The R & R That Wasn’t, Part 5 – Shuimanxiang

April 12^th and up reasonable early again for a drive to Shuimanxiang. Supposedly from here you can take trips to Wuzhishan mountain but we have never seen any sign of any help for tourists at all. What tourist information signs there are, (see album) are tucked away out of sight. Definitely still worth a visit though. This is the view as you approach,

And now, here we all are at the bottom of the stairs. I seem to remember we tried to count them but I don’t know if we succeeded or if we just forgot. There’s a lot anyway, especially on a nice warm Hainan day.

And this is the view from somewhere between half way, and nearly all the way, otherwise known as a ‘rest stop’ for those who needed them!

It’s well worth the climb though and here we all are ‘on top of the world’!

At the top there is a Buddhist temple. It looks very attractive, in the old wooden Hainan style, even though I believe it’s made of bricks and steel.

You are welcome to go inside where you will find a huge hall with the golden Buddha at the end. There is a small tourism presence where you can buy incense sticks and other small knick-knacks. There is no pressure however.

Of course wildlife had to be found again but this time it was not #1 who found it but Amber. It actually bit her on her arm which swelled up quite a bit and was a little painful to boot.

Chris decided to try out his inner Ringo Starr, a little bit worrying really. If you managed to hit this gong successfully I’m sure it would reverberate all around the valleys. Still, there was no ‘hammer’ there so he couldn’t make too much noise.

So it was then off back down the steps, definitely easier going down than up. I hate steps anyway and would prefer a track. We went off the village at the bottom.We were busy looking for food when #1 decided he had found just the right place.

No the chickens were not for eating and neither was this!

They did manage to feed us though, lovely grub as it usually is in small towns and villages here in Hainan.

You can find more photos of Shuimanxiang here –

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2CXBRWAvqeC8JuZu9

And that was for our last day out in Wuzhishan, we headed home and stopped off at my favourite, maybe the only decent, coffee shop in town. It is perfectly located, slap bang between the Post Office, the Car Wash and the Police Station! It's also a place that I would love to own, if I had the money of course!

And here they all are, except me of course, waiting for their relaxing cups of coffee!! The coffee served here is Foshan coffee and personally, I love it. It is strong but not bitter.

So, it’s goodnight from me and goodnight from them, see you in a while.