11th November: Zhangjiajie, China

I think I used all of my mental capacity for dealing with heights yesterday! This morning, we got the bus out to the south gate of the park for an alternate view of the pillars. This meant yet another cable car! Even Kaja struggled with the height on this one but apparently the views were spectacular. I spent the entire journey with my hands over my eyes trying to remember the Barcelona 2010-11 squad (Valdes; Alves, Puyol, Pique, Abidal; Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi, Villa; subs: Pinto, Milito, Maxwell, Adriano, Mascherano, Keita, Thiago, Jeffren, Afellay, Bojan?).

From the top, the views were outrageous. From this angle, the light was perfect. Most of the trails were wooden boardwalks overhanging the side of the mountain, which was a bit much! Monkeys clambered all along the railings and trees. We found some inland trails which took us to a few viewpoints without the need for sweaty palms! I think I’ll only really appreciate this later, but the views from the top were some of the finest I’ve ever seen. Still, we had one final cable car. I put my earbuds in and covered my eyes once more. Soon, it was done. No more heights!!

We hopped on the bus to the start of the trail and back down to the monkeys. There were dozens and dozens, including lots of babies. From here, we planned to walk the 5km of the Golden Whip Stream back to the side of the park we’d been on yesterday. It began as most places do in China, with loud and, frankly annoying tour groups. For some reason, Chinese tourists seem to travel in large groups and enjoy being herded around and paying for the same few experiences. However, this does mean that if you put in a bit of effort, you can find places nearby where nobody visits. The middle 3 km of this valley was exactly that, as the rushed groups from either end were turned around before then.

Now that I could relax, knowing that there were no more hair-raising activities to come, I could appreciate this landscape. From here, the peaks towered above us, glowing in the afternoon autumn sun. The trees in the valley were beginning to turn and the Golden Whip Stream was crystal clear, with fishing glistening in each pool. Monkeys hung from the trees, often with very young and cute offspring hanging underneath or feeding. At one point, a whole troop came past with lots of young ones playing together under the watch of one of their mums. I think these were my favourite scenes of the trip to date.

Back off the trail and in town, courtesy of the bus, we found a shop for tea and snacks. The one we tried at the time was jasmine crisps, which were more like chips in shape and had a bonkers flavour profile. The first hit of flavour was akin to salt and vinegar, but this was immediately overwhelmed by outrageously strong jasmine, then sweetness and a wild cacaphony of confusing flavours. Luckily, the rose tea was tasty, and a few sips got rid of the crisp craziness!

Dinner was a simple affair in the room that we ordered as a takeaway from one of the restaurants on our way back. We had some fried tofu, garlic pak choi, and some spicy cauliflower, plus the ubiquitous rice. Everywhere in this town seems to have the same dishes and I’m looking forward to a change of flavours again.