Avatar Adventure

Are you scared of heights? How about stairs? Both these phobias would be considered unhelpful in our past few days spent in Zhengjiajie National Forest Park, the inspiration behind James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar. After grabbing our favorite breakfast treat of pork boazi (dumplings) from our preferred family restaurant we made our way to the park entrance located just a block or so from our hostel. We lucked out on weather, it was sunny, blue and the warm breeze smelled of adventure and exploration. All of our wild spirit and thirst for a serene hike in the mountains was momentarily squelched when we saw the packs of Chinese tourists queued for the shuttle busses which appeared far and few between. It must have been twenty minutes of a hurricane upon the ears. Middle aged women jabbering over megaphones while babies cried for some peace and quiet, which evidently back fired. When a purple bus would pull up before the twelve lines, desperation was visible in the pupils of those around us. Rules, humanities and common curtesies were in the rear view mirror as sightseers kicked and scratched for a seat or at least a spot onboard. Drivers confidentiality took the hairpin turns at insane speeds, whipping around corners while some unfortunate passengers lost their lunches.  Team T was not alone has we pushed for the doors at the first stop. We had only caught quick glimpses of the towering Karsts from our sardine can of a bus but now the scenery unfolded like that on a stage.

The stone towers stood out again the blue sky and were dotted with particularly stubborn trees clinging to the slope. We walked with our eyes turned to the heavens, necks bent back awestruck with the grand wonders of nature. Until we saw the mini train. Gosh, just when you think you have seen every way one could draw in those on break like moths to a lamp........ The trains would pass every two minutes or so, insisting on blaring their horns whenever they did so. We spent the day on remote trails which most tours weren’t up to tackle, and the views were dizzying. There were lots and lots and lots of stone steps but we consider this training for our upcoming trek in Nepal rather than torture. The day was great, we got good weather, excercise, trails and visibility. On the way to a bus stop we even got to know some local monkeys who appeared out of thin air when we  opened up some snacks. They followed behind us for a bit, hoping for some nibbles.

The next day was rainy so we spent it studying, but we wanted to take advantage of our multiple day pass so we returned the day after dispite the clouds and showers. Deciding to learn from our mistakes of the first day we went later in the day and took a different route to hike which led us along the floor of the valley alongside a nice brook. We strolled along that for a while before tackling a trail that took us practically straight up a karst until we got to a crowded bit of trails completely over run with bus tours. The views were nice but the megaphones were deafening and it was more than we could stand before retreating to some steeper and quieter corners of the park. That’s more our style anyway.