Wudang Mountain Trip!!

Woohoo!! Mountain trip today!!! We all woke up at 5.30 am cause we had to report downstairs at 7.15 am and followed by a 6 hour bus journey!!!! Upon reaching there, we sat down to a lunch of many Chinese dishes such as spicy chicken, bak choy, fungus with egg, white cabbage and tofu. It was quite a different experience and the food was really salty. After lunch we took a 25 minutes bus ride up the mountain and we deposited our bag for RMB 5 to climb up to a temple site. The temples were at from the Qing dynasty time which was around 1300 B.C. A lot of the steps to the temples were really steep and most of us had difficulty climbing. Outside one of the temples there was a well. In this well, there were many Koi fish inside. According to the guide, people who have Koi fish and can’t take care of them anymore come to this temple and donate their fish into this well. We also saw a Taoist tea hall like the ones you see in the olden days Chinese dramas. Right outside the tea hall, there’s a wishing well where you make a wish and flip a coin into the well. Inside this well there’s a frog sitting inside and if your coin so happens to land on the frog’s head or in the frog’s mouth, you are truly considered lucky. We then walked back down and waited for a bus to ferry us around, while waiting some of us decided to use the washroom. I swear it was the most high class washroom I had ever seen. The sinks were made of China ware and there was even a lounge area but the only negative point which really bugged me was that it really stunk badly. We head to a second temple site where we witnessed a prayer ceremony of The Taoists. The nun was hitting a large drum. When we asked the guide she mentioned that it was to summon the Gods and answer our prayers. We the headed to the hotel around 5.45 pm and assigned our rooms. We were given a card for each room which would allow us to get into our rooms but apparently the card scanner to mine and Irfanah’s room wasn’t working and we had to wait for the repairman to come to fix our scanner. In the meanwhile, the hotel attendant used her key to let us in a while the repairman was fixing our card scanner we decided to take a look around our room. The room was pretty nice and decent. I’d have to say it was better than our dormitory back in Wuchang. The comforter was quite thick and the interior was quite well done. Later around 7pm, we head down to the hotel dining area to have dinner. Wudang Mountains are all the same. We had almost the exact same thing as we had for lunch with exceptions to a few dishes. We were then given free time and most of us just went up to our rooms, took showers and turned in early due to the tiring day we may have ahead of us. The next day, we got a wakeup call at 7.00 am and breakfast was at 7.30 am. We had porridge, hard boiled eggs, kuay teow soup, and some spiced bread and plain bread made from the same dough they use to make Pau skin. As soon as we stepped out of the hotel to climb up on of the many peaks of Wudang Mountain, the wind immediately started to blast in our faces. It was really cold that although I was wearing 4 layers of clothing the wind was still chilly. I think some of us had difficulties climbing up the many stairs of the mountain due to the cold air blasting in our faces. Some of us took a really long time to climb up the stairs. Right at the top behind the temple, the view was quite amazing. There was even a lake at the bottom of the lake of the valley. There was another really old ancient looking temple where we could throw coins at a drum for luck. I think we stand out more here in Wudang as we are getting more stares than usual and some local people even decided to take pictures with us. We then headed by bus the foot of the actual and highest peak of Wudang Mountain and had lunch. It was the same old in Wudang just that this time we got crispy fried chicken. We then headed to purchase our cable car tickets after lunch and the cable car ride was really fun. Although it wasn’t my first time riding a cable car, I was quite excited though. We reach the upper cable car station in less than 5 minutes but we still had to walk up many steep flights of stairs to actually get to the top of the mountain. On the way up, we came to a passageway which was quite scary as the structure was supported by a few wooden plank which seemed to be rotting. I think most of us were excited once we reached the top as the view was not only amazing but also every time we breathed heavily or just said a few words, mist was coming out of our mouths which excited us quite a bit as we were hoping that it would happen soon. The temple at the top was called The Golden Temple. The temple was made of pure gold and jade which was quite fascinating. The peak of the mountain was really crowded so we couldn’t spend much time up there. The way down was just as scary as we had the fear of falling down the steep steps. Oh yes and did I mention that we managed to see a few trees blossoming as it was just the beginning of spring. We then headed back to Wuchang around 4.45 pm, stopped over at a rest stop around 8pm and had instant noodles and malt milk tea for dinner and reached back only around 11.10 pm as it was at night and the drivers here usually driver slower at night just to be safe. This trip allowed me to see the historical sit of Wuhan and taught me how to rally appreciate the olden days architecture and the people who built it.

Photos: DAY 1

The view on the way to Wudang Mountain

Us on the bus.

The rest stop on the way

Our fish. Freshwater fish is a specialty here in Wuhan. 

Stir-fried bak choy

Fungus with egg

Tofu

Pork belly, spicy chicken and celery.

Us in the restaurant. And the very photogenic Travin.

One of the first temples we visited

The well where you can donate you Koi fish

The wishing well with the frog in it. Unfortunately my coin didn't land on the head neither in the mouth.

The Taoist Tea Hall

One of the pictures in Wudang Mountain Gallery.

The view from the temple.

The nice toilet. XP

The sink area

In the bus on the way up with my new friend Li Si!!

Tying red ribbons on the trees for good luck

The next temple we visited.

Incense burner.

The many steps we climbed

More steps!!!

The temple at the end of the steps.

Close up shot of the temple

What we do when our room card reader isn't working and while waiting for the repairman to come

Our room

The view from outside our room

Our room window

Our beds in the hotel, quite nice

First tea in China!!! Woo hoo!!!

Chicken in fungus

More spicy chicken

Steamed pumpkin

Rice

More salty pork belly

DAY 2:

The view from our room in the morning

Our breakfast

Porridge

Kway teow soup

Some of the other hotels

The view from a lookout

Us at the lookout with the chilly wind blowing in our faces

Broom made of bamboo used by a cleaner

Climbing up one of  the many peaks

A man doing Taichi, Wudang is known for its martial arts.

Steps, steps and more steps

The view was amazing though

One of the many temples

Mor trees tied up with red ribbons

Look! He's carrying stuff the old fashioned way by balancing load at the ends of a stick!!

The tmple right at the top of the shorter peak

The view behind the temple. Spot the beautiful lake!!

Really ancient temple

Our lunch. Only difference is that we had fried chicken!!!

Getting into the cable car

View from cable car

Stairs we would have to climb to the peak if it weren't for cable car. It would take at least 2-3 hours

Reaching the upper cable car station

Stil having to climb more stairs after the cable car ride

The temple being supported by a wood plank, rotting.

The Golden Temple at the peak!! At last!!!

View from the PEAK!!!

Us going down, have no idea why this picture is rotated!!! SORRY!!

Going back down in cable car again

The view going down.

More views of going down