Feeding the hungry monkeys
1048 meters high. 3878 stone steps. Words can not describe!!! The beauty of this landscape was stunning. Everywhere I looked there was steep rocky peaks. Some of which were so tall and narrow I wondered how they managed stay upright. I could hear the sounds of water trickling and dropping onto lush green leaves around me. This was my first sub-tropical experience so I was excited to see such flora and flora that I hadn't seen before (or at least in it's natural environment). We hiked for hours up the stone stairs to the top of peaks and through dense forests that somehow managed to grow out the steep rock faces. At the very beginning of our hike we saw a few monkeys casually walk past us. Three of them walked right in front of me so I pulled out my packet of banana chips. The monkeys stopped in their tracks as they heard the rustling sound of a packet opening. Ali shrieked "uh oh". Before I knew it the three monkeys were at my feet standing on two legs with their arms stretched out. I pulled out a banana chip and the larger of the three monkeys grabbed it out of my hand. This procedure repeated about 20 times until I realised that the monkeys had ate a third of my food supply. I stopped feeding them and continued on my way. Drips of fresh mountain dew dropped onto my bare skin. The smell. The butterflies. It was all so lush and fresh. Every now and then I would see another monkey swing in the trees in the corner of my eye. I was convinced they were closing in on me for more food. Kept thinking about the film 28 days later. Occasionally we would overtake a few tourists. Most of them were Chinese but we did see the odd westerner once in a while. The Chinese wore the most unsuitable clothes for hiking. I saw one middle aged woman wearing heeled shoes, jeans and a wool jacket. The men looked even funnier. They looked as if they had just left the office wearing shirts, trousers and formal footwear. I mean, what on earth where they thinking? "Darling, do you think these thick tight jeans and heeled white shoes would be ok for hiking 3878 slippery stone steps?".
I noticed I sign that said "Suggestions to the guests: Mother-Son Peak viewing spot is the best place to breathe the air anion reaching over 100 thousand per cubic meter. The germ contained in the air is reduced to zero. Advise you breathe deeply there 15 times". Mmm, okay!
Sub-tropical flora and fauna all around us
We looked up at Golden whip rock - a 350 meter high peak towering above us. I watched Mr Feng Jingbin paint using his palms and fingers with unique craftmanship. I bought one of his paintings. His shop was on Jinbian stream within the national park. He looked at me and started to cut my profile out of a piece of black felt. It was a cross between me and Pinochio. He signed and stamped it before handing the card to me. Once we left the park we were helped by a tour guide. After indicating where we wanted to go (the northern areas in the park to stay the night) she told us to follow her. We ended up taking the coach with her and the entire tour group. We were the only ones not wearing the special white tour caps. I felt left out. She took us back to the main town of Zhang Jia Jie where we had originally started off 2 days ago - Nowhere near where we wanted to be. We stayed the night with the tour group in their hotel and went to bed early. Instant noodles for tea again.
