We then went to visit a hill named Moon Hill, so called because of the moon shaped hole through the top. There are 800 steps to the summit and we decided to see what the view was like from the top. We also thought it would be a good gauge as to whether we could manage the monumental 66,000 steps at Huangshan Mountain later this week.
When we arrived at the start of the steps, several old local women tried to sell us drinks, postcards and the usual touristy tat. We said no thank you and proceeded to climb. As we began our ascent one of the old wizened Chinese ladies, with a thin reedy voice (reminiscent of the Mogwai salesman in the Gremlins movie) peeled off from the group and shadowed us up, presumably to keep trying to sell us stuff. The going wasn't too bad at first, though being 35 degrees we were already sweating, but our legs were doing just fine, at least for now. I soon noticed that the old lady was keeping pace with me, step for step and was fanning me as I climbed, which was a welcome breeze. However as the climb continued, in my heat addled haze I began to think of her as a circling vulture, waiting for me to expire before picking my bones clean. 15 minutes later, my legs a little jelly-like and my shirt soaked through, I was grateful for the gentle breeze coming from the constant fanning at my back, though in truth I had all but forgotten the source. Nikala was just a few paces ahead of me and our guide just in front of her. According to her the summit was now only about 7 or 8 minutes of stair action away and just around the corner, though the way I was feeling it may as well have been a mile away. Then, as I dragged my achy, sweating body towards the final set of steps, my will ebbing as the strength fled my legs and my breath coming in ragged gasps, a small pruned face loomed in my peripheral vision and said with an almost hypnotic reedy tone and a slight hint of victory. "Wooould yoou liike a Pepsiii?"
A view of Moon Hill from the bottom:
Views from the top:
Survivor of a vulture attack:
After the Moon Hill climb, we went to visit the home of a local farmer, She was very welcoming and gave us fresh pears to eat when we arrived. The conditions they live in a basic to say the least but we couldn't help thinking that if the same property was in France or the UK then people would be falling over themselves to buy it for its rustic charms.
After a quick break back at the hotel we were out again in the afternoon to attend our cooking class. The first task was to go to the local food market to buy our ingredients and a short walk later we were there. We were pleased to see just how much fantastic looking fresh fruit and veg there was, and taken slightly aback by the big bowls of snakes, frogs, and various other unidentifiable squirming things. In the next area were the livestock and butchers, and this wasn't for the fainthearted. There were Chickens, rabbits, ducks, pigeons, fish, and sadly there were also dogs. I couldn't bring myself to look at the stall with the dogs so you wont find any pictures of them below. Despite the cramped looking conditions the animals were in, they looked in far better condition then those you would find in our mass produced battery farms and the like, and we also didn't witness any cruelty or none that we could discern (other than the fact that everything was going to get eaten of course).
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