Summer Saga: Guizhou, Part III

And so comes the conclusion to part one of my summer saga - the last of my days in Guizhou. To be perfectly honest, the last few days in Guizhou are sort of a blur. I have hazy memories of ridiculous national parks, numerous waterfalls and caves, and, of course, a crap-ton of food.

Waterfall #1

And I can't even remember how many boat rides we took!

Including the most delicious eggplant I've ever eaten...

And also one of the nastiest things I've ever eaten:
Spicy Noodles with Pig Intestine, Congealed Blood, Tofu and Pig Skin. YOLO?

I'm not joking when I say that Sharon, Michele and I spent our last four days in Guizhou province in probably five different national parks. It was ridiculous - and, sadly, a little redundant by the end. (Also, nothing could compare to our awesome rafting adventure... it kind of put everything else to shame). However, it also served as a great example for one of my favorite travel philosophies: Keep expectations low, and you'll rarely be disappointed!

China's largest waterfall in a cave, for example...

Waterfall #2

The best example of my philosophy was the day we visited HuangGuoShu - a huge national park complex which boasts China's largest waterfall. Sharon and Michele were all kinds of excited; this was to be the highlight of our trip! I, however, held a different mentality. As soon as I heard the words "China's largest," I knew we were in for massive crowds, super-elevated prices, and all the other typical parts of a tourist trap.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, folks...

A rare opportunity for a photo without other people in it...

Because of my mentality, I ended up having a great time at HuangGuoShu - it was exactly what I thought it would be (touristy, duh), but because I had prepared for that, I was able to get past it and enjoy the waterfall (because it actually was pretty cool). Sharon and Michele, however, found themselves disappointed and disillusioned; what was supposed to be a beautiful, natural, wonderful scene ended up being full of pushy people, naughty children, and thousands of cameras.

It was still pretty impressive, though...

The other parks we visited had similar turnouts - but by the second or third one, we had learned to make the best of it. When everyone in the crowd took the path to the left, we went right; when we took a boat ride through huge caverns and twisting caves, and our boat driver somehow managed to run into every single wall and rock, we laughed! And when we had to wait in lines for hours and hours, we told stories, played games and sang songs.

We laughed when two men began slaughtering a cow
RIGHT BEHIND US
while we were eating...

I mimicked Lady Liberty using corn on the cob

We goofed off in giant caves!

We even tried some zip-lining to skip some of the crowds!

Our last day together ended up being my birthday (the big two-four heyy!) which we spent at one of the most depressing parks I've ever been to. Okay, that sounds really bad - it wasn't all depressing. We got to watch 80-year-olds dance to traditional Chinese music; we got to row around a gorgeous lake; and, of course, eat some tasty food. And those things were great!

Paddle Boating!

Sun-tanning (much to Sharon & Michele's horror)

But we also had to avoid being attacked by monkeys - monkeys that weren't afraid to jump on you and grab food out of your hands, probably even out of your mouth, if that's where you had it. We also had to walk through the saddest excuse for a zoo I've ever come across - the animals looked sickly and ragged, there was no grass in their cages - only cement - and the crowds wouldn't stop taunting them. I've never been an animal rights activist or anything, but I certainly could be after spending an hour in that terrible place. I'm happy to say that was my first and last zoo experience in China - and I plan to keep it that way.

This is as close as we got to the demon monkeys...

I know, it's depressing

Fortunately, the day ended on a good note. Sharon, Michele and I sat down for one last meal - birthday hot pot - where we reviewed and relived our awesome week together. Then, they walked me to the train station so I could catch the train to the next part of my adventure, and so we could say our final goodbyes. I wasn't lying when I thanked Michele and Sharon for one of the best weeks of my life, and by far some of my favorite memories in China. As excited as I was for the next part of my adventure, I couldn't help feeling a little bummed that this week had to end.

My bittersweet birthday dinner...

Summer Saga: Guizhou, Part II

Here it goes again!! Another tease... another false promise to be a better blogger... but also, another update about yours truly! You may be asking, "Olivia, why have you been gone from here for so long?" And to be perfectly honest, it's mostly because I just haven't felt like writing. So, why am I back now? Because now I DO feel like writing! Who knows how long this feeling will last... but let's take advantage of it while it does!

I left off near the beginning of my two-week summer saga through Western China - which remains one of my fondest memories of my two years there - and so I shall continue.

Quick Recap: I'm traveling around the poorest province in China, Guizhou, with two of my students, Michele and Sharon. We have no reservations, no itinerary, no real plan - instead, we have adventurous spirits, ravenous appetites (oh, how we ate...) and a bag full o' optimism.

My lovely companions, Sharon & Michele

One of my favorite parts of traveling with Sharon and Michele is that we all agreed on allotting ourselves solid chunks of downtime throughout our trip; time spent lying on wooden planks beds, watching Chinese soap operas and game shows, and eating mystery snacks. This downtime gave us all the chance to rest up and recharge our energy and enthusiasm.

On our way to some serious downtime

In the past, spending hours like this would have left me feeling guilty and sullen - I would think about how I could have spent those four hours exploring the city; seeing the sights; seeking more adventure! But, really, how much fun is exploring on tired feet? How many sights can one see before they all start to look the same? And how many adventures can you go on before they stop feeling like adventures and start feeling like work? Leaving yourself some downtime during your travels eliminates (almost) all of these problems - and so I was glad to spend a day doing, well, nothing in preparation for the adventures to come.

Sometimes, the adventures came to us...

My favorite day of the whole trip in Guizhou had to be the third day, which we spent rafting down a river through gorgeous, green karst mountains. The three of us found a local rafting company that provided life-vests, two-person rafts, and large, sturdy sticks (for steering, of course... because who needs oars?). Then, after absolutely zero safety/rafting preparation, they pushed us off for a three-hour adventure down the Wuyang river.

Just before the rafting began...

My raft buddy - Sharon!

Sharon and I ended up rafting together, while Michele joined someone from another group. Sharon and I were fortunate enough to befriend one of the rafting "shifu's" (it means "master") - an adorable, middle-aged Chinese man who could not only navigate the river with absolutely no trouble, but he could do it standing up. We stuck with our shifu for most of the journey, and because of my excellent rafting/steering skills, ended up being the fastest boat in our group (okay, okay - it was more because every time we got stuck on a rock or rapid, we had shifu to help us out - whatever).

I wish my pictures could do these views justice...

Halfway through the journey, we stopped on the bank of the river to eat lunch with some of the "locals." We had such delicacies as rabbit leg, mystery-meatballs, and tiny fish-on-sticks. And, as weird as the food was, it was probably one of my favorite meals in China - the people we ate with were so friendly (and complimentary of my ability to handle their spicy food) that I couldn't help but smile the entire meal.

Look at all that goodness!

On the left is my favorite shifu!! What a guy...

Bamboo Rice. Aka: awesomeness.

After the three-hour journey down the river, navigating rapids, avoiding boulders, and falling out of the boat once or twice, I was exhilarated - yes, I was extremely sun-burnt; and, yes, I had some serious blisters on my hands; but if someone had asked me if I wanted to go for another three hours, I wouldn't have hesitated to say yes. Even now - months later - just thinking about that day makes me feel excited!

This picture only barely captures how I felt

One of my bad-ass blisters from the day. That's right. I killed it.

The end of the day - a sad time indeed.

Oh, China - remembering days like this one make me miss you so much...