Stranger in a strange land... No limit.

I am writing this at the Southern Peak of Mt. Hua, elevation 2154,9 metres. It took me just short of five hours to get here.

During my first days in Henan, I am taken to Luo Yan grottoes to see enough Buddhas for a lifetime, Bai Ma temple to see some more and a family dinner where people immediately make the assumption that I wish to marry my friend. Reminds me of a similar assumption made by certain other people in the past.

I am also taken to Shaolin Temple by my friend and her friends, but at this point relics are not very interesting to me. Also, someone loses our tickets so we cannot go see the monks give a martial arts presentation. I do not much care, as things quickly got to a point where the rest speak Chinese among themselves and I, hating to interrupt, leave myself out of the conversation completely. In the evening, as another person joins, I learn how to make steamed buns and take a long walk. People stare at me on the street quite shamelessly.

In the evening I am informed that the plans of travelling with my friend have changed completely. There would be another person accompanying us to mountains and a trip around China is not going to happen. I think long and hard during the night and wake up early to catch my friend and inform her that all things considered, it is best if I go to the mountains alone. Both of us are upset at how the situation has evolved, but after an argument, discussion and agreement, it is decided that I will take to the mountains alone.

And I am glad that I do. I first go to Mt. Tai. The train trip there is pure torment, nine hours in a car with people with no sense of personal space at all. The mountain is quite disappointing. At first, naturally I am worried if I do it alone, and I think I must be crazy to climb a mountain in the dark. It turns out there is no climbing involved, and it is merely a three-hour hike up some stairs. At the top I rent a coat and sleep on a rock basin for a few hours before waking up to see the sunrise. Sadly it is very cloudy and not much can be seen. I sleep for a while longer in a nook without wind and hike back down to kill time before hopping on a train back to Zhengzhou. Arriving, I get a ride on a flimsy vehicle, the main building materials of which seem to be optimism and the sense of danger. This is not helped by the driver going against the stream on one-way streets.

The next day I take on Mt. Hua, which is considerably less a pleasant walk to scenic places. The climb takes some time and I do not stop for sightseeing as it is already dark, but at last I reach the Southern Peak. There, I dry my clothes a little in the wind, have a modest supper, find a place with the least wind and fall asleep so hard I am sure my body leaves an imprint on the stone.