The bus to Xiling + the Stone Forest there left at 6.30, forcing an early start upon us. The journey was about 3 hrs + was rather tedious. It seemed rather foolish when we stopped for a meal just 20 mins before the end. So we arrived at 11, + were told to report back to the bus for 3. We thought having just 4 hours to look around might be pushing things a little, but it turned out to be more than enough. The Stone Forest, the only attraction, was not a forest at all, but an area full of sharp towering granite crags, with maintained paths running higgledy-piggledy thro’ it. It made an impressive phenomenon, + it was pleasant to wander at random, even tho’ the place was over-run with Chinese. And, like most Asians, they had no conception of the damage they were causing by littering. Very sad. Still, we thought we’d done the place justice, + were in any case growing rather weary, when we emerged from its confines, but were disconcerted to discover it was still only 12.30. We wandered down by the small lake for a while, + sat on a bench for a while, but time was passing all too slowly. Fortunately, we discovered the hotel had a reasonably comfortable lounge + snack bar, so we installed ourselves there till 10 to 3, reading, drinking fizzy orange, + eating chocolate.
We thought it would be easier, returning after 6, to eat in the hotel dining-room, but the place was so dingy + squalid that we gave that up immediately, + returned once again to the Cooking School restaurant. Our meal was a little better this evening, especially a really excellent stuffed tomato dish. By the time we got back, Val was absolutely beat, so collapsed into bed, while I got down to packing ready for the morning. As I started to arrange everything, I decided we had much gear that wouldn’t be missed during a short trip, so packed one bag to take with us, one to leave behind.
The relatively normal mix of sight-seeing combined with negotiating the everyday necessities of food; we seemed to get the balance about right today.
