Yes, but at least she had a hand on the fence, so it was completely safe! Next, we were on the outside of the mountain, so it couldn’t have been anywhere near as dangerous. Right. And the other two photos are what we found on the outside of the mountain. The irony of the next photo is no one will know what was behind those women. Only from where I was could you see the drop off was horrendous. And no, the bottle isn't trash, it is their trekking supply. Empty bottles are worth money, so they aren't left lying around for long.
And the route down is pretty tame, but with plenty of barriers to hold back any rocks which decided to let go. And no, there was no chance of rain. The Chinese women are protecting their delicate complexions....
On the right is some nicely congealed volcanic lava at the point where the lava originally started flowing. According to the signs it all came out of what is now the big pit below. It was flowing through a tunnel, and when the lava cooled and retreated, the tunnel collapsed, leaving yet another cave. Oddly enough there were no steps down to visit it.
For some reason local tourists are really attracted to all kinds of small, strange caves. Here is the line up to stand in the mouth of one partially filled with cold water, which made it yet another attraction. That extremely damp cave is called the fairy palace.Perhaps the name is more sensible in Chinese….
Finally, we got to the bottom and found that almost 300 years later, the lava field is still a black, shattered desert that looks like this. Claire, on the right, demonstrates how extraordinarily rough parts of that lava field are.
For some reason local tourists are really attracted to all kinds of small, strange caves. Here is the line up to stand in the mouth of one partially filled with cold water, which made it yet another attraction. That extremely damp cave is called the fairy palace.Perhaps the name is more sensible in Chinese….Finally, we got to the bottom and found that almost 300 years later, the lava field is still a black, shattered desert that looks like this. Claire, on the right, demonstrates how extraordinarily rough parts of that lava field are.
From there we went on a 'boat ride' which was actually an hour wandering around a part of the lava field with lots of ponds, followed by a five minute putter down a small creek in a large boat.
I got to take some thoroughly arty pictures of green stuff and water, but as they may not do well in this format, you have escaped. Well, partially escaped.
Next we got on the boats and everyone enjoyed posing for pictures. Here you see someone else coming upstream, camera at the ready.
Note how well they are dressed for the water, and how they are all quietly in their seats. For some reason this didn't happen on our boats, which are in the picture on the right. And finally, here is someone at their little cottage on the side of the stream, watching us tourists passing by .I strongly suspect there is a story behind that building. Those windows are not at all common, nor is the stone. Most old buildings were made of very roughly squared off blocks of lava, but this is covered in white tile. Very fancy, and totally out of place. If I'd noticed earlier I would have asked--but probably wouldn't have learned its story anyway. The language barrier can be pretty dense at times.
The bus trip back was smooth and completely uneventful, if unexpectedly longer than the trip up. Here are some passengers making sure the driver doesn't get lost. Note the good luck charm hanging below the mirror. The bus driver’s wife is sitting in the jump seat in the stair well. I suspect the fact we didn’t get lost is largely due to her. The organizer of the trip is sitting on the floor. He spent most of the trip sitting there, enjoying being in on the action. Claire's nephew is in the blue-black shirt. Yes, he of the overactive sleep. When we got to the top of the mountain, he decided to camp out at the rest area instead of walking around and enjoying the different views. When we got back he had bought himself a ceramic whistle that just needs a little water, and then makes a pretty good imitation bird call. The only trouble was the whistle part was so close to the tip of the stem that sometimes it was in his mouth when he tried to blow it. He was a little surprised when I showed him what the problem was, but not as surprised as I was when he showed me it needed water to work properly! Like most of his generation of Chinese student, he doesn't get enough exercise and isn’t exactly fit. But that is something for another story. Hope you enjoyed this one! Ken
非常感谢张威。我就是太懒了。这样一点一点地发就可以全部发上去。希望通过老外的视角大家能知道一些。外国人怎么看中国。其实平时他们是不说的。
老外的视角其实是很独特的,哈哈,无论怎么说,这可是花果山户外组织走向国际的第一步啊
