The YELLOW MOUNTAINS

Old Street

The "Gang"

 Yellow Mountains

My locks

ME

I put off writing this for some time now. Reason number one, I knew it was going to take forever, second, I just didn’t feel like typing it up haha. But now that I’ve started, it’s just time to push through and get it done.

               I’ll start off at the train station getting ready to take the 9 hour train ride to Huangshan, (city of the Yellow Mountains).  We arrived at the train station at about 8 o’clock PM. Our train didn’t leave until 11 so we had some time to kill. We noticed several groups of women and men doing there “nightly aerobics,” so we decided to join in. We had a blast and all of the Chinese people loved us because sooner or later we had a group starting to form around us. The music ended at 8:30 so we moved over to somewhere we could all sit down, but as we walked away we noticed our crowd followed us. Being the kind people we are, we decided to put on a little show for them. So Alexis and I started to do the chicken dance. They went crazy, cheering and clapping and taking a million photos. We did everything in our power to keep these people entertained, from doing the EFY dance to break dancing on the ground. Mary our coordinator thought we were insane and made us leave to go wait inside the train station. All in all though, it was very fun! We waited in the train station for about 2 hours, and then I boarded my first train in China. It was very packed as you might imagine. But we had ok seats so I wasn’t too bothered by the people using my legs as a back rest. We sat by this Chinese man, and we became good friends with him. We named him Shawn.

                We arrived in Tunxi, the village our hostel was in, about an hour and a half from Huangshan. The street our hostel was on is called Old Street. It’s very famous and has a lot of history behind it, but most of all it was shopping central haha. The whole street is lined with tiny shops for half a mile or so. We all had a blast shopping and buying fun items. I bought a jade necklace that many Chinese people have, a huge painting of the yellow mountains (my favorite purchase), a red Chinese dress for Sailor and also a little doll for her as well, and a scarf for my grandma. All in all it was a good day. We all hit the sack after a long day of shopping and wanted to try and get as much rest possible for our big day ahead of us. We woke up at 5:30 am and hopped on our bus and headed out on our big adventure. We sat by the only other American on the bus and found out he was from Idaho. We liked him so much we decided to let him hike the mountains with us. His name is Jim. After getting off that bus, we got on another and it took us part way up the mountain to where you pay and or take the tram. We paid and decided to take the tram part way up to where all the hiking begins.

                As we stepped off the tram I was instantly hit with the beauty of the view. The mist that over took the mountains only added to the magic of it all. If it weren’t for all the crazy Chinese people chattering away, it could have been very peaceful. We got a map and started for “beginning to believe peak”. On the way we ran into some monkeys in the trees by our path. I thought it was pretty cool seeing wild monkey’s haha. After making it to beginning to believe we started across the mountain for the west stairs that lead down the mountain. The view was incredible the whole way. But I’m not going to lie, all the stairs that we had to climb were unreal. I thought it was never going to end. We came to a point before we started to go down the mountain, we realized we had to make it down the mountain by 5 to catch our bus. It was 3 o’clock so we knew we had to hurry. Me, Emily, Andrea and Jim wanted to hike Lotus peak because it was probably the one part of the mountain I had to do. For one reason it is where my sister hung her locks, and it is where I wanted to hang mine. The locks are locks you buy somewhere on the mountain and a man carves your name into it. So I got 6, one for my mom and dad, Britt and land, sailor, Jordan, Trevor, and me. Any who, while Bobby and Alexis were going to the bathroom, us 4 decided that if we wanted to make it in time we needed to go now. So we decided with the other girls that we would meet at the bus. So we took off and headed for Lotus Peak. Our first challenge was the “hundred ladders.” Yeah it was 253 stairs straight up, and that was just the beginning. I am not exaggerating when I say, it was the hardest hike I have ever done, not to mention we were trying to hurry, so were trying to run up this peak, but it is straight up, stair after stair, and we are literally dying haha. Were dripping sweat, all the Chinese people think were insane, and when you think you are close, you look up, and see your not even half way. Haha. Finally we see the peaks top, I was so excited I couldn’t stand it, and then I looked at what I had to climb to get there. Each step was at least a foot high and a foot across, so we were literally on all fours climbing up this mountain. We finally reach the top and I was greeted with a nice blast of cool air. The mist was very thick so it wasn’t like it was a beautiful view, but it was so peaceful. It was quiet because not a ton of people hike this part because it is hard. So I sat down on the edge next to the chain where my sister hung our locks 5 years ago. As I got my chains ready, I was seriously dripping sweat off my face onto my legs, it was nasty. I hung my locks off the edge. I know this is so cheesy but I felt like I put a part of me on that mountain. It was an amazing experience.

                We started down the peak, and we soon realized that going down was just as hard as going up, if not more. The steps were SO steep. We had to go down sideways, and there was nothing to hold onto. We were trying to hurry but decided being safe was better than catching the bus. I twisted my knee none the less but pushed on. We went through this cave and when we came out on the other side, the view, literally took my breath away. We all stopped and stared for as long as we thought wise, then we had to head off again. Now going down this mountain was insane. The steps never had a break, it was just steps for as far as the eye could see. Going up the mountain you were out of breath so it was hard that way, but going down was hard on our legs and feet. My calves were burning and my feet were on fire. But we had to hurry and just keep going. At one point we looked at the clock and realized there was no possible way we could make it, so we made the decision we were going to take it easy and just take a cab home. Then we headed off, just eager to get down the mountain. FINALLY we saw the bus that takes us down to the bus station. We paid and got on. We arrived down at the bus station at 6:10 pm and grabbed a taxi. We arrived back at the hostel around 7:30 and ran into Bobby and Alexis and talked about what happened. What happened after that came as a shock to us three. Bobby and Alexis started to get mad at us for leaving them and not leaving them a map. We held a group meeting and argued for a good hour. Them saying we did not consider their feelings when we left, and us saying that Lotus Peak was the most important part of the mountain and we were scared about waiting any longer and wasting time, and that no one was thinking about a map and to blame the whole thing on us was pretty ridiculous. Long story short, we worked things out and everything is fine now, but it was just some group drama.

                Although that happened, the overall Yellow Mountain experience was one I will never forget. It was amazing, the experiences I had on that mountain are ones I will treasure forever.