I woke up at about 7am in the train which heading for Zhang Jia Jie. There wasn't anyone in the train except the two of us. I was looking out from the window and trying to figure out where we were but I couldn't. The scenery out there was breathtaking.
We reached Zhang Jia Jie station at about 10am. We were late for almost an hour from the expected arrival time. We niticed that the trains in China are always late for an hour to reach the last stop. Our local tour agent who we had contacted earlier was waiting for us at the station. We called him Lao Xu. We went to the entrance of the Zhang Jia Jie Park by van. The weather was cold and cloudy. The tour package for 3 days 2 nights was RMB500 per pax which included accommodation, entrance fee of RMB248 and food. I felt it was cheap!
After buying the entrance tickets, we walked from the entrance to the place that we would stay. The journey would take more than 3 hours. There were some famous tourist spots along the way to our guest house. Every tourist spot had a theme and Lao Xu explained to us the story behind it. Because of winter, most of the trees were bare.
Then, we reached a junction where Lao Xu told us that there were two routes to reach the guest house. One was a 1 1/2-hour normal walk followed by a cable car ride which cost RMB56. The second route was 1-hour walk on the staircase. Chee Ying insisted on taking the second route. When she told Lao Xu of our decision, he was shocked as it was a difficult trek and we were carrying heavy bags. Chee Ying walked very fast with her 8-kgs bag. I really saluted her. I think she can participate in the Amazing Race. I walked very slowly as my bag was too heavy. It was a 10-kg bag! I felt exhausted. The local people offered to carry my bag for me but I declined. People might think we were crazy to decline the offer and I thought so too.
We met an old couple during the walk on the staircase. The husband was carrying a tripod and the wife was carrying a water bottle. The husband helped his wife to take a photo if the scenery was beautiful. I felt that they were very healthy and even stronger than me. They told me that they could stop anyway they liked as they had plenty of time. I asked myself whether I could have this lifestyle when I get old.
It was cloudy there so we couldn't see the scenery clearly most of the time. The guide would tell us what this rock resembled. We needed to have a good imagination. Most of the time I couldn't visualize as my imagination and visualization were poor.
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