Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya
 
Wutai Shan hey!
 
For such a destination the infrastructure to and from really is in need of a re-think. I guess the 'getting there' is pretty easy as your walled it full and the Minister for Tourism knows this. The hard part is getting out of the place to anywhere but Taiyuan. Many buses depart Wutai Shan for Taiyuan but it seems bugger all buses depart the place for any other destinations and buggered if I wanted to go back to Taiyuan city!
 
After a delicious Flying Dagger Noodle breakfast Jiang Ni and I began our new adventure of leaving Taihuai Town, the thousands of people, the 'too many' temples and the begging monks. We were told to go here and there to catch one of the supposed many buses to Datong city and finally we met a local bus driver who laughed at all the answers we had been given. It was Sunday and there were no buses to Datong on Sundy besides the one that left at eight in the morning.
 
Who in the world is up at eight in the morning?
Besides a begging monk powdering his brow with cement dust!
 
In the end our only way out of the place was to choose between catching a bus back to Yaiyuan (which neither of us wanted to do) or to simply stay put on the local mans mini bus and head to a little town fifty kilometers away called Shahe as this is where the nearest train station is located. Thankfully he also knew that at the little bus station in Shahe town there were several buses to Datong City also.
 
The journey to Shahe town was simply stunning.
 
The road wound its way through huge rocky mountains that sometimes gave way to huge grasslands to be then eaten away by another breathtaking peak. Small rivers cleaned the feet of the huge slopes and small villages could be spotted on some of the beautiful grasslands.
 
We sadly left the grass covered mountains behind and they were replaced by huge bare heaps of dirt (mountain) that reminded me of living in Gansu Province. Around mid day we arrived at Shahe town. Jiang Ni spent her time relaxing and I headed out into the streets to see what was happening. I found it to be a lot like my little Tianyang Town in Guangxi Province. The same dusty streets, the same shops but here in Shahe there were much more donkey's pulling carts along the roads. Around two I headed back and we were soon leaving dusty little Shahe town behind us and venturing north towards Datong City. This part of the journey took five hours and much of it was beautiful but that also sadly soon gave way to a more relaxing scenery.
 
The entire journey reminded me so much of the journey to and from Xiahe Town in the very far west of Sichuan Province.
 
When we arrived in Datong we found no Pedecabs or Tuk Tuks so we had to rely on a cab driver to do the Hotel Boogie for us. Of course he wouldn't listen when I told him I didn't freaking want a three star hotel, just give me on at my price with a bathroom. He chose to believe that I did want a three to five star hotel and that the hotel I wanted didn't exist so after two or three goes we simply walked next door to the one he chose for me and found it to fit perfectly into what myself and Jiang Ni were after.
 
Bloody cab drivers!
 
Give them a sticker with their name, number and photo on it and they think they know everyone they pickup and what they want for dinner and what type of hotel they want!
 
So the journey to or from Wutai Shan.
You really should do the Shahe town adventure.
It really is a stunning six or seven (maybe eight) hour journey.
Another big plus is that you also don't have to go to greedy Tiayuan City!
 
Beers N Noodles toya.....shane
_________________________________________________________
 
The soundtrack to this entry was chillin John Mayer
The album was 'Continuum'
__________________________________________________________