The day started off quite lazily. My knee was
very sore so the first stop of the day was the pharmacy, where I purchased some
medicine patches. I wasn't sure about hiking for the day, which bummed me out but as always, I decided to suck it up and walk it off. The weather was perfect,
once again, and the day could not be wasted!
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| Best breakfast in Zhangjiajie |
Food stall #4 was a guy selling homemade roti rolls for
7RMB/35NT/CAN$1.27. He added a fried egg and some spicy chicken that had been done up
on a skewer BBQ style. It was simple but delicious. We went back looking
for this guy over the next two mornings, but had no luck finding him again.
Tiny local
restaurant #4 was for a quick lunch at the same place we had grabbed breakfast
noodles the day prior. A little girl works there with her family and she is
quite the server. She would make suggestions and once we decided on our order,
she would recommend things that would compliment our meal. I had decided on delicious dumplings that came in hot, spicy soup. It was more than I could eat
and only 6RMB!
We set out just
after lunch and headed on a city bus (10RMB) for a 45-minute ride over to a
quieter section of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. It starts in a beautiful
forest with a variety of tall green trees that reminded me of the forests in
British Columbia. There is a stream that we slowly walked along and although it
was quite busy in this section, it was not nearly as busy as yesterday.
Things of note:
There were tons of wild moneys around these
parts and flocks of magpies that looked very similar to the ones in Taiwan.
We hopped on a free bus that took us over to one
of the other gondolas in the park. It is called 黃石寨 (Huang Shi Zhai) Cableway. Two ways was 118RMB/584NT/CAN$21.50. It was
a quick ride up but absolutely stunning. This cable car goes in between the
pinnacles ... so close that it seems one can put their hand outside the gondola and touch the pinnacles as you go by.
The walk around the top offered remarkable views
and the best thing about it was that there were hardly any people up there
including loud sellers. It made for an enjoyable, quiet walk in nature. This particular
spot is away from the big expensive resorts, so perhaps people don't come over
to this section?! Either way, there were zero complaints as we had the park to
ourselves ... along with the monkeys!
Local restaurant #5 was on the main road near our guesthouse. We ordered a potato dish that is quite popular in China called Tu Dou Si. It was so good that I vowed to try it at other restaurants along the way. Taiwan needs to get on this dish and put it on their menus! We also ordered a beef dish with tons of spicy chilies. I was beginning to see that ALL of the food in China is amazing!
Dinner was followed by a couple of cold beers and an early bedtime. My knee needed rest as tomorrow would prove to be another day that involved a lot of walking! Sweet dreams were had of amazing adventures!
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