Day 27 - Climbing 武当山

On the second day of our trip, we were given a morning call at 6am as breakfast was at 6.30am. I was told my Houng Sheng that 6am will be the breakfast so wake up at 5.20am! But Agnes said it was 6.30 breakfast. Was confused and woke up at 5.40am instead. LOLS! I took my time to get ready and the time was just right. All packed at 6.30 and headed down for breakfast before setting off to the 金顶 which was the top of 武当山.

We took the bus to the foot of the mountains and transferred to the mountain shuttle bus to the point where we will be starting our hike! It was a 40minutes bus ride up to the starting point and when we arrived there, the place was misty and drizzling. But that didn't stop us from the hike up 武当山.
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And the journey began climbing up and down the thousand flights of stairs..
The weather up there was freezing but after climbing for about 10 minutes, I was already presperirating. Off the sweater! :D

The starting of the journey was all rights as the flights so stairs were heading downwards. But after half an hour of hike, the stairs went upwards and there goes BRENDA and her A-TEAM. Up up up we all went. The steps went steeper and longer as we headed forward which made us extremely tired. And whenever there's a garbage bin, we will stop and snap a photo of it. The English on it is real funny. There are shop houses along the way too and gosh! I wonder how they bring the goods up the mountain man! It is really a tedious work to carry goods up the steep climbing mountains!

While walking it started to drizzle and rain came pouring down on us. We were told there will be light rain and yay me! I came prepared with an umbrella! But I realised it wasn't a good idea as I needed my hands to keep me climbing on. So we four bought poncho instead. And the air up there was dry! I was really very tired! Half way through, the temperature really dropped and it was really freezing cold and I still used some of my energy left to run up the stairs to pump my heartbeat to keep me warm. But it isn't really helping much.

The super super steep steps!

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AND FINALLY ! After 3 hours! We managed to reach the end of the stairway but not the peak just yet. And it was really freezing up there! The wind was howling so strongly and blowing us up up and away! My hands and fingers WENT NUMB and I couldn't feel anything! I do not even know whether my tissue paper was wet. It just feel weird! Horrible feeling of my fingers!

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We had a little break there, ate potatoes chip drink oat milk and bought a good luck lock before we continue to climb up the rest of the 300m to the golden peak! We bought the ticket at RMB$20 continued climbing! God man! The wind was extremely strong and it was hard to look around as it was raining. Rain drops keep spatting on my face making it so hard to see and climb up the rest of the 300m. The steps up there was really steep. So much steeper compared to the steepest step down below. I was so afraid that I would fall and clanged onto the side real tight.

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YES PEOPLE! 0.3km LEFT!

The red house up there is the golden peak.

Oat Milk!

Good Luck Charm Lock

The golden peak ticket!

And after 3.5hours and 4.5km up the mountain! We finally made it to the top! Golden Peak! YAY!! We were all so happy and glad! (: Like finally! We sigh a sigh of relieve. Took videos for our project and photographs too! There were three groups up there including us (: And we had to wait for each other to help each other to film for us. And we even had to share our body heat by having group cuddles! And dammit! I am having cough and flu already man! ): I also locked my lock at the top of the mountains! YAY! Wanted to do it for my family members but it was too expensive to get 4 locks. And there will be no meaning to it if they didn't lock it there by themselves.

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We then headed back down the mountain top after everyone finished their filming. We only had 1.5 hours to climb down the mountains as we were suppose to meet at 2pm for lunch. I thought climbing down was easy and we climbed down quickly. But it was too quick for my little knees to handle. Damn! My knee hurts after climbing down for 15 minutes and had to climb down slowly. I couldn't even bend my knee properly. And had to climb down them in a very odd position. Sigh! Really terrible. I feel so horrible and old that my knee hurts! ): How come! I am a youth! ): Blame Netball! Lols! But I manage to reach the bottom before the time given.

Gosh! Even old grandmother can climb up the mountains! What am I man!

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Anyway, we had lunch at the meeting point before taking the shuttle bus back to the bottom of the mountain to take our own bus back to our hostel. Lunch was ...... didn't have much appetite to eat much. Well, Yi Xian, Han Hui, Liang Xun and I with 3 LSCT girls took the first bus down first while the rest took the other coming buses. I saw it was cushioned bus and drag them up first as this bus is good for have a nap down the mountains! 40 minutes ride down man! Why not take this bus! Better than the normal hard solid bus. And yup, I really slept and even when we arrived, I needed to be awaken. LOLS! Shiok~~!

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Awesome bus ride down!!! :D

We went to toilet first while waiting for the rest. Reminds me of yesterday's toilet trip here. I forgot to blog about it. The toilet doesn't have any doors and we decided to go in groups and pee at the same time and come up at the same time to have our own privacy. Also, to lock the main toilet door. But this time! I own the toilet myself! HAHAHAH! LOLS! Anyway, we meet everyone else and took our bus back to the hostel. It was 4pm when we left Wudang Mountains.

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And once the bus left the mountains, there goes Brenda into her lala land. And same goes to everyone else! What a great sleep! The trip back was long and we arrived at our hostel very late. Everyone was so tired, showered and slept already! What a day people!

Reflections

In this Wudang mountain trip, I really had a great experience climbing it. Though I already climb mountains and volcano before, this was really the toughest! Imaging Mt. Everest. And though it was just steps instead of those sand and soil I used to climb before, stairs were even worst! I do not know why but yes, worst! And I felt great when I reached the top of the mountain! Like YES! I accomplished something and had not given up in the midway.

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I was also impressed by the old lady I saw climbing up the mountain. She was so cheery and despite her conditions, she still pushed herself up the mountains with her walking stick. It isn't about the strength but the determination which keep pushing us up! I even thought I wouldn't complete climbing the mountain but everyone is doing so! What can stop me? Nothing! Moreover, I am a young healthy youth and I should even more preserver and climb up to the top. And yes, I made it! (: A sense of achievement man! And the feeling was great! Even though you think you cannot make it, try and preserver! Change your mindset and keep moving forward will really keep you moving. Same thing like what you are doing for your life. Everything is achieveable, nothing is not! You just have to change your mindset and keep moving forward to achieve better in life! (: