zhang jia jie

As with every fun adventure there first needs to be a long, bizarre, and uncomfortable travel experience. So this was our 13 hour hard seat train ride through the night! Thank goodness for mini uno cards and fun girls to make the ride a little more bearable! 

We arrived early Friday morning and stopped by the hostel to drop off our stuff. This sign was on the wall... gotta love Chinglish! Number 4 is my favorite. 

Sleep deprived and a little loopy, we headed straight to Zhang Jia Jie National Park. At the entrance we asked a Chinese couple if they'd be willing to take a picture of us and they happily agreed and then handed the camera to a random stranger and posed with us... ok?

We got on a bus that took us to the top of a mountain. And what did we find on top of that mountain? Lots of gorgeous views and a giant McDonalds. China knows just how I like to hike :) 

These are the Avatar Mountains!

I wish SO badly my camera could capture just what my eyes could see! It was truly incredible. 

Roommate pic!

After a few hours of exploring and bartering we started the long hike down the mountain... Miserable hike but gorgeous views and lots of laughs along the way! 

The next day we woke up early and headed to Tienam Mountain where we waited in a loooong line to get on one of the longest gondolas in the world! 

As usual, though, we made some friends along the way... This is Molly and Phoebe!

The gondola ride to the top of the mountain took about 35 minutes and was SO beautiful!! 

Sooo we got to the top and walked along a glass pathway off the side of a cliff! It was scary and a half. 

This is the cliff...

Then we went to the Buddhist Temple! But on the way there I stopped to take a selfie and the Chinese guy across from me thought I was taking a picture of him, when I told him I wasn't I jokingly asked if he wanted me to... and he said "Yes!" so we got a pic. 

The Buddhist Temple was gorgeous! Very detailed and beautiful. It was several buildings with huge Buddha statues in each. Many people were praying and we even saw a couple Monks! 

We then headed back to the gondola to get to the Stairway to Heaven {which we were really excited about} but on the way there one of the girls tripped and sprained her ankle.. So we carried her! 

Always an adventure.

So to get to the Stairway to Heaven we had to take a bus on the Highway to Hell. See for yourself...

Finally we made it to the Stairway to Heaven!! 999 steps to the top and I climbed every single one with a smile on my face! Ok, just kidding... but I did climb all the way to the top! And my legs were literally on fire.

{Clearly I'm running out of poses...}

Oh and just in case you were wondering, this is the view from the other side at the top. I just laughed- typical China. Wouldn't expect anything less. 

Sunday night we took a sleeper train home which was DREAM! Ah it was so nice. I got a full eight hours and slept like a baby. We made some friends from Spain- they're students studying in a city a couple hours from Zhongshan. We've decided to start keeping a log of all the friends we make on our travels, because there are many! And I love it! 

China, you're filthy but I love you :)