Hangzhou/Moganshan

Leaving Beijing we journeyed by van to Moganshan via Hangzhou.  In Hangzhou is the famed West Lake which is said to have inspired writers and others artists from the East and a few from the West.  We abbreviated our tour of the lake and hit one of the coolest coffee shops for a chill as Riley was feeling a bit under the weather.  But not before capturing some views of the lake and a few shots.

On the way to the lake the girls discovered a new take on cold sweets, the ice cream burrito.  Don't think that not feeling well would stop Riley from an eating opportunity.

We boarded the van once again and continued on to Moganshan.  There we were to go on a hike to a lake that we could take a dip in and also do a hike up a mountain for a view of the bamboo forests.  There is quite a bit of bamboo harvesting that happens near Moganshan and the bamboo is pulled down onto the main road and loaded up on trucks.  These bamboo hauling trucks are parked in the middle of the road as we discovered when we nearly crashed into one while flying around a blind corner.

There was a bit of anxiety with our driver as we caught him falling asleep and swerving out of our lane.  One of our traveling companions is very leary of most forms of transport, vans being one of them.  She was sitting next to me and when we started to swerved she looked in the rear view mirror at where his eyes should have been and saw only lid.  Conversations ensued.  The next day when he picked us up for the trip to Shanghai his rearview mirror was tilted all the way up to the vn top so neither he nor any passenger could use it.  He did however have a sweet Specialized Factory Race Van.

Our hostel in Moganshan was hands down the best on the trip.  A few nights before we had no locks on our doors, this time even the building had a lock.  The room, suite is more like it, was larger and nicer then the places we stay in when back home.  It had lofted ceilings, a living/dining area, a shower with a separate toilet!, a master bed, an enclosed patio with a glass roof, and a large sleeping loft for the kids.  Here are the girls having tea in, of course, the tea room.

In the tea room, we read and did a little Bible study and watched and listened to the rain come down.  From my chair I was able to see up to the top of the ridge line across the valley.  The winds were doing amazing things with those bamboo trees, whipping them around like I imagine a tornado would our trees back home.  While we missed our hikes we did enjoy the room and relaxed and had some bonding time at the pool.

Images in 2013 Hangzhou/Moganshan.