Day 25- 28th March (Determination is the key!)
I didn’t feel like waking up this morning at all. The thick blanket covering me just felt so comfortable. Haha the bed was big enough that Charmaine and I didn’t even touch each other throughout the night!! ;O We were supposed to meet at 7 for breakfast, but 4 of us woke up only at 6! We quickened our actions and managed to gather on time :D The breakfast was :(, just like on the cruise. Didn’t had my fill, but thankfully we prepared muffins! Heh. After checking out from the hotel, we then set off for our half a day climb to the peak of 武当山. It was an optional thing, and surprisingly everyone except for those who are sick volunteered to go! (Y) All are strong-minded ;) Look, we're all ready to set off! ;)
Gents? ;O
Look at the clouds. Can you imagine? :]
An elderly clearing the rubbish manually :\
So, we left at about 7 and all we did was just climb~climb~climb~climb~. 金顶, which is the peak of the mountain, is where we're heading to!
I do not know how many hundreds of these kind of steps i've climbed.

I thought i was near when i saw this. But noooooo! :{ It was just the beginning.
I finally manage to capture this! >.< Majority of the kids have their diapers on like that without covering their bottom area so that they can pee and poo easily :\ I think i'll never ever see this in Singapore huh/
STEPS.... AND MORE STEPS....
Snooooooow~
These are locks that people who climbed up to the peak use to lock onto the chain along the stairs, as a form of remembrance that one has reached the top. It is also used to give luck to friends and family.

We climbed 100 steps (百步) after 100 steps and it doesn’t seem to end. When I see smiles on the people who are walking down, I felt so :@ !!!The entire mount to the very top is about 4.5 km. It may seem short, but it totally trains your level of perseverance, endurance as well as mental strength. So we went up and up and up till we reached the little red house at about 1015! D: It is no piece of cake eh. However there was a great sense of achievement felt :D When I stepped up the last step and looked down, the only thing that I can say was WOAH! The view was wonderful/ magnificent/ splendid/ gorgeous! Any word that has the same meaning as superb can be used to describe the sight. The high mountains looked so tiny, the sky feels like it is just above my head, some clouds seem to be a few stretches away and the rest feels like they’re beneath my feet. The panorama took my breath away.
You see the lion head? ;}
When i see this picture, i feel so frustrated! :@ We were queuing to take pictures right. I was standing there first but she insist on taking first. But we stood there for a long time already, so i didn't wanna let her take. So my picture ended up with her inside :(
These bronze bars will shine when the Sun rises, giving a bright golden light ray. Cool or not!

Explored the area, took quite a few pictures and there we bid goodbye to the superb view of武当山. It took us another few hours to walk down the mountain. It started to feel strenuous when we were halfway down. The return road never seemed to end as well. As I look back, I couldn’t believe that I actually walked so far and climbed so high. I felt so proud of myself ^^ Heh, we reached at about 1315 but we were supposed to meet at 1300! We quickened our steps because we were late D:
Hahaha the elderly people also have to queue up 2 by 2!
Workers waiting for people to hire them. Look at their sizes. They aren't that big. But is able to carry weight up a mountain. I look up to them!
Dried fatty meat and fish and duck!
(Y) We're back!!Ewww :{ Saw this in the public toilet on our way back :\
We're leavinggggg :{


Everyone managed to gather together only at 2plus. We were actually an hour behind our schedule! :0 An hour is required to travel down to the foot of the mountain. A group was very very late, and so our lunch was held back for a few hours. We only managed to eat at 3 plus. The tour guide seemed to be a little annoyed because I think our pace was too slow. I hope it did not leave a bad impression of Singaporean, or specifically, Np students :/ So after lunch, we then had our 5hours return journey back to WUST! Rest and snacked in the bus. We got back only at 9plus. Since we had late lunch, we skipped our dinner and rest early for the night :)

Reflection
After today, I feel that my determination and strength of mind has developed and increased greatly. During the climb, I did ever thought of giving up because it was really tough. But when I see sweat dripping down from the workers’ exhausted faces; and tensed muscles on their arms and thighs as they carry people up the mountain; it gives me extra motivation to continue. “They can do it even when carrying someone, how can I give up just like that?” I don’t know why, but this is so much more challenging than my 10km marathon! Now that I’ve conquered 4.5km vertically and that my willpower is solid, I shall train up physically and aim to complete the next 21km marathon, which will be the next accomplishment ^^ What I gained is not only a brand new experience, but I also see how difficult life is for the people who are working and staying there. I overheard the stall owners’ conversation and they barely earn 1000RMB a month ;( Besides that, I believe not many jobs can be tougher than those workers who shoulder people up the mountain. Do you know how much strength and persistency is needed! I really look upon them.

Anyway, today’s adventure is incredible! The climb is seriously one of the greatest triumphs in my life. I didn’t regret and I know I’ll never. If I am asked to do it again, I’ll say yes without hesitation because it is absolutely worth it ;)