Day 3 - 21st July 2002

Train » Station - 0600

Awoken by the massive noise of my friends, I got up and exchanged my train card for my ticket and packed up the rest of my belongings. The weather outside was dismal and I slugged to the sink area to have my teeth and face cleaned.

We arrived at our destination station at 0630 and we all removed ourselves from the vehicle. As our people came to, my comrade and I took the time to record the situation.

Breakfast - 0800

We trekked for at least 10 minutes before we could see the exit. Upon our exit, we were presented with an extra tour guide (小李) who would guide us along (連吉). Then came a coach - much like the one we had back in Chang Chun but much smaller and uncomfortable. An hours ride to the breakfast place and I was busting. I rushed up the stairs and took a leak. I turned round to breakfast soon afterwards. The breakfast needed adapting to. We hoped that the food would not be standard for the whole of our time in Lian Ji, but then, we still needed to wait and see.

Trip to Lake - 0830

After the miserable breakfast, we sat back in our seats and hoped for better. Xiao Li advised us that it would be another 4 hours before the next civilized place so we made ourselves comfortable given the confined space. As the bus turned out of the town, our new guide talked about wedding ceremonies in this part of the country.

The transport network was dilapidated in some parts and it was fun to traverse the mud roads from time to time.

Mid Route Stop - 1215

Somewhere between long rides, there is a stop for leaks. This time, we stopped at a gas station to relieve ourselves. Unfortunately, there was no toilet in the gas station so we could only do it naturally.

Lunch - 1300

We passed by the infamous lake soon after the checkpoint. It was an unremarkable, clear body of water reflecting the mountains that fed it its water. At 1300, we had lunch. It was a spectacular 10 course fish festival and we all spent a lot of time removing the offensive bones from the dead animals. Needless to say, most of us were, again, dissatisfied. The toilet there was the most horrible since the trip began. It had no running water system and human waste lay on the receptacle waiting for chickens to peck.

Boat Trip - 1400

We embarked on a boat trip around the lake after the fishy fiesta. The weather had changed significantly since our arrival now that the cloud had cleared and the sun blazed hotly upon us.

Dried Up Waterfall - 1630

We disembarked after 2 -3 hours on the boat and boarded the coach. The sweltering heat roasted us as we clambered into the oven. The air conditioning took at least 30 minutes to cool the bus down and by then, we had already reached the newest addition to our agenda: a dried up waterfall. We passed by hawkers advertising services to put your picture onto a backdrop of a running waterfall and other stores to look at the river under the cliff.

Our younger members again spent much time at the drink and snack stalls to satisfy aching thirst and hunger before malnourishment set in.

Dinner - 1730

We boarded the coach after the mass picture taking and headed for dinner. Since we were a little early, some families decided to take a speed cruise around the lake in speedboats.

We then munched through dinner. The dinner was considered, by the majority, to be satisfactory.

Hotel - 2000

We arrived at the hotel as the sky cast an orange glow on the surroundings. The hotel looked quite remarkable from the outside but as usual, the level lighting inside and outside as the sky darkened highlighted the rural situation. It was dim and we took every effort to lighten our rooms. Using a 3 second shutter, I managed to capture an 'amazing' photograph of advertising quality of the hotel facade.

The use of hotel facilities required the payment of fees: RMB 30 for pool use and RMB 50 per bowling round. The high cost surprised us all. We went for the pool and realised after about an hour of excercise that the water temperature was dropping to feverish levels. We exited soon enough to prevent any damage to our bodies. Though we had a golf cart to take us to the pool, we had to travel back to our rooms on slippers. It was very difficult in the cold night.

---< end of day 3 >---