most challenging part of the course was named the “28 bends.” Essentially, it was an extremely steep and rocky zig-zag pathway up the most difficult part of the mountain. I almost preferred the death steps of the Buddhist Monastery, but then again nothing could have beat the awe-inspiring scenery around me.
On the second day of our hike, we hiked down to the “Tiger Leaping Rock.” Legend has it that in order to escape a hunter, a Chinese tiger leaped across the river at the narrowest point, thus creating a deep and dangerous gorge. Though we hiked down to reach this rock, we decided to take a rather risky pathway up: climbing a ladder up the side of a cliff. I was too terrified to get out my camera, unfortunately. It was about a 10 to 15 minute climb up the ladder, with nothing but air under me. Boy were my legs shaking like jello.
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So I know I’m making it seem as if I had near-death experiences on my trip. But who wouldn’t want to have adventurous and electrifying stories to tell their grandkids? Probably the most frightening (but also the most hysterical, only after it happened of course) was our complete and utter stupidity after dinner one night walking back to our hostel. We were about a 20-minute walk from our hostel and it was 9pm. It was downright pitch black all around us. We were on top of some mountain in a foreign country. Howls of stray dogs greeted our journey, and the lack of railings solidified our fear. And the cherry on top? We forgot to bring our flashlights, and only 2 of the 6 of us brought cell phones. Dangerous? Yes. Dumb? Oh god, absolutely. We had to distract ourselves from the eerie stillness and dark atmosphere by singing songs and clinging to each other like it was our last hug! What seemed like days later, we finally arrived back at our cozy hostel, panting after sprinting the last 100 yards. I can look back and say that it was oddly amusing, but can also admit that it was the most reckless and absurd thing I had ever done.
After our solo trip to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, I traveled with 4 other friends to Beijing, China’s vibrant and metropolitan capital. Over the course of 6 days, we visited all the famous, culturally significant, and astounding locations and monuments. We explored China’s ancient Forbidden City and visited the 2008 Beijing Olympics track and Olympic pool (I set foot in the same room as Michael Phelps!). We toured the old Emperor’s Summer Palace, bargained like it was no one’s business for gifts and souvenirs, and saw the cutest pandas and monkeys at the Beijing Zoo. But probably the most spectacular tourist destination we visited was one of the Seven Wonders of the World; the only man made object that can be viewed from space – the Great Wall of China.
The Great Wall was also another walking feat. While it merely sprawls across mountains, I tended to forget that mountains have peaks and valleys. Boy did we have to climb! The strength, efficiency, and sheer size of the structure rendered me speechless. Almost 1 million people died building the fortress I was walking on, and jumping on.
We met some Australians on our Wall walk. Interestingly, throughout our whole trip, we met other travelers from 14 different countries, those of which include Holland, Egypt, Austria, Chile, England, and France. Most of these people were at some nightclubs we visited (where we actually may have had 4am nights comparable to everyday life for those who are studying abroad in Spain and Australia… so unfair). I adored the nightlife in Beijing. Not knowing anybody and meeting people from all over the world was the best part. There were never any expectations or pressure to act a certain way and the girlfriends I was with made every moment so incredibly worthwhile. J
I wish that I could go more in depth about the other sites we visited, such as the Forbidden City, or the rural villages in Xizhou, but I will save that for another time. Enrolling for classes starts so soon! While all of you will be waking up at 7am to enroll, I’ll be spending my Friday night at 7pm fighting to squeeze in classes.
I hope you all had a fantastic and memorable Halloween! Unfortunately Halloween isn’t that big here… but hey we improvised. Stay tuned for my next blog!
Until next time,
JWOO