Well last weekend was the Dragon Boat Festival here in China:-) You may be thinking, "What in the World is that?"...Well If I could remember I would tell you:-) But more importantly, my friend Yola and I decided to take a trip together:-) She had 2 days off work and so we decided to go to another city in Hubei called Yi Chang(sounds like E-chong). She talked me into using a travel agency to book the tickets and so we did. I went with her to get them and we chose the trip that included the 3 Gorges dam and a few stop at some historical points...and best of all...a 4 star Hotel:-) So when I arrived to meet her at the bus station at 7am Saturday morning she told me that the travel agency had to make a change to our original plans. Instead of the historical points we will be going to Waterfall in some mountains!! i was thrilled...I don't read Chinese and my listening is getting better but not quick enough to understand everything about the historical landmarks described by the tour guide:-( HA So I was beyond thrilled by this change!!! As we got on the bus I saw that it was going to be a very interesting 2 days...I must admit that this week I have struggled with CHINA!!!! I mean, I guess I should say that I am beyond the brim of my breaking point with some things right now. Well, basically I just need more love and patience...like A LOT!!!! I think it has something to do with so much change in my life right now and so many people in my life leaving. The adjustment has been a little trying at times:-( But, I thought, "2 days is no big deal"...Oh I really had no idea what I was getting into!
Yola and I were very excited to be together for 2 days:-) She comes over to my apartment when she can but she recently graduated fromt he University and got a very good job so I don't get to see her very much.
After the 4 hour bus ride we arrived at the falls!!! I was really taken by all the children...surprise, surprise:-) This little girl was precious...she didn't really want to take her pic with me but her parents wanted her to and I thought she was really amazing:-)
This little angel was right up my alley!!!! Such a cute chinese cowgirl!
As we started our walk I was amazed at the beauty that surrounded us!! It was great!
The Water mills were very cool!
This bridge and pagoda in the trees was quite a sight! So surreal!
This little path across the water was like huge stepping stones with the different provinces on them!
I found Guizhou...That's my new home!!
Yola said she would stay in Hubei and be sad because I will not be there anymore:-(
This bridge was pretty rickety! The guys behind Yola were being crazy and he almost didn't make it to me...I was hollering in Chinese and they were laughing at me....it was really funny:-)
Then I climbed into the river on these rocks and had quite the crowd taking my picture...Chinese people can be very fearful to take risks and have an adventure...I was just paving the way for them:-)
Our walk to the falls was about 2 hours and Yola was getting pretty tired...she kept asking if we were almost there...I told her that's what children say on long road trips:-)
She said we must have a crazy pic:-)
This way to the falls:-)
Finally we arrived! It was beautiful!!!
She was so happy!!
We got to walk behind the falls!
It was so much fun!!
We walked to another fall and as we looked up at all the stairs I was excited to make it to the top...she was worried...
Then we realized it was impossible to climb...It made me think of the movie National Treasure...Chinese people LOVE that move...maybe they did this to recreate the movie:-)
A man walking by really wanted us to climb the rocks so he could take our picture:-) I guess he saw me climbing the others and figured i would like these too:-)
Yola was enjoying the shopping area!!!
I think she makes a cute cowgirl!
This was our bus...we headed back to the city of Yi Chang for dinner and then to our Hotel...but there was a slight problem..when our tour changed many things changed...like our 4 star hotel turned into a 2 star hotel:-() Oh such an adventure!!
Next morning we left bright and early to head to the 3 Gorges!!! This is one of the largest Dams in the World! I have seen many pictures of this place and was so excited to see it in person.
Like many other places in China...the pictures are not exactly what the real place looks like...But one thing that really surprised me was the quality that was used to build this place! It was one of the first places I have seen such quality and technology in the building of something. As you can see there are escalators that go up to the top of the structure...they are 4 levels...the one you see in front, then one going to the left and then up again to the right and then up to the top.
Random pic of our matching rings we bought to remember our trip together:-)
This is the entrance:-)
Unfortunately the day we were there was VERY "foggy"...that's the politically correct was to say it was extremely polluted:-( We couldn't see the entire structure of the Dam.
Also no water was flowing the day we went. Apparently there was not enough water in the river at that time. But we were still happy to take to trip there and see what we could:-)
This was another baby on our trip...this little friend could work the iphone better than her mom:-)
So it wouldn't be a chinese tour without a trip to a temple...
Much to my surprise when I first came to China I learned that many temple are not just to worship Buddha...they are for all different people that did good things in the past and they decide to make them into gods after they die.
This art work was painted to depict the memory of the man who they are honoring in the temple. It is not a place people normally worship...it's just a tourist trap.
The outside was very intricate!!
To make a VERY LONG story short...we were suppose to be back in Wuhan by 4pm. But because of the whole "change in tour" we had to wait in Yi Chang for 4 hours and then take the 4 hour bus ride back to Wuhan:-( It was a little less than fun but His ways are more perfect than mine...i got to share with some people while we waited and then on the way back this little girl sat next to me on the bus. She and her mom were on the trip too but not our tour so we didn't meet them until the end. She cold speak about 5 sentences in English, "Hello, My name is Candy. I am 5 yrs old. My favorite color is blue and I like cats. I live in Wuhan. Thank you for listening." It was really cute the first few times....haha...but after about 10 or 11 times I taught her some new words and then let her play with my ipod:-) She was really sweet and wants me to come to her house:-) It was fun and it was great to spend time with Yola. It will probably be our last time to see each other for a while so we will have good memories forever:-) We got home about 10pm:-) Oh China!!!!
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