The Many Adventures of Ashley Rae: Tianhe Ta Scenic Spot.

One downside of living in California (and let's get real, there aren't many) is that I was living a life in semi-color. Not until I came to China did I realize how many shades of green exist in the natural world! Holy smokes, it is so beautiful! Seeing trees, grass, weeds, moss, even icky lakes...all in different shades of green. Simply stunning and beautiful. Also dirt. Who knew dirt could be such a beautiful thing?! This last week there was a national holiday in China so we only had classes Monday-Wednesday. We originally had plans to go out of town, but those got postponed because of illness (finally not on my part too!). So, we adjusted our plans and decided to stick close to home. We planned a day of shopping, a day of rest, and a day of adventure.

Our shopping day was somewhat successful. Not that anyone bought anything major (just a few DVDs), but we did come

to the realization that we no longer really get lost in our city. I find this to be somewhat of a huge deal. I mean, we live in a relatively big city and we thought we were lost because we made a wrong turn. But nope, we found a bus that we knew would take us to a familiar area and then we could get home. How awesome is that!? Even though getting lost is kind of fun, it's good to know that we can get ourselves home super easily. Our day of rest was also super successful. I pretty much didn't leave my couch all day until dinner. And speaking of dinner, we finally found a favorite restaurant on our street! I mean, we did love the hot pot place, but we were having difficulties finding a place that served individual dishes that we actually liked and were reasonably priced (in China standards..) Well, one owner always says hi to us when we walk by and for the last 5 weeks we've been promising him we would come in. I don't know why it took us five weeks...because it was amazing. Fried rice is probably one of the most delicious and versatile foods on the planet. It is so yummy. And this place knows how to make a good fried rice.

So for our adventure, we were having somewhat of a difficult time picking a place to go. There are a TON of parks, forests, ancient towns, and ethnic villages in our area. There is so much to see and do here, but we don't always know how to easily get to these places by bus and the weather is always a little unpredictable. But alas, we finally made a decision on Tianhe Ta scenic spot. We knew how to get there by bus, we had a lot of information about what there was to do there, and we had a general idea of what the cost would be. So off we went.

Getting to our adventures is usually an adventure in and of itself. Even if we know what bus to take, bus rides can be longer than expected, bumpy, jerky, crazy fun, or downright terrifying. Some days, buses don't stop at certain stops, some days buses run at different times. Getting a seat (especially for the long rides) can always be somewhat of a blood battle. And if you do get a seat, prepare to be leaned on, leaned over, sat on, poked, bumped, and stepped on. It is all part of the fun.

So we arrive in Tianhe Ta close to 3 hours after we left home. When there is traffic, it takes us close to an hour to get into town from our neighborhood on the outskirts. It took another 30+ minutes to get to the next bus that would take us to Tianhe Ta. Then that bus ride (which supposedly takes 45 minutes) took over an hour. But we left early for that reason exactly and got to Tianhe before noon. We bought our tickets for entry and were immediately confused. Some people in line in front of us got different tickets that cost less and none of us knew why. We also quickly discovered that we needed to purchase another ticket to take a tram to the park entrance, but we decided to just walk. When we found the entrance, it was instantly clear that it would be a great day. The first thing we came upon was a lovely little garden and building that used to be home to a poet. We then quickly found a pond with all kinds of cool things to see around it. The architecture in China is so awesome! There is so much intricate detail into everything. I wish things back home were as awesome.

From our research on the park, we knew that there were caves, rivers, mountains, fields, waterfalls, and ziplines. We walked around and formed a gameplan for the day to make sure we'd do everything we wanted to do before we had to leave. First up, waterfalls. And while these weren't the most impressive waterfalls in the area (I can't wait to go to Huangguoshu!) they were still very awesome. We even managed to climb over a little barrier and walk underneath one of them! And again...so many shades of green! We saw in one of the pools beneath the falls about a million tadpoles, which we actually see a lot of considering we've never seen a frog. We also got stopped a couple times in this area to pose for pictures with some locals. I still get a kick out of every time someone wants a photo with us. It's going to be weird going home and losing this celebrity status.

So we continued to wander around and find all kinds of amazing things. There were open fields of flowers, cliffs, streams and trees galore. But we really wanted to start making our way to the underground river. Part of our "all inclusive" ticket was a boat ride exploring the underground river and karst caves. This part was definitely super cool. They had it set up with a ton of bright colored lights throwing odd angles along all of the stalagmites and stalactites in the caves. It was like a magical underground rainbow water world of amazingness. One downside though was the fact that we came across some old ladies. At first we though they were super cool because they were dressed in traditional attire from the Miao ethnic group. But as our boat approached theirs, one of the old ladies pulled out a mop from who knows where and drenched me. My butt was soaking wet for the rest of the day. Evil old ladies. One of the funniest things though also happened. Jake decided to warn us half way through the cave that he read online that bats live in the caves. Literally right as he said that, a bat came swooping down above us and scared the living daylights out of me. I screamed so loud and all the Chinese people in our boat were cracking up. Can you say perfect timing?

The boats left us off on the opposite side of the caves where we were able to then get out and walk around the caves as well. It is strongly suggested to stay with a tour group because it is very easy to get lost. Of course we didn't exactly follow the suggestion, but we didn't really get lost either. It was really magnificent being able to walk around this area that has been forming for millions of years. And because of the river running through the caves, everything was very slick and wet. Of course I pulled a typical Ashley and at one point slipped and slid down a flight of stairs, underground...in a cave. Yeah, that also got quite a few laughs out of those around us. And I'm sure no one who knows me will be surprised to hear that it happened twice. Yes, I fell twice. Underground, in a cave...in China. My bum and bruised arms can prove it. I guess I should just count my lucky stars that I didn't fall over a ledge or anything...I mean, I am the queen of the clumsy. I place all blame on the mean old ladies who splashed me head to toe. If I wasn't so wet...maybe I wouldn't have slipped.

So when we left the darkness of the caves and reentered our somewhat sunny (okay, not really sunny) day, we made our way over to the Lover's Knot Bridge. Okay, I'm all for love and all, but I am definitely not found of suspended rope bridges. No thank you. But of course, I couldn't not go on the bridge. And of course, there were people on the bridge with us who thought it would be so hilarious to be jumping and swaying on the bridge. Needless to say, I walked across it as quickly as possible. This is also the point in the day that my mood started to slightly sour. We bought the most expensive "all-inclusive" ticket (not that we were really given a choice) yet we had to pay ¥3 to go across the bridge. Now I know that's only what, 50 cents. But still, we already paid ¥50 and it was a little bit annoying.

Across the bridge was where we could zipline back towards the entrance of the park. Now I've never been on a zipline before and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at all nervous. I mean, you're suspended super high above the ground, being held on to a cable by just a couple straps of fabric and a giant hook. Not such a comforting thought, but thrilling nonetheless. So we get up to the zipline line and we come to discover it costs an extra ¥37 to zipline. Now, I really started to get angry. Why call a ticket "all-inclusive" if you have to pay almost double that original cost for all the features? I mean, sure the language barrier could have played a factor and maybe our ticket wasn't really "all-inclusive" and at the end of the day I spent an equivalent of what, $16 for a full day of fun. I don't think there is anywhere in the states you can zipline for $16. So, instead of being angry, I strapped myself in and enjoyed flying across China. What a rush! Until of course I couldn't figure out the brakes and came tumbling in to the landing at top speed...oops!

We made our way back to the entrance to catch our bus home. We were tired and had to rest up before we started class the next day. That's another different and funny thing about China. Because of the extra off day due to the holiday, our school week started on Sunday instead of Monday. So, while it's nice having a 3 day weekend, the fun gets a little spoiled when you have to work 6 days the following week. You can't say the Chinese aren't ambitious!

The bus ride home was just as crowded and just as fun. It was another successful weekend in Guiyang. I don't know how I'll possibly bring myself to leave this place. It truly has become home (at least for now!) to me. There are only 67 days left that I get to call this place home. Only 67 more days to spend with my students. Only 67 more days until I start the next great adventure of my life. As excited as I am for what's to come, I want to continue to cherish every moment I have here. I hope I'm able to give back to Guiyang as much as it has given to me.