Morning came and it’s time for breakfast again. Likewise, they take down your room number and you are free to proceed. It’s less chaotic than the first hotel. At least there were staffs clearing tables and there were more food counters available so you don’t necessarily need to snatch for food. But it was very crowded. The peak hours for all hotels is 7.30am, probably cos big tour groups depart earlier. So if your timing allows, try to go after 8am for breakfast. It would definitely be more peaceful

The coffee was not bad (but queue was super long) and at least the quality of the food was better here

As usual, we left our hotel at 9am and proceeded to the attractions for the day which was 袁家界, 天子山 and 十里画廊. All these attractions are located at 武陵源 so it marks a long day ahead. We took a taxi there from our hotel which was just a short 5 mins away cos the guide said if we have drove and parked, the carpark would be a far walk from the attraction entrance

Do not be deceived by the emptiness here

cos it’s 人山人海 inside

As we waited for our guide to buy the entrance tickets for us, we saw countless streams of tour groups walking past us and we were like zomg. lol. It’s even worse when you got in and realised how crowded it was

This was just the queue getting to the queue of the bus

And so, VIP pass it shall be. The VIP pass for the bus costs ¥300 but it was definitely money well spent. Cos if you have waited in line, you would spent 1hour at the minimum before you could actually get on the bus

But there’s actually touts for VIP pass so do ensure you got your tour guide to buy from proper channels instead (rather than you buying it yourself)

If you could see the crowd going all the way to the other side (under the tent). Madness

And so we reached our first attraction 十里画廊 soon enough not before being welcomed by some monkeys roaming around. It is really important not to bring any food with you cos these monkeys can really smell them! We witnessed this big monkey just refusing to get off this Korean tourist bag just so he knows there’s bread inside. SO. SMART

In short, 十里画廊 is a place you need lots of imagination. You hop on a train (¥76), look at the sights, and imagine

The one on the left is an old man carrying medicinal herbs while the picture on the right depicts a family hugging together (mum, dad and child in the middle). Get it?

We skipped the monkey park at the end of this cos I was not interested to see them, so we hopped back onto the train and proceeded to see 袁家界 next. This is what I love about private tour cos you can skip the attractions if you like, unlike big tour groups which you need to accommodate everyone. And we saved 30 mins at least by avoiding the bus crowd. But for those who wanna see the monkeys, there will still be appearances here and then cos this whole mountain is their habitat

Again, we got the VIP pass (¥100) to take the 白⻰天梯 up just so we didn’t need to wait. The guide told us to get ready our video at the 15 seconds mark cos once the lift got out of the shadows, we would be able to see the scenery with light coming through. Well, lets just say I wasn’t very impressed

We moved in further to get a better view of the mountains, which was well, like that

Then we went to see the inspiration for the Avatar filming site which was well, meh

After awhile, the scenery all looked the same to me. lol. I was ready to move on with life

The guide asked if we want to settle our lunch at this basic 餐厅 (buffet style) or this place that served 农家菜. I asked him which one has lesser people and he said the latter. Then I was okay, the latter it shall be. lol. Cos I didn’t want to squeeze with people and have mental stress over it.

There aren’t many food options in that area so we were glad we avoided the peak period

We ordered 炒肉丝 and 手撕包菜 which was actually not bad. Like legit tasty. I was glad we settled at this place instead of the basic restaurant. You can also see the number of dishes we ordered getting lesser and lesser. lol. The portions in China are huge okay. It’s like one plate of dish can feed 3-4 pax. We were done with lunch shortly and soon the crowd also started coming into the restaurant. So we left quickly

We took a bus to 天子山 to see 贺⻰ and while on the way, we passed by this food street which the guide said ‘Eat at your own risk’. Ha

And then began a history of 贺⻰将军 which I zoned out clearly

We went to Yunqing Rock which the guide gave us some free time to take some photos there but we came back so quickly to meet him he was shocked. lol

Well as I said, after awhile all looked the same. Right?

We passed by a florist where you can buy flowers to commemorate 贺⻰将军

I wonder if anyone actually do that

We took the cable car down at 2pm where it had no queue at all. The guide told us by 330pm the queue would be massive. I think we really saved a lot of time that day

Came back down and decided to get myself a drink. The guide later told me this was one of the best selling tea stores (better than chagee) and I was fortunate there was no queue cos on usual days, the wait can be 1 hour long. Oh wow. Legit, it’s really not bad. The fragrance of the tea was pretty strong and I liked it

We popped by a tea store on the way back cos I wanted to taste how local tea taste like

Let’s just say that we tasted better

We reached back the hotel at 4pm which was an achievement. And I decided to order food in via food delivery app cos sad to say, I’m abit sick of Chinese food already. lol

So hey KFC!

The dad told me this was the best meal so far. I LOL-ed

I was tracking the weather forecast the entire time cos it was supposed to be rain the period when I was there. But thankfully the weather was nice to me for the first 2 days. Unfortunately the rain decided to come on day 3 when we had to head to 大峡谷玻璃桥

We took a snapshot of how the entire attraction will be before proceeding upwards to the bridge

The rain was unfortunately quite heavy, so much that the clouds were so low and you can’t really see the sights

But as the clouds start clearing and you could catch a glimpse of it, it was really quite pretty

I decided to skip the rest of the sights at the 大峡谷 which involved walking down the stairs and taking a boat (Yes you see the river there. We had to make all the way down in this weather). So since it was raining and I really don’t think we would be able to see much, I really wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. I say that was the smartest decision ever. And I’m glad there’s flexibility in this private tour

We were supposed to see 黄⻰洞 after lunch but since we had so much time, we decided to go ahead with the attraction straightaway

The weather seemed to clear up for abit. The guide said the temperature works in the opposite direction in the cave. If it’s warm outside, it will be cold inside. If it’s cool outside, it will be warm inside. And so since it was raining, I assume it will be warm inside. It is indeed warm, but not cos of what the guide said. But cos of the cardio exercise we did inside the cave the body just naturally turned warm

Basically it’s an underground cave with lights, alot steps and a boat ride

It’s well, like that

If you ask me, it’s definitely not meant for the old cos there’s really alot alot of steps. I see so many people struggling in our group and they were just panting from time to time. Also, if you have a choice to skip this attraction, just skip. No loss there. I also pity the young girl that was chaperoning us cos nobody was listening to her at times and the oldies in their group just doing their own thing

So after an underwhelming attraction, we went for lunch!

The guide brought us to a famous restaurant called 老灶台

I was quite entertained by the setup cos I have never seen this before. Quite an eye-opener for me

We chose to have the 老灶黄焖走地鸡 ¥158 with the option to add on additional toppings so I went with quail eggs, tofu and veg!

Well, they take eating out of the pot quite literally here. Your food is cooked infront of you, yes at the table and when it’s done, you just scoop it outright. They asked if we eat chilli, I told them 微辣 but when I saw the amount they had put in, I concluded their definition of 微 is very different here

But it was a tasty pot of stir fry chicken. Even the dad agreed and said this is more to his liking among all he had eaten so far

And with that, we continued with our roadtrip to 芙蓉镇 with the clouds saying goodbye to us

We check in to Furong Town Tea Xitai Holiday Hotel and I must say, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the room. Cos the exterior of the building looked quite normal, just like any other hotel

But it was such a comfortable room! With a bathtub in the middle of nowhere?! (They had a proper shower room, just in case you are wondering)

And a view to behold

Since we had so much time to chill before the guide brings us to the town to explore, I just happily enjoyed my time in the room

The guide picked us up at 7pm to head back to town and we took awhile to explore and take some photos

It was wow. Very crowded. The guide told us this place does get crowded at night given the night view is the highlight. So there was a big crowd watching a free performance at the entrance. But the guide also said given we had watched 魅力湘西 previously, this free performance cannot be compared. So with that being said, we moved on with life

It’s actually surprisingly not so crowded inside so it made walking quite enjoyable

We found a place to take some nice shots

Can totally imagine filming some videos here

Then the guide brought us to this restaurant called 观瀑阁餐厅 that has a good view of the river and he told us to enjoy our time here. So we really took it slowly

凉拌黄瓜 ¥38 (left) 农家小炒肉 ¥68 (right)

家常豆腐 ¥38

To be honest, the food was really not bad. I really enjoyed the tofu dish and this was one meal we actually managed to finish more than half of the plate. (I’m not kidding about the portions)

The joke came when I ordered a 米酒 along with the food cos you know food + alcohol + scenery goes together. The very smart me decided to go for something different and ordered their 土家米酒 instead of 糯米酒. After having a first taste of it, I know we had ordered wrongly. The 土家米酒 is of 40 degrees and is closer to 白酒 where every drink burns your stomach. So needless to say, we stopped after few mouthful. We told the guide about this and he said we should have given to him cos locals only drink 40 degrees and above. Okay. Wow. A part of me did wonder why the restaurant staffs never warn us about this. They clearly 很看得起我们

No alcohol, but the scenery is really amazingly gorgeous. I actually think this scene is prettier than 凤凰古城

Making our way back to the car where we roamed the empty streets of 芙蓉镇. Really love the emptiness without tourists. Even the guide wondered where they go. lol. Not that I’m complaining

Passing by the theatre at the entrance that had the free performance , which is empty now

Cos I wanted a drink so we dabao-ed some bbt before heading back to hotel. Lets just say it was a very, very filling cup

Rise & shine and this was the MOST peaceful breakfast ever. No crowd. Empty tables everywhere. I guess that’s the good thing about the hotel located outside the town

Well, not that breakfast was any good. I am clearly very picky

Anyway we continued on our journey for the day before coming across this marketplace by chance. Apparently there are designed days for these marketplace where locals gather to sell their own produce farmed locally by them

It was quite a sight. There was even a mobile dentist. We also saw the original version of 蒿子粑粑, aka roadside version and the guide asked if we wanted to try cos this is the authentic 童年的味道. The dad responded almost with no hesitation that we will give it a miss. lol

We soon reached 矮案大桥 which to be honest I had no idea why we were there for

It’s a bridge where you can do some high elements. We did witness someone bungee-jumped and we screamed along with him. lol. Mental encouragement you know

And the view from the bridge

We had lunch nearby where the guide told us this place is one of the more properly set-up restaurants given the location in one of the poorer 镇

Well, there’s actually tour groups coming in from time to time so I guess food should be pretty decent. And every time I looked at the menu, I sighed. Seems like meal time is the hardest decision ever

排骨冬瓜汤 ¥38

湘西外婆菜 ¥35 (left) 葱煎蛋饼 ¥28 (right)

It’s not bad. I thought the 外婆菜 was quite nice. Other than the egg being a little oily, the dad said this is one of the most bland meal we had so far (and he was glad about it). lol

Witness a peddler in the tribe costume selling fruits right outside the restaurant and they only accept WeChat Pay. Don’t play play

We soon arrived at 德芬苗寨 which was not a common tribe to visit if you are there with big tour groups. According to our guide, 德芬苗寨 is less visited due to its location but that makes it less crowded and commercialised as well

It’s quite a peaceful tribe and you will be done exploring in no time. So since we had so much time, we decided to venture around the area and visit the waterfall nearby

And that began our adventure with a snake

This snake, known as 五步蛇 is supposedly Hunan’s most poisonous snake. It’s named as such cos you will die in 5 steps if you get bitten with no antidote on standby

So the snake had the whole tram on standstill while the driver killed it and the rest just watched. While some argued he shouldn’t kill it, the driver said the snake will go on to bite more tourists and nobody will dare to come here if left unattended. Well, fair point there

I was glad there were no more snakes en-route to the waterfall though I must say it was quite a fair bit of walking from the tram stop to the waterfall

Okay, one for the photo

The waterfall is quite different as it drizzles down lightly from the top so it makes quite a good opportunity for..

Artists. lol

It’s really quite a good art subject

And with that, we made our way towards 凤凰古城 which was our last hotel stay for the trip in Zhangjiajie!

Read here for rest of my travelogue:

Travelogue: China – Singapore to ZhangJiaJie