Huangguoshu Falls

On our first full day in Guiyang, we took a day trip to the Huangguoshu waterfalls. In Mandarin, this means the yellow fruit tree falls; who knows why. I didn't see a lot of yellow fruit trees when I was there. Anyways, the falls were about an hour and a half drive away. They are often considered the Niagara Falls of Asia. One look at the falls, and you will all agree (especially you Michiganders) that these falls were no Niagara. However, they had their own elements that made them unique. First, there were actually two main falls and one smaller fall that made up the group, compared to just one giant fall for Niagara. Gives you more variety to see. Second, you had to actually hike about 15 min to see the first large fall, and about 5 min to see the second main one. Compare this to Niagara where you can see it from your car. If it's a particularly hot day, there is no need to even get out! Having to hike at least a bit makes the falls seem more connected to nature. They are waterfalls, after all. Finally, for the first main fall, you could actually walk around behind the falls. That is correct; there was a trail that took you behind the falls. Sweet dude!

This is the first main fall, the one you can walk behind. The couple are our friends and travel companions, Jill and Luke from Chicago. The Chinese people loved Luke's height, and they loved Jill's curly hair!

I'm carrying the towel in this picture because we weren't sure how wet we were going to get walking behind the waterfall. There were ladies in the parking lot selling ponchos, so we figured it was a good idea. In the end, it really wasn't necessary, but it was great to wipe the sweat off my face as we hiked out of there!

This is the second major fall. Obviously not as tall and the first fall, but much wider. 

After the two main waterfalls, we went to an area called the Tianxingqiao Scenic Area, which held the third smaller waterfall. It also held an incredible cave, one of the largest I have ever seen. They lit it up with lots of lights, making us able to see and appreciate every corner of the space. Basically the hike, which lasted about 2.5 hours, was a nature walk on steroids. Every 50 meters, there would be something new and exciting to see, whether it was a cool rock formation, a giant banyan tree, a swinging bridge over a gorge, the cave etc. For those of you who have ever been to WaterWorld in Denver, it felt like the bit you have to walk through before getting to ride the Dinosaur theme ride. A maze for adults! 

This was inside the amazing cave. Check out the stalactites! I mean stalagmites! I mean....I actually have no idea what the difference is....

Adventure's out there!

There was even a ghetto gondola ride at the end to remind us of Colorado! The gondolas were so small, they only held two people at a time. And I'm sure we could have walked faster than these things were going. But, it only costed a dollar to ride! Deal. 

After all of this excitement, we decided we were hungry for lunch, now that it was 3:30pm and way past actual lunch time. The driver took us to a small place within the park, which was twice as expensive than if we had eaten outside the park. But, we were starving. Again, no English. So the waitress brought me over to the refrigerator and had me point to ingredients I wanted turned into dishes. Eggs, yes. Lettuce, I know what that is, yes. Fish, yes. A whole chicken, no, that would take too long. Pig's feet? No, thanks. Mushrooms, YES! Another leafy green?  Sure. In the end, we had a delicious lunch, with each ingredient starring in its own dish. Whole small fried fish. (Tasted way better than it sounds) Sautéed lettuce and tomatoes. Delicious stir-fried mushrooms, the stir-fried leafy green, and finally scrambled eggs. Yum!

We didn't get home from all of this until about 7pm. Then it was time to hit the hot tub at the hotel to soak out aching feet. Day well done!