Hin's 4th C.O.U.N.T. 1,000,000 steps (Sep 22nd – Oct 16th, 2012)

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5. Foreign tourists not so welcomed.

Thean Hin Ooi <ooithin@gmail.com>   Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 10:32 PM

28/9  06:15 - 17:36  Heitugou – Dabaiyangcun. (19.7 km), 39,328 steps, TA 1,514m, ME 1,978m.

Bright but cold blustering day with ice still on the ground, resuming at Heituguo. Another tough day especially the last descent which took nearly 2 hours and ended at Dabaiyangcun. The good thing is that the number of steps/distance have gradually increased.

We are now heading up the northern loop - a fertile grassland - and there were so many horses gracing in the valley. In ancient days, these were bred as war horses and for milk by the nomadic Mongolians. Today the Han breed them for milk and meat (and some for farm work). Thus the female are valued whilst the excess stallions were sold to the restaurants (the sucklings command premium price).

Anyway, at the end of the day, we tried to check-in into 2 small towns but were denied residence by virtually every "ping guan" (small hotel). We then had to drive another 40km to XuanHua (one of the 9 Ming Garrison towns) and finally admitted at 9:00pm. This episode made us realised that to find a foreign tourist hotel is going to be a major challenge.

29/9  07:30 - 18:53.  Start @40 46 54.58N (1km from Xiangshuigou) – XiqingYanggoucun.  26.1 km, 45,301 steps, TA 1,540m, ME 2,142m.

Another bright sunny day with an immediate climb of 150m. Nice rolling hills, picked up more Edelweiss and the long day was rewarded with the longest distance and steps taken, thus far, ending at the village of XiqingYanggoucun.

To avoid last evening's hotel problem, we headed to Chong Li again and went to the last hotel we stayed on 26/9; only to be told it was full! Referred to a number of other "foreign tourist" grade hotels and met with the same rejection. It was getting desperate and CH resorted to the idea of staying in a resort. Rang up Chong Li Ya Long Wan Country Club and the manageress was more than happy to receive us, this being the off season. We had our late dinner in town and took a taxi to the CC. It was partially lit and she was there with a huge smile upon our arrival. We decided to stay 3 nights to avoid more accommodation problems.

30/9  06:30 - 17:11  Yingchacun - Chang Cheng Ling park near Laohuguocun. 23.1 km, 42,187 steps, TA 1,367m. ME 2.133.

Another great sunny day and the steps are piling up, even though we are nearly at the highest points around the loop. Came across a possible Tang Wall - Al will do his research to confirm later. Very pleasant walk and ended up at the Chang Cheng Ling park near Laohuguocun.

Lantern festival, all Han restaurants are closed and we ended up in a Muslim restaurant which served us beef ribs hotpot - somehow without the curried spices, it was just bland. Early night watching the full moon.

Good early night folks. Things are really perking up and hopefully we can rack up the distance numbers.

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