I got up at the crack of dawn, in fact before the crack. My phone illuminated the room as I found me slippers and made my way to the kitchen to switch on the kettle and toaster, breakfast is so important. I was heading to Xishan which is about two hours away and so I needed to have an early start. The temperature was pleasant in the morning due to the cloud cover, but later in the day it became very sticky indeed.
I was wanting to climb Piao Miao mountain but was unsure of the way up and so I took a punt getting off the bus on the southern side of the mountain which as it turned out was where I went wrong. I walked for miles and miles along through the collection of houses that ran along the bottom of the mountain and then I decided to venture into the labyrinth to try and find a way up to the top. I could see a pagoda on the top and so I headed for that but the concrete path that I was following was heading in away from it slightly.
The path ran out and so I headed through the tea plantation and followed the rough tracks between the plants straight up the side of the mountain. After about 20 mins or so it was getting very rough underfoot, the rocks were giving way when I stepped on them and the undergrowth too was starting to attack me. The thorns on some creeper attacked my trousers and skin and it was becoming a bit too intense because by this time there was no track and I was just trying to head up, but in the end I had to concede that the mountain had won and I was heading back down. Mind you that was easier said than done, but after a few more scratches and stumbles I made it back to solid ground relatively unscathed.
Not sure if this is some kind of chestnut
I had been clever enough to pack a small lunch and so after another hour or so I stopped under a shady tree and shared my meagre lunch with the ants. My goal was to reach the entrance to Piao Miao and all I had to do was to walk another 6 kms but I’m afraid it was all a bit too much because by this time the temperature had risen significantly along with the humidity and so I called it a day and headed home and will conquer Piao Miao another day.
I finished the day in a very different way, I went to a expat get together near my apartment which is in staggering contrast to where I had been today. Both of these worlds have their beauty and appeal. I was up on the 42nd floor when I took these pictures of Suzhou city. From up here the city looks quite amazing especially with the East gate building dominating the skyline and of course it es even more amazing when they have the light show.
