Travel : To the Peak of Huangshan Mountain

Day 3 : August 29, 2011

To the Peak of Huangshan Mountain

It was raining when we arrived at the cable car station. We were wearing the yellow rain coat we bought from Jacky.  Sungguh ... kagak enak banget pakai jas hujan koneng ini .... :(

Cable car is the only transportation which would bring us up to the peak of Huangshan Mountain.  No motor vehicles are allowed up there.  The cable car is quite small, only for 6 persons.  Luckily they have many cable cars, no long queue. Unfortunately our hotel is located quite far from the cable car station. After we hopped off the cable car, we had to walk to the hotel.  How long?  If you walk very fast, I mean run, it takes about 40 minutes.  If you walk in normal speed, it takes about one and half hour, but if you walk in the rain then stop to catch your breath and take some photos, then it could be 2 hours or more, just like us,  ha ha ha .... That's why we were advised to pack our things in small traveling bag or backpack.

 Cable cars in the rain ...

Huangshan mountain range

Compare with many mountains in Indonesia, Huangshan Mountains is not too high, just a medium one.  I didn't count how many steps that I climbed, but even the small backpack would become a heavy burden. (apalagi ditambah bawa kamera, beraaatttt .... deh!)  But don't worry, some local people would be willing to carry our bags and backpacks, off course, by paying some money.  There were about 17 bags and backpacks in our group, and we paid RMB 340, plus RMB 20 for tips.  If you are too tired to walk, they can carry you in the palanquin. Just sit, relax, and enjoy the breathtaking sceneries around you. The bearers work for the hotel, and some say they get paid only about 20% of the amount as a commission.  And they don't like us to take photos of them while they're carrying things up to the peak or down to foot.  They carry everything -- luggages, foods, waters, drinks, dishes, rice, vegetables, fruits, kitchen wares, glass wares, hotel materials, hotel furnitures, hotel amenities e.g. fresh and used towels, tissues, soaps, shampoo, fresh and used bed linens, even the garbages and leftover foods should be brought down to the foot of the mountains.  This way will minimize smokes, garbages, and other pollutants around the mountain area.

The bearer.  

He was not carrying the baggage, he was sitting and taking a rest, so I could take his picture dong :p

And ... those were not our baggage, I repeat, not our baggage he he he ...

More pictures of beautiful Huangshan Mountains

To Shilin Hotel

After a long and tiring walk, finally we arrived at Huangshan Shilin Hotel.  Yipppieeee ...

There are two 4 stars hotel at the peak of Huangshan Mountains, i.e. Beihai and Shilin Hotel where we stayed that day.  I wonder how they buillt the hotels without motor vehicles and construction heavy equipments.  I thought they dropped off all the materials down by helicopter.  I was totally wrong.  They carried all the materials up on foot and by hand.  Seriously ! It took about 3 years to build the hotel.  Now I understand why the hotel rate here is so expensive.

After checked in, we went up to catch the sunset.  It's cloudy and started to rain again, so we got just a not-so-beautiful sunset.  arrrggghhhhh .....

Not a golden full sunset .... what a dissapointment ...  People come to this place just for sunset and sunrise.  In fact, more than 250 days a year, is raining from mild to heavy rain and the possibility to see the sunset and sunrise is very low.  To see the full sunset and sunrise is considered very lucky as winning a lotery ha ha ha ...

Our dinner was not so special.  The taste of foods here was far from delicious, but we had to eat them anyway, hmmmm ... we're at the top of the mountain, no other foods, no KFC ha ha ha ...

We were informed that the chance to see the sunrise tomorrow morning was just 30% or even less than that.  Anyone who wanted to see the sunrise should be ready at 5 am at the lobby.

No fun activities after dinner.
Some of my friends gathered in my room to chit-chat and talk-talk lah ...!

I slept a bit early than usual.  It was raining all through the night.  Little did I know, I didn't close the window, it was opened  just covered by cloth curtains.  No wonder it was cold and the sound of rain was a bit loud and near.

to be continued

rgds,
Lucy