I went camping last weekend.
The above sentence, though true to every word, failed to capture what really went down the 2.5 days out on the road, away from the city. Nothing scandalous or dramatic happened. On contrary, it was a weekend adventure Spielberg himself would be proud of.
Sure, the first night in a questionable motel somewhere in Hangzhou wasn't quite roughing it, but after a 3 hour bus ride and arriving past midnight on a cold, rainy Friday night/Saturday we were happy NOT to be in a tent. Katie and I got rooms on the top floor (ballers, holler) and it was a room with a squatter toilet + 4 beds. Anyway, it was suffice to say we passed out right away.
8AM breakfast -- before I write about breakfast, the plaster on the ceiling fell on me in the wee hours. Plus, we were idiots and forgot to turn on the heat. So even though we were indoors, it felt like the great outdoors. I noticed Katie had put on all her clothes/jackets as she emerged from her sleeping bag of a cocoon. Back to breakfast. The tour group said western style breakfast -- toast with PB &J does not constitute as a western breakfast, but whatever. I 'heart' PB&J.
10:30am. How many blondes does it take to set up a tent? Apparently just 1 Italian guy.
12pm. We rappelled 50 metres (estimate) over a cliff into a cave. Took a good 3 hours for everyone to make a go. 2 things to highlight during rappelling. 1) Lady in white sweat pants defied all odds and kept her fuckin white ass sweat pants dirt free. 2) Food truck lady and her not so reliable husband. They both went down the cliff together, she was scared shitless and her husband just scurried past her to get to the bottom. Big time douche.
3pm. Underground caves. Lady in white pants managed to keep herself dry and dirt free. She either had 3 pairs of the same pants or she's a magician.
6pm. BBQ + lanterns + campfire.
11pm. 3 little pigs in a tent. No ghost stories, unless you count the "I killed a man" story from Kristen, which isn't worth repeating.
7am. Cue "Circle of Life". Yes, that's Kristen's alarm and it was quite fitting as the sun was shining and a million fuckin birds were chirping.
10am. After breakfast, we went to a new location to explore more underground caves. But this time, it was straight out of Goonies. No safety harnesses or gear, it was just a pair of revolutionary made shoes (with holes), 1 flashlight and our wits. It took 2 hours (maybe more) to trek down and circle back, but the last leg of the excursion was the most memorable.
Imagine yourself 50 yards below the ground, in caves that not many people have had the luxury to explore. Makeshift ladders made of bamboo/steel and a rope to guide you further down into the cave. Imagine a body of water, a rickety bamboo raft and a waterfall at the other end. Yes, we had to hop onto the raft (2 at a time), pull ourselves across the body of water, hop onto the ledge and climb up the mother fuckin water fall (it was like a 30 feet vertical climb). All this in the dark, without a safety harness or anything. Its a testament of what we can achieve when we're put to the test. Spielberg would be proud -- heck, I'm proud of us and thankful no one had gotten hurt.
Lady in white sweat pants was still lady in WHITE sweat pants.
4pm. One last hike to get to the bus. After hiking for an hour or so, we came upon a cliff and had to walk down. This one wasn't too bad. Down the cliff and another hour or so hike later, we finally made it to the bus. It was a great end to a great weekend adventure.
10pm. Back to the city.
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