Day 11

Today was a very busy day! After packing all our belongings, we had a large breakfast. Following breakfast we took a short bus ride to the Mt. Hua parking lot. We then took a shuttle bus to the cable cars after getting our tickets. The cable car ride was peaceful and the scenery very beautiful. After getting off, we began our journey on the most dangerous mountain in China. The spectacular view from above was breathtaking. Before we reached the “Dragon’s Mouth” (the start point of the hike) we split into two groups. One group dared to challenge themselves aiming to reach the peak at a faster pace and the relaxed group, the ones who wanted to enjoy the scenery at a less dangerous and challenging pace. One group reached Mid peak (2,037 m) – so called because it sits between the east and the west peaks and there witnessed spectacular views. Many photos were taken from this point. On the return journey, we enjoyed an ice cream to reward out persistence. We experienced the true beauty of Chinese nature including animals and native plants. We rejoined the rest of the group at the North Peak and made our way back down in the cable cars. In all we had spent 5 hours on Mt Hua. On our return to the Hotel we had a delicious dinner. Afterwards we went to the train station where we had to wait for several hours before boarding our train to Shanghai. When the train arrived we hurried to board- we were Shanghai bound! Patrick and Lochlan