Day 26 to 27 (09/10, 10/10 Sat, Sun)

武当山两天一夜之旅，出发!

武当山 Trip Day 1 (09/10, Sat)

We rose up bright and early at 6am today to embark on our 5 ½ hours journey to 武当山. Unlike Singapore, the day rises earlier and sets earlier too. At 6.30am, the sun was already bright and up. Our day will be filled with travelling and sightseeing.

It was time for lunch when we arrived at our destination. HUNGRY!

I made another interesting discovery today: THE TOILET. IT HAS NO DOORS. Yes, no privacy.



NO DOOR toilet



Sightseeing time! We visited 3 places on 武当山 today, namely the 太子坡，紫霄宫 and Tian Yi Hu.

环保车! the bus that takes us around the 武当山 tourist area

don't fall!!!

this is a real well. i've never seen such a thing in my life.

see the bowl afar off? apparently your wishes can come true if you can throw a coin successfully into it.

After a day of travelling and sightseeing, we finally made our way to our resting stop: 万豪商务酒店.

This time round, my roomie is Weilin! The room was way nicer than the ones on the cruise. The sad thing is that we only got to enjoy the room for only 1 night. BOO HOO! Check them out!

万豪商务酒店. Our resting stop for the night.

nice bed right? :)

toilet with a door and TOILET BOWL!

REFLECTION

I was surprised that the place of attraction was so big. It takes around 45 mins to get from the entrance to the end. That travelling time is from Jurong to Changi Airport! It is amazing how the people manage to construct and build the whole place. KUDOS TO YOU PEOPLE! You have constructed such an impressive and wonderful place :)

武当山 Trip Day 2 (10/10, Sun)

Rise and shine at 6am AGAIN. We are going to conquer 武当山 today. How I wanted to back out from climbing up the mountain, but with everyone going, I have to go! With all reluctance; I dragged my feet to climb the mountain with everyone. How I wish I do not have to climb the mountain, I AM SUPER UNFIT! I’ve climbed Mount Ophir and I know I’m not the type who likes strenuous activities that pushes myself to the limits.

金顶, here we come!!!

8am

Climbing of 武当山starts! The whole hiking route is made up of staircases, up and down, up and down.

a group photo before we embark on our hike

On the way up the mountain, we saw uncles with sedan chairs to lift people up the mountain. Of course, you have to pay a price to hire them to carry you up. How I wanted them to carry me up the mountain! Not even 1/3 up the mountain, I was already tired out. However with my group members’ constant encouragement, I pulled myself together and continued climbing.

Come to think of it, the climbing of the stairs up to 白帝城 the previous time during our cruise trip was nothing. This is the bigger challenge. 

the sedan chairs

Our Mission: 金顶.Let's Go!

GREAT! 0.3 KM more!

After 3 1/2 hours of climb. Our drenched and tired out look.

12pm

WE FINALLY REACHED 金顶!!!

HOORAY!!!

With all the encouragement I got from my group members, we finally made it all the way up to the peak! It sure was NO MEAN FEAT!

WE HAVE REACHED!!! my relieved face. haha!

OH YES! take more photos! we made it to the top!

Getting down the mountain was sure much easier than climbing up the mountain. We used 4 hours to get up and used only 2 hours to get down. Amazing!

REFLECTION

I was really relieved I made it all the way to the peak. I almost wanted to give up along the way as I was really tired out from climbing all the upscale staircases. However, my ever encouraging group mates Eliza, Houng Sheng, Agnes and Michelle continued to encourage me to push on. They even helped to carry my things for me so as to lighten off my load. Each time I stopped to take a break, they stopped to wait for me too. All these encouragements truly show the care and concern my group shows towards me. Without their encouragement, I don’t think I would have made it to the peak.

While climbing, we noticed people carrying bags of food and cartons of bottled water and even beers up the mountain. There were even people carrying climbers who apparently gave up on the idea of walking up the mountain by themselves on sedan chairs. These added loads that they carry surely made their climb even tougher. Apparently, they do it for a living and they climb up the mountain every day. To me, climbing the mountain once is enough but these people who climb the mountain each and every day have no choice as they have to make a living. Looking at their tough job makes me think back on how fortunate we Singaporeans are. Compared to what they are doing, our job is more relaxing than theirs. Sure, we make use of our brains a lot and are very stressed because of our work (I’ve been through attachment, I understand how it feels). On the other hand, our work environment is so much better as compared to them, and we have a nice and comfortable home for us to return to after a hard day’s work. Do you think they return to a nice and comfortable home after their really tough day’s work? Well, if we really feel stressed out and frustrated after a tough day’s work, why not think about how these people are leading their everyday life and you might just feel that you are much more fortunate than them.