I got a discounted ticket, normally it's RMB$150 for the entrance fee. No discount for the cable car. |
The ropeway is made by Doppelmayr, a German company. Safety guaranteed (?) |
There are actually two ropeways. This one is at the east side of the mountain, also the more popular one. |
With all the titles this place proudly boasts, I have developed very high expectations. As usual, the bigger the expectations, the bigger the disappointment. I can't say the place is overrated because I didn't see anything at all - IT WAS A FOGGY DAY!!! The fog got worse as the day progressed too. :(
By the way, there are guided tours too but I don't think it's necessary. You are here to admire the beauty of the mountains, not to listen to a person blabbing non-stop over how a rock is supposed to look like. (It's also in Mandarin only.)
When we first arrive in the morning |
This is when we decide it's no point to try to take anymore photos... |
My best shots of what were known as the "must-sees" on the trail...
Giant Boa 巨蟒出山 |
The Oriental Goddess 東方女神 What I saw. How it should look like. Click here. |
Horse Head Stone 馬頭石 Because of the proximity, this is pretty close to the sign. |
Luckily, it's not all bad... I got some shots I probably won't get if the weather was nice. I also learned a lot from my travel-mate how to take pictures of clouds and fog :)
We also saw interesting things along the way...
They are real... No idea why they would dress like that though. There were barely any travelers. |
This is right before a steep and staircase of 299 steps... |
As if the fog is not enough to dampen my spirits... 6 hours worth of stairs will make any man cry (figuratively)... my knees were shaking at some point... The worst part is just as you thought you were going downhill, the stairs go up again!!! *CRY*
You could hire carriers to carry you around but they charge by distance (and they are not cheap!). As you can see, it doesn't look very safe either. I guess I will walk...
I guess I wasn't the only one who choose to walk. |
We brought our lunch / snacks to the mountain as locals said it's expensive and it doesn't taste good. A cob of corn that sold for RMB$2 in the village was RMB$10 here!
We were very ambitious in the beginning and thought of doing 2 trails. After the first one (the most popular one), we looked at each other and said "FORGET IT". We are calling it a day and we are going home. LOL!!! Looks like I still got a lot of strength-training to do!
Right on... |
We bought snacks for the return ride from the local hawkers. In contrast to the overpriced items on the items, these were cheap and delicious!
If I liked the chestnuts and loved the purple yam, I don't know how to describe these. Best I ever had and I wish I bought more? The skin came of with the slightest pressure and it was so delicious!!! |
Our driver probably figured out our love for snacks and made a stop at this local hawker shop. He bought some for himself and his family and told us we should try them too. |
Delicious! It was known as the "in-laws bread". It says it was a throw-down the mother-in-law gave the bride with very limited ingredients. The daughter-in-law passed the test with flying colors~ |
We stopped at Moon Bay (月亮灣) again to see if we could get some nice clicks and this is what I got... We had no energy left to climb to the viewing point though...
It's regrettable as I know Sanqingshan (三清山) is absolutely gorgeous under the right weather conditions. I won't say we walked for nothing. If nothing else, it will be another story I could tell my friends about another silly thing I did when I was young and jolly...
Anyways, if any of you go, I hope your luck will be better than mine...
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