We went down to breakfast at about 7:30 this morning, and we decided it was a mistake to go before 8:00. The restaurant was quite large, but every table was occupied. We wandered around hoping to grab a table as someone left. Finally I lucked out and found a table for two. When Paul arrived with a plate of food, I then went to a waitress and got silverware, napkins, and coffee. Then I went searching for my food. The buffet at the last hotel was much better in my opinion.
At 10:00 A.M. we all met Richard, our guide, downstairs. As we all got on the bus, he said that people don’t have to be at work until 10. All of China is on Beijing time, and this area really is in another time zone. That is why We were in stop-and-go traffic because of an accident ahead. The left lane had suddenly been closed with orange cones with very little warning, so four cars ran into each other.
We continued on and finally got onto park buses that followed a scenic mountain road beside a mountain stream. After they dropped us off, we walked uphill for ten minutes to Heavenly Lake. There we boarded a boat that took us around this lake surrounded by mountains. The pictures would have been better if we had been there in the afternoon, but the scene reminded me of some Chinese brush paintings of mountains.
Heavenly Lake
Four of us decided to be adventurous for lunch, so we ate rice pilaf and milk tea at a yurt farther up the mountain. The others ate a buffet lunch closer to the lake. After lunch we walked downhill to the bus that took us back down the mountain road.
Yurts
Then we drove through traffic to get back to town. We shopped at the Grand Bazaar. I found some sparkly Christmas gifts for the Red Hat Ladies. Richard took us to a good dinner at a smorgasbord restaurant across the street. It was raining when we left. Traffic was bad, and we couldn’t get out into traffic. The parking lot security guard couldn’t get the oncoming traffic to stop. After an hour, the guard finally unlocked the chain that was preventing us to go forward….duh! Drivers are NOT courteous here. It was a very interesting experience!
11181 steps/4.81 miles
Our group of six travelers: Kay, Paul, Anita, Larry, Carol, Paul