Chapter ten: Hiking

Deadline is over, time for some relaxing! We decided to go to the mountains west of Beijing to hike and spend the night so we could see the sunrise. As this was my first 'real' hike on a mountain, it was hard, but I managed.

We had some troubles getting to the mountain: not knowing when the bus would arrive we almost took a 400 RMB taxi because the taxi drivers told us the bus would only arrive in 3 hours, when actually the bus arrived 10 minutes later and cost us only 7 RMB. On the bus we decided to go to a different mountain than planned, as time was running out and we didn't want to risk having to hike in the dark. When at the village we bought some very delicious apples before walking to our starting point: the dam. Yet the trouble did not end yet: some chinese construction workers did not allow us to get to the hiking trail! After half an hour negotiating in pour Chinese they eventually showed us the way.

The hike itself was long, filled with challenges but ultimately so much fun! I really pushed my boundaries at some points.

The trees were very dense at certain spots (okay, a lot of spots, especially when going down...), making it almost impossible to go through. Luckily I just have some scratches and not more, but unfortunately they struggle to get through the trees cost us two precious apples. :(

Some slopes were incredibly steep, and without the proper hiking shoes it was slippery and sometimes even dangerous to climb! Good for me, Ivan had the proper shoes ('goat shoes') and was there to catch me when it went a little bad.

The night was cold, but as I brought 7 layers of clothes and very fluffy warm inside shoes it was okay. The tent and sleeping bags we rente did a good job to keep us warm as well. Only one downside: when we arrived at the top of the mountain it was already very dark and we were soooo tired. We didn't have the time to search for a proper tent location, so there were some bumps and the tent was on a small slope: not ideal. But it worked out fine.

To conclude: it was great, and the views were AMAZING!

Oh, and I hitchhiked for the first time in my life!