Day 26 - Today Wudang Shan, tomorrow Mt. Everest

Armed with a huge bag full of clothes to last Sheila and I for two days, all 44 of us readied ourselves for a six-hour bus ride to Wudang Shan.

Woke up early (what's new anymore?) to board the bus slated to leave at 0645 hours.

A few of us settled in at the back of the bus, waiting for the bus to leave.

I must've been pretty darn tired, since I fell fast asleep and barely stirred when the bus stopped at the first rest area after two hours. Woke up for the second rest area, which was literally in the middle of nowhere.

In the public toilet at the rest stop. 

I don't think I've ever mentioned this before, but their public toilets are huge with a lot of cubicles. I guess it's common sight but still pretty astounding to see for a Singaporean like me who's never had to take a rest stop during a bus ride.

Another two hours later, at the foot of Wu Dang Shan.

Lunch! Other dishes came later, but as usual, the only thing that mattered was the tomato with eggs. Nom nom nom.

Group C, where the C doesn't exactly stand for "cute", hahahaha.

At some point, there was a souvenir shop, with an area for tea sampling. The tea was pretty good (but really, really hot), and like the person said, mineral water actually does taste sweet after drinking a few cups of the tea. 

Edward practicing proper etiquette while drinking tea (see his pinky finger).

Another bromance photo while waiting for the other to finish sampling their tea.

Off we hike, towards higher grounds.

Tree with lots of wishing ribbons. These wishing ribbons can be seen all over the mountain, by previous mountain-hikers for good health, fortune and the like.

On the way to 紫霄宫 (Zi Xiao Gong).

The A-Team!

Somewhere on the grounds of  紫霄宫, 武当拳training was on-going. Something surprising: about 3/4 of the class were foreigners!

Dee and Jo while waiting for everyone else to catch up outside 紫霄宫.

Some ornaments atop the temple roofs. Can't really tell what they are, but I suspect one of them is a Qilin.

Some very faded printing on the side of one of the temples. Says "敬祝毛主席万寿万疆万寿无疆". Not exactly sure that it means though, although I do know it's something related to Chairman Mao Zedong.

The Awkward Nicholas Pose with Nicholas himself.

Jo, Nick and Dee blending in with the 武当拳 class.

 

 Group D's leader on the run with Nick's cap.

I love the architecture, patterns and colours used around the whole 紫霄宫. I wish more of these could be found around Singapore, but alas...

Locks from previous mountain-climbers for good fortune, health, etc. A more permanent version of the red ribbon shown previously.

After a very long day of bus rides and climbing up stairs and dinner, we finally reached our hotels, which was pretty luxurious.

Beds of Room 2038.

Toilet bowl! We rejoiced.

Before turning in for the night, we went over to the nearby supermarket to shop for snacks and drinks for tomorrow's long up to the Golden Summit of  武当山.

Passed by this building on the way to the supermarket that made me take a second look. Yes, if you look past the motion blur, you will realise this is actually a hospital, or rather, 武当山医院 (Wu Dang Shan Hospital) to be specific.

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Personal Reflection

After the six-hour bus ride to 武当山 in the morning, I'm yet again reminded of how much I should appreciate Singapore being a small country. I used to whine about the one-hour bus rides from my home to school everyday, but I'm pretty sure I won't do it anymore after this trip. In comparison, the 154 bus ride every morning is absolutely nothing.

Today's walk around the temples of 武当山 is basically a taste of tomorrow's huge climb up to the Golden Summit. I'm worried about the climb since I'm not exactly a very fit person, but since I'd be doing it with the A-Team, I'm hoping it'd all be worth it. Hopefully the view from up there will be spectacular!